Additional Footage; Soundtrack English; Director's Comments; Special Edition
One hundred and thirty stories of glass and steel pierce the landscape, a monument to architectural know-how and the power of money. But the builders have taken some cash-saving shortcuts, and it takes just one spark from an electric current to set off a disaster.
During a celebratory party full of wealthy movers and shakers, the tower bursts into flames, and chaos erupts as the raging force of nature envelopes the structure. A courageous fire captain on the outside and the desperate architect trapped inside struggle to save the guests from the fire created by their greedy manipulations.
A horrible fire engulfs the world's largest skyscraper trapping a group of people on the top floor. Academy Award Nominations: 8, including Best Picture. Academy Awards: 3, Best Cinematography, Best Song ("We May Never Love Like This Again"), Best Editing.
Warner Brothers, which owned Richard Martin Stern's "The Tower," and 20th Century Fox, which owned Thomas N. Scotia and Frank Robinson's "The Glass Inferno," joined artistic and financial forces to produce this film. It cost approximately $14 million to make and made $55 million in domestic release and $150 million worldwide.
Color by DeLuxe; shot in Panavision.
200 stunts were performed by 100 stunt doubles; however stars Steve McQueen and Paul Newman both preferred to do their own stunt work, including the last one where they were tied down along with the rest of the guests, and millions of gallons of water were released on top of them.
Additional cast: Elizabeth Rogers (Lady in Buoy), Ann Leicester (Guest), Norman Grabowski (Flaker), Olan Soule (Johnson), Carlena Gower (Angela Allbright), Carol McEvoy (Mrs. Allbright), Paul Comi (Tim), George Wallace (Chief Officer), Patrick Culliton (Technician), Erik Nelson (Wes), and Art Ballinger (Announcer).
Additional credits: Orville Hallbert (camera operator action sequences), Ted Keep (scoring mixer), Don White and Phil Ball (assistant directors), Vanderveer Photo Effects (opticals), and Pacific Title (titles).
The producers gratefully acknowledged the cooperation of:
San Francisco Fire Department
San Francisco Board of Fire Commissioners
Keith P. Calden, Chief of San Francisco Fire Dept.
Los Angeles City Fire Department
Los Angeles City Board of Fire Commissioners
Raymond M. Hill, Chief of Los Angeles Fire Dept.
Dedication: To those who give their lives so that others might live -- to the fire fighters of the world - this picture is gratefully dedicated.
"The Towering Inferno" was actress Jennifer Jones' last screen appearance.
The laserdisc version includes the original theatrical trailer.
Towering Inferno Reviews:
"...One of the best movies of its type ever made..."
-- Mike Clark, USA Today
"Disaster master Irwin Allen's thrilling Best Picture nominee is overflowing with classic instances of historical import..."
-- Joshua Rich, Entertainment Weekly
The best disaster flick ever You just can't remake this one. If they tried, it would be a CGI-disaster. This is good old fashioned real-life setpieces. And with fire that's pure excitement. The scene where Robert Wagner ('s stunt double) catches flames (in slo-mo) is of such horror AND beauty. Paul Newman is as good as ever, so is William Holden, Steve McQueen and so many more. The script is good (better then you'd expect in a 70's star-packed vehicle). And did I mention the building itself ? Wow, a fantastic model, looking so real (see www.thetoweringinferno.info for pics of it).
It's just a BLAST ! Submitted by Arjen (Oud-Beijerland, Holland) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
The Towering Inferno Special edition This long awaited special edition is a must for fans of this,probably the best ever made disaster movie,crammed with featurettes both new and old and superb print,this should have been released years ago but in the wake of 9/11 it lost out on a 25 year special. Submitted by martin.townley (London England) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
GREAT GREAT GREAT!!!!!! TALK ABOUT THE 70S AT ITS BEST!. i HAVE TO SAY THAT THREE CHEERS! TO 20TH CENTURY FOX FOR THE COMPLETE , WONDERFUL SPECIAL EDITION OF "THE TOWERING INFERNO" ITS SO MUCH FUN GOING BACK AND SEEING HOW IRWIN ALLEN BROUGHT TO LIFE THIS INCREDIBLE MOVIE. THIS IS THE BEST I THINK OF THE 70S DISASTER GENRE. SO GO OUT AND BUY IT. Submitted by decorativelyspeaking (MIAMI ,FLORIDA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Towering Inferno Blazes Love this film. This new packaging really pay tribute to a truely classic disaster movie. Submitted by salgomez (La Puente, CA. 91744) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Priceless The Towering Inferno is one of my Old School Favorites with an allstar cast. One of Steve Maqueens best roles. Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway and Williamd Holding all add great roles and make this film one of my favorites. O.J. Simpson manages to lay down a good role as well. Submitted by a reviewer (New Orleans) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo This review is for a different format.
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Towering Inferno DVD
Towering Inferno DVD Features
2-Disc Set NTSC Special Edition Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Dolby Digital 4.0 - English Dolby Digital Surround - English Mono - Spanish Subtitles - Spanish - Optional Disc 1: THE TOWERING INFERNO - Widescreen Version Widescreen - 2.35 Additional Release Material: Audio Commentary:
1. F.X. Feeney - Film Historian 2. Mike Venzina - Special Effects Director, Branko Racki - Stunt Coordinator (Specific Scenes) Disc 2: THE TOWERING INFERNO - Supplemental Materials Additional Release Material: Featurette:
1. "Inside the Tower: We Remember" 2. "Innovating Tower: The SPFX of An Inferno" 3. "The Art of Towering" 4. "Irwin Allen: The Great Producer" 5. "Directing the Inferno" 6. "Putting Out Fire" 7. "Running On Fire" 8. "Still The Worlds Tallest Building" 9. "The Heart of Disaster: Stirling Silliphant" 10. "AMC Backstory: THE TOWERING INFERNO" Additional Products: Lobby Cards
Thing DVD (1982) Widescreen; Collector's Edition; Dubbed; Subtitled
Towering Inferno DVD
$11.19 Based on both the short story by John W. Campbell, Jr. and the 1951 film produced by Howard Hawks, THE THING is John Carpenter's stunning masterpiece of horror. A group of weary scientists enduring the winter in an isolated camp deep in Antarctica chance upon an alien spacecraft buried in the ice. Near the strange craft is the body of an alien being, frozen solid. Thinking they have made the find of a lifetime, the scientists bring the alien body back to camp and thaw it out. The alien awakens, not in the best of moods, and proceeds to take over the identities of the scientists, one by one, body and all. Helicopter pilot MacCready (Kurt Russell) must lead the surviving men in discovering who among them is human and who is not and how they can destroy "the thing" before it takes them all and moves on to the heavily populated mainland and the rest of humanity. Rob Bottin supplies the awe-inspiring special effects of the creature in its many, ever-changing forms. The effects were groundbreaking at the time and hold up flawlessly over the passing years. But Carpenter does not rely solely on special effects, utilizing his spectacular cast, which includes Wilford Brimley and Richard Dysart, to create three dimensional characters enduring an unthinkable situation. The score from Ennio Morricone is understated, yet increases the tense mood tenfold. Shooting was difficult ...
$12.39 John Sturges's adaptation of Alistair MacLean's novel stars Rock Hudson as submarine commander James Ferraday. When a weather-monitoring station near the North Pole is nearly destroyed by fire, he's ostensibly sent to find out what went wrong. But since he's been ordered to bring along Capt. Leslie Anders (Jim Brown) and a platoon of Marines, British agent David Jones (Patrick McGoohan), and Russian defector Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), he realizes he's being kept in the dark about the true nature of the mission. Eventually it becomes clear that the USS Tigerfish is in a race with a Russian sub to recover reconaissance film crucial to national defense that was being carried aboard a spacecraft that crashed near the polar ice cap. When the sub is sabotaged--causing it to sink perilously close to a depth that would lead to an explosion--it becomes clear that a double agent is on board, but Ferraday doesn't have enough evidence to arrest anyone. Although the film is often remembered as the one chosen for ad nauseam viewing by Howard Hughes, it's a well-made combination of action and suspense, boasting a fine score by Michel Legrand.
The U.S. nuclear sub Tigerfish churns toward the North Pole. Its mission: rescue the imperiled members of weather outpost Ice Station Zebra. On board are Cmdr. Ferraday ...
$56.35 The four SUPERMAN movies starring the late Christopher Reeve are collected here. Please see individual titles for synopsis information.
You'll believe ...
6303 
The best disaster flick ever
Towering Inferno Blazes
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