Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

aaronhusar This was my favorite movie as a kid and will always be one of my all time favorites. Burning elevators, tall building, fire fighting. As entertaining as the movie is, the ending is always somber every time. The only thing I would've done different was have that greedy irresponsible Duncan die instead of conflicted scapegoat Roger Simmons. If he had to die it should've been during his attempt to climb the stairs, at least he wouldn't have been punched and almost thrown off 135 stories. I agree that a giant watertower on top was very unrealistic. That final explosion didn't collapse or even knock the roof off of the skyscraper.

mike48128 Sure there is a lot of hammy acting and bad "soap opera-cameos" in this film, not to mention O.J. Simpson, but there is also something quite eerie and predictive about the entire movie. Written from 2 similar books (The Glass tower and The Inferno) Fox and WB joined forces rather than create 2 competing films. The "exploding water-tank" ending is implausible, as nothing could have drowned out all that fire and everybody tied down would have just been washed away. Gravity and physics just doesn't work like that. Dated: Today, the couple trapped on the reception floor would have just called for help on their cell phone, instead of burning to death! McQueen and Newman made a great acting team of heroes and saved an otherwise overweight and overblown production that somewhat-works in spite of itself. What I like and hate about the film overall: The exploding windows and people dropping to their death inside and outside and on fire in the Elevator (very graphic and true) and the overall premise that the building failed due to shoddy construction and major code violations. Yes, wiring in the walls can catch fire and explode. All the fire detection, water sprinklers and stairs were centered in the core to save money. Cheap construction in the stair wells' walls and gas lines, as well? Just like the Twin Towers, maybe the entire building should have pancaked down, but I guess that seemed way too impossible at the time of this movie in 1974. A rousing John Williams musical score with "Best Song" Oscar. The mattes, blue-screens and (large) miniatures are first-rate, so I can't fault most of the action, but such terrible dialog and acting! Buy the Blu-Ray! Much better sound and picture!

SnoopyStyle In San Francisco, architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) is planning to leave his city job after the dedication of the new skyscraper. He's inundated with problems after returning from vacation but at least Susan Franklin (Faye Dunaway) is there to comfort him. He investigates an electrical fire but the owner Jim Duncan (William Holden)'s son-in-law engineer Roger Simmons (Richard Chamberlain) refuses to admit wrong doing. Senator Parker (Robert Vaughn), the mayor, public relations Dan Bigelow (Robert Wagner) and Harlee Claiborne (Fred Astaire) among others join the party. All the while, the electrical fire spreads. Building security Jernigan (O.J. Simpson) calls in the fire department. Fire Chief Michael O'Halloran (Steve McQueen) tries to take control.This is one of the best disaster movie of the era. It's full of memorable moments and is relatively realistic. It's got good fire photography, nice burning stunts, vertigo-inducing scenes and thrilling action all around. It's also got some of the greatest names. Newman and McQueen has to battle it out for top billing. The start is a little slow but once it gets going, it doesn't stop.

K F After watching this movie I have come to the conclusion that people in the 70ies were retarded and stared at each other awful lot. It sort of makes sense now too why they were all dressed in Ronald Weasley's dress robes...Apart from the endless staring at each other they also made sure there were lengthy pauses after each corny and unnatural sounding sentence they uttered. Even in the middle of a life-threatening emergency. They were either all terribly zen or...retarded. Yeah. I think this is one of the most annoying movies I have ever seen. About 65% of it, at least, could and should have been cut easily. I hope they remake it with normal people.