Juggernaut (1974)
Directed by Richard Lester

Film Review

The UK's most worthy contribution to the classic 1970s disaster movie genre is a predictably grim affair, lightened only by some nervous comedy (marvellously served up by Roy Kinnear) and several lashes of gallows humour (from a suitably dour Richard Harris).  In spite of its somewhat lacklustre script (the result of a messy pre-production phase in which two directors talked away from the project), Juggernaut (a.k.a. Terror on the Britannic) proves to be quite an effective suspense thriller, morbidly redolent of the climate of gloom that hung over Britain for much of the 1970s.  The film has an overtly political slant, taking a few timely digs at the British government, in relation to its handling of terrorist situations (not a rare occcurrence at the time) and parsimonious treatment of military personnel (the dubious moral being: starve a pensionner, create a bomber).

Richard Lester directs the film with his customary gusto and panache.  The sequence in which the bomb disposal team parachute in to save the day is almost worthy of a Bond film, and the stellar cast (which sees Harris cross swords with Omar Sharif, Anthony Hopkins, Ian Holm and Freddie Jones, all superb) can only add to its appeal.  The film only really comes into its own in the second half, when Harris gets down and starts to defuse the fiendishly designed bombs.   It's gripping stuff and Lester and his crew eke as much tension and drama as they possibly can from the situation - you are genuinely relieved when it's all over.  An enjoyably nerve-racking experience, with none of the tiresome soap hysteria that blights so many films of this kind.

Film Synopsis

A few days after the luxury ocean liner SS Britannic has left port, heavily laden with passengers, its owner, Nicholas Porter, receives a phone call making a chilling ransom demand.  The caller, who identifies himself as Juggernaut, reveals that he has placed seven oil drums packed with high explosives on the liner.  Unless half a million pounds is paid up, the bombs will be detonated, causing enough damage to the hull of the ship to sink it.  Aware that over a thousand people are on board the ship, which is currently negotiating a storm in the mid-Atlantic, Porter is ready to hand over the money, but Her Majesty's Government has other ideas.  As the police, led by Superintendent John McCleod, begin their hunt for Juggernaut, bomb disposal expert Lieutenant Commander Anthony Fallon and his team are parachuted onto the threatened liner.  Fallon's confidence that he can defuse the bombs is shattered when one of them is set off by one of his most experienced colleagues.  With time running out and 1400 lives at stake, Fallon has no choice but to persevere...