Skip to content
Dan Owen reviews
Warner Home Video As premiered on
danowen.blogspot.com
Poseidon 2006: 
HD-DVD:
Poseidon 1972:
- Cert:
- Cat.no: D073658
- Running time: 99 minutes
- Year: 2006
- Pressing: 2007
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 2.35:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras:4 Audio commentaries, Hostel Dissected documentary, Kill The Car! Multi-anglemTrailers
Director:
- Wolfgang Petersen
Producers:
- Mike Fleiss,Akiva Goldsman, Duncan Henderson and Wolfgang Petersen
Screenplay:
- Mark Protosevich
Music:
- Klaus Badelt
Cast:
- Dylan Johns: Josh Lucas
Robert Ramsey: Kurt Russell
Maggie James: Jacinda Barrett
Richard Nelson: Richard Dreyfuss
Jennifer Ramsey: Emmy Rossum
Elena: Mia Maestro
Christian: Mike Vogel
Lucky Larry: Kevin Dillon
Valentin: Freddy Rodriguez
Conor James: Jimmy Bennett
Captain Bradford: Andre Braugher
Chief Officer Reynolds: Kirk BR Woller
Wolfgang Petersen loves water.
From celebrated submarine war thrillerDas Bootto true-story dramaThe Perfect Storm,the German director has earned arepuation as the King Of The Sea, so it should come as no surprise that hislatest project owes its title to the God of the oceans himself — Poseidon, aremake of classic diaster movie The Poseidon Adventure (1972).
You know the story: a luxury ocean liner is flipped upside down by a freakwave and we follow a group of passengers who decide to escape from the sinkingship. In the grand tradition of disaster flicks, familiar faces round out thecast; from relative newcomers Josh Lucas and Emmy Rossum, toveterans Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss.
Poseidon wastes no time getting down to business. The charactersare introduced quickly, in broad strokes that give you a flavour of theirpersonalities. There’s dashing card shark Dylan (Lucas), ex-firefighter Robert(Russell) and his beautiful daughter Jennifer (Rossum), Jennifer’s fianceChris (Mike Vogel), gay architect Nelson (Dreyfuss), hispanic stowaway Elena(Mia Maestro), protective mother Maggie (Jacinda Barrett) and her son Jimmy(Conor James).
The wave hits very early on into the film, shortly after a New Year’s celebrationin the ship’s nightclub. From thereon, the movie is a sequence of periloussituations as some survivors make their way up (down?) the flipped-over vessel.
As you’d expect, there are plenty of stunts and underwater sequences inflooded areas. The atmosphere is authentic, with plenty of dead bodieslittering the corridors and constant creaking and dripping from bulkheads. Theproduction designers have done great work with all the sets, particularly theimpressive lobby area, and the sense of claustrophobia is palpable at times(check out the air vent sequence).
Indeed, the movie follows the disaster movie cliches to the letter. Did youreally expect anything else, from a remake no less? While it gets zero pointsfor originality, this is an entertaining and occassionally tense sequence ofevents. But nothing more. The characters aren’t particularly deep, althoughthe joint charisma of Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell keep things from goingcompletely stale. Sadly, Richard Dreyfuss is completely wasted, almostdisappearing into the background, and the wonderful Emmy Rossum also deservedfar more than an unremarkable daddy’s girl role.
The technical aspects of the $160 million production are excellent. But it’sdifficult to be impressed by a ship getting pummelled by the elements afterPetersen’s ownThe Perfect StormandTitanic (1997).The effects are certainly smoother and more believable than James Cameron’swatery opus, but Cameron knew that it’s the characters that really matter, notthe effects. In that respect, Poseidon is the polar opposite of Titanic,favouring technical pizazz over characterisation. Blame the formulaic script byPaul Attanasio and Akiva Goldsman.
It’a a shame the script can’t compete with the gorgeous visuals, but Poseidonis still worthy of your time. The actors are likeable, the stunts/effectsimpressive, the set-design excellent and Petersen crafts a few memorablemoments (the wave, the lobby traverse, the air vent, a few underwater swims),but that’s about it.
Entertaining enough, but there’s nothing in the script to elevate Poseidonbeyond mildly exciting eye candy. A damp squib.
The 2.35:1 widescreen image is generally very good, coping with all thevisuals, although fire and water spray are a bit weak. But it’s sharp andinviting most of the time, particularly with the CGI.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is excellent, making full use of all the speakersand really grounding you in the situations alongside the cast. There’s theexpected creaks, hisses, sprays, bubbling and crackling, all wizzing aroundthe speakers to great effect.
The 2-disc edition is packed with bonus material, but it doesn’tjustify purchase because the quality is pretty poor:
- Theatrical Trailer: Very nice, as you’d expect.
- Poseidon – A Ship On A Soundstage: A 22-minute look at the making of the film, from the source novel to filmingand special effects. It includes interviews with the cast and crew. A brisk,entertaining effort.
- Poseidon – Upside Down: A 10-minute featurette, basically a continuation of Ship On A Soundstage, thatlooks at the use of set-design to create the stricken ocean liner.
- : A 12-minute piece from film school graduate Malona Voight, who gives herpersonal insights after being on set.
- Rogue Waves: An excellent 28-minute documentary, originally shown on the History Channel,about the types of wave that hit the fictional Poseidon. There are lots ofexperts, experiments and video footage, all ensuring you’ll be extra nervousthe next time you’re at the mercy of the fickle oceans.
While there are a few nice extras here, this isn’t a particularly special2-disc set. The film’s picture is good, the sound is excellent, but theextras are mediocre. You might as well save yourself some cash and buy thesingle-disc edition, as Poseidon is an enjoyable disaster movie while itlasts, but not much more.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.