Maidexpl
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Twilightfa
Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.
Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
David Harrison
I first saw this aged 13 in 1977 in my local cinema & was blown away by the whole thing including the Sensurround effects. Timothy Bottoms' character still creeps me out a bit and I love George Segal's relaxed but determined approach to get the bomber. Great script, a Hitchcock soundtrack & it has Sparks belting out Big Boys...a single gem to treasure in these days of ad-nauseam action franchises!
lost-in-limbo
Hoping for a thrill ride? Well "Rollercoaster" does go through the ups and downs like an amusement ride, however the issue was the idea was too drawn out to sustain its suspense, even if it boils down to quite a pot- boiler that ends in poetic justice. Pockets of it do work, other times it feels flat. The psychological cat and mouse angle / banter played between two characters (the bomber and lead protagonist), especially when the bomber (Bottoms) is toying with our protagonist (Segal) in an amusement park really does strike-up tension and intrigue. Where the problem lies, is when it's not focusing on these two even though I didn't find the side-dramas distracting. Like many of these 70s disaster films, this one being man-made than those natural epics it does follow the trend of lining its cast with familiar faces. George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Harry Guardino, Susan Strasberg and a young Helen Hunt. Also look out for stuntman Larry Holt in a part and a tiny cameo from pre-stardom Steve Guttenberg. Segal is in great form as a grizzled, but determined technical safety supervisor who will do anything to stop Bottom's quietly intelligent bomber. Bottoms bring a fantastic uneasy quality to his role while a convincing Widmark plays a narrow-minded agent. A series of accidents are occurring in amusement parks and safety inspector Calder believes them to be linked. So he begins investigating and finds out that a psychotic extortionist is placing explosives on tracks in an attempt to blackmail these amusement parks. The FBI become involved, but the bomber takes a liking to Calder and orders these corporate bosses that Calder must deliver the money or another roller- coaster would be blown up. It's a suspenseful idea, but not fully realised despite the script being sharply penned and the park settings adding colour and personality. Some of the set-pieces do pack a punch, like the first roller-coaster mishap, where the "Rocket" (name of the ride) really does take off involving crushed cars and dummy work. It's quite an unsettling moment, which is never quite matched. The premise slowly constructs the predicament, in what is still a race against the clock and strategically planned out. Timing is everything, as director James Goldstone's steadfast, but productive handling tries to accommodate that, but it doesn't always come off. Even when he's trying to heighten its spectacular scope. The music score felt terribly overdone. In an amusing note; it was odd seeing Segal's character being offered a carton of cigarettes as prize. How have times changed. Slow and a little drawn out, but always gripping. Sure does make you wanna ride roller-coaster. "Hey Wayne, fast track today."
Robert J. Maxwell
It's more fun that it has a right to be, an inexpensive movie about a Safety Inspector (Segal) who must deliver a million dollars to a techie madman who will otherwise blow up one of the rides at the King's Dominion Amusement Park in Richmond, Virginia.There's a scene in "Dirty Harry" in which the madman "runs Harry all over the city" with a suitcase full of cash, attempting to lose or confuse the many cops known to be following Harry and watching for the pick up. This whole movie is like that, except that instead of simply running from one point to another, Segal is instructed by radio to buy funny hats, ride the roller coaster multiple times, be weighed by a cute girl in glasses, have his picture taken, and do the usual things that people do in amusement parks.George Segal does a nice job as the reluctant but savvy and inventive hero. He's supported by several familiar names, most of them past their prime, few of whom worked on the picture for more than a day or two -- Henry Fonda, beginning to gargle with age; Richard Widmark as the federal agent in charge of tracking Segal's moves in hope of capturing the madman, Timothy Bottoms; Harry Guardino from "Dirty Harry", who has about two lines of dialog; Susan Strasberg who is there to prove Segal is an ordinary heterosexual; and an adolescent Helen Hunt.It's silly and enjoyable, like spending a day at an amusement park, and, like cotton candy, after it melts so engagingly in your mouth there's nothing of substance left.
Spikeopath
Roller-coaster is directed by James Goldstone and co-adapted to screenplay by Sanford Sheldon, Richard Levinson and William Link, from a suggested Tommy Cook story. It stars George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Richard Widmark, Harry Guardino, Susan Strasberg and Helen Hunt. A Panavision/Technicolor production in Sensurround, it features music by Lalo Schifrin and photography by David M. Walsh.A psychopathic bomber known only as "Young Man" (Bottoms) causes terror at American theme parks. When safety inspector Harry Calder (Segal) is brought in to investigate, it sets off a cat and mouse game as the "Young Man" ups the ante....Even now Roller-coaster is still wrongly being lumped in with the disaster movie genre that surfaced in the 1970s. Released at a time when that particular genre of film was fading out, Roller-coaster is anything but a disaster movie. What it is is a psychopath based thriller that adheres to procedural values and character involvement. As it runs at nearly two hours in length should notify viewers that it isn't a film chocked full of Roller-coaster sequences and explosive pyrotechnics. Yes, there's some exciting "Coaster" sequences, neatly shown to us in POV, and in spite of the (obvious 1970s) use of dummies for the plot set-up carnage, this thrives on human interest and race against the clock suspense.The marker is set early on as Bottoms' smirking killer sets up his first murderous act whilst listening to some deathly string arrangement on his cassette player. We then segue into fun fare music as the joys of the amusement park brings a warmth and calm to the viewer, this is soon vanquished as the terror a terrorist can bring comes to the fore. From here on in the Bottoms character remains mysterious but we know just what he is capable of, so does Segal's character, as do the likes of Widmark's Agent Hoyt and the rest of the "suits" frantically scratching around trying to avert further tragedy as the fresh faced bomber demands money with menace. This ensures the bulk of the film is made up of Calder and Young Man interactions and police procedural movements. It has much talk, very much so, but it's well scripted dialogue and heightens the tension as we enter the final third.One of the few films to feature the Sensurround gimmick, the film perhaps logically loses much impact on the small screen. Prints of the film are only adequate, and the sound mix doesn't shake your lounges in the way it certainly did back in 1970s theatres. Yet this is still a damn fine suspense picture, a film that also carries with it some stoic performances from Segal and Widmark, and a chillingly effective villain turn from the undervalued Bottoms. Henry Fonda is on the credits, but really it's just a cameo appearance, while there's much interest value in watching future Academy Award winner Helen Hunt as the young daughter of Harry Calder.Expect a taut thriller like Two-Minute Warning that was released the previous year, and you hopefully will not feel let down. Expecting a two hour disaster movie full of Coater Carnage will only lead to disappointment. 8/10
