Tonight's Movie: Juggernaut (1974) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The suspense thriller JUGGERNAUT (1974) has just been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

I initially passed over the unfamiliar title on a list of Kino Lorber's new releases -- then took a closer look as I realized it was a thriller which sounded like it had potential.

I decided to give JUGGERNAUT a try pretty much "cold," knowing nothing other than several people tod me they liked it, and I'm glad to say that I thought it was a very good film. I enjoyed it quite well, finding it thoroughly engrossing.

As the movie begins, the cruise ship Britannic begins a trip across the North Atlantic from England to the U.S. Seas are rough and most of the passengers don't feel well. Little do they know that will be the least of their problems.

Soon after the Britannic departs, shipping line owner Nicholas Porter (Ian Holm) receives a call from a man calling himself "Juggernaut," telling him that seven bombs have been placed on the ship.  If Porter doesn't want the ship to blow up, he must pay half a million pounds in ransom. And just to show he means business, Juggernaut sets off a small bomb on the ship as a warning.

Police detective John McCleod (Anthony Hopkins), whose wife (Caroline Mortimer) and children (Adam and Rebecca Bridge) are on the ship -- of course! -- gets to work on the case.

The passengers cannot be evacuated to lifeboats due to the rough seas, but the government warns Porter not to pay the ransom, to the consternation of the ship's captain, Alex Brunel (Omar Sharif).

The government does send a Royal Navy officer who's a bomb expert, Anthony Fallon (Richard Harris), and his team to the Britannic. The seas are so rough that even getting the men onto the ship is a harrowing event, after which they face attempting to defuse the bombs as the ship lurches.

Not mentioned to this point is that the ship has been undergoing work while underway and sensors which would normally help with the rough weather are on the fritz...

I found this movie a thoroughly absorbing procedural, which documents several interesting things at once: Life on a cruise ship, the police investigation, and the attempts to defuse the bombs. At times the movie almost has a documentary feel, such as the shots of the crew scrubbing uneaten dinners off plates (the passengers being too ill to eat). There are some wonderful shots showing the inside of a bomb as Harris works on it, giving the audience a better idea of just how intricate a procedure is underway.

The movie was actually filmed on a ship (the TS Hamburg), which deliberately sought rough seas during production, giving the film great authenticity. It's the kind of realism one just doesn't get from computerized effects.

I thought the movie really captured the early '70s well, encapsulated for me by a close shot of someone using an Instamatic-type camera with a square flash bulb, the same type I had as a young child. It sure brought back a memory of rotating that square flash as it was used up. The drab orange-brown colors on the cruise ship also fit the era.

The movie has an outstanding cast. Harris plays his role with jaunty style, apparently a means of coping with his job stress, while Sharif and Hopkins are each quietly competent as they work and worry.

Other than the annoyance of seasick Mrs. McCleod not keeping her children in their room after the danger of the bombs is known -- one can see a problem due to that coming from a mile away -- the characters are likeable and handle the situation with admirable calm. Indeed, the cruise's social director (Roy Kinnear) gamely works to keep the passengers busy.

In addition to the previously named actors, roles of various sizes are played by the likes of David Hemmings, Shirley Knight, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern, Simon MacCorkindale, Julian Glover, Clifton James, Freddie Jones, and Doris Nolan. Nolan's credits stretched from the mid '30s all the way up to TV's BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (1981).

The movie, directed by Richard Lester, runs 109 well-paced minutes. It was written by Richard De Koker (aka Richard Alan Simmons) and filmed by Gerry Fisher.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray print looks and sounds great. Extras consist of a commentary track by Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson; the trailer; a TV spot; and a Kino Lorber trailer gallery (9). It's a Special Edition which comes in a cardboard slipcase.

I found JUGGERNAUT to be quite a nice surprise and recommend it.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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