I worked on the film, I was a special police officer at Kings Dominion and had just graduated from college, so I fell in with a couple of the assistant directors and ended up working on this and a couple of other Universal potboilers before I settled down for a career in the 'real world.' A few inaccuracies - The scene shown twice with the girl falling isn't from Rollercoaster. Don't know what it's from, but it ain't from this movie. :) George wasn't 'hired' by the FBI...he was brought into the scheme by the Young Man himself, which always made Hoyt suspicious as to why. And Sensurround had nothing to do with the seats, but the frequencies of sound. The shooting script, by Levinson and Link of 'Columbo' fame, was MUCH better than the finished product. More suspenseful and more nuanced. It was a great read. What ended up on screen wasn't up to the writing. Some of that is editing, a lot of it was Jim Goldstone, who, although an ace TV director in great demand (among his best was the second pilot for Star Trek, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', with Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman), never succeeded as a film director. Two of his movies - this one and 'Winning', about racing, were okay. The third, 'Swashbuckler', was a disaster. Really enjoyed meeting Richard Widmark, but his interpretation of Hoyt was way off compared to the script, and Goldstone let it go. His relationship with Harry Calder, Segal's character, was forced and superficial. Henry Fonda was in ONE scene, and it was a phone in. Probably didn't even take a day, and he played the part as if Calder were a fly in his soup instead of someone who defied his authority and basically blackmailed him. Not exactly a '12 Angry Men' level performance - it was more like 'The Swarm'. In addition to Guttenburg, two other featured players went on to careers. Craig Wasson, who was the hippie boy who loved coasters, went on to star in such films as 'Ghost Story' and 'Body Double'. Tara Buckman, who (along with her Farrah haircut) has a 30 second part as a coaster operator at the film's opening Ocean View disaster, snared a contract from Universal by sleeping with producer Jennings Lang. She was Adrienne Barbeau's sidekick in 'Cannonball Run', showing off her assets in an unzipped jumpsuit, and she was on a lot of Universal TV, like 'Buck Rogers', in small parts. When Farrah Hair was no longer a thing, neither was Tara. Diamond Farnsworth, the stunt man that broke his back, was the son of Richard Farnsworth, son of long time stunt man and later actor, best known today as Wilfred Brimley's assistant manager of the NY Knights in 'The Natural.' His dad came to see him in the hospital, and we all visited him on a regular basis till they shipped him back to L.A. When you watch the movie, he's in the car with a beautiful African-American woman (also a stunt person, as was everyone in the car), wearing a letter jacket. When the car he was in rolled down a black ramp and across the midway, they were all supposed to land in the balsa wood building the car crashed into, but Diamond (we knew him as Dick) missed the building and the boxes hiding cushions on the side of the building, and landed on the beach. They used footage of this in the movie. Many great memories of this shoot, including late night gabfest with Harry Guardino in the cafe at Ocean View, swimming with the park dolphins with George and his daughters (I was dating the park's trainer and arranged this for them), and playing chess with Timothy Bottoms. Oh, by the way, next time you watch it...when Harry is talking to Benny the park worker after the roller coaster crash at Ocean View, there's a morgue wagon in the background loading a body bag onto the truck. That's me. :)
The shot of the girl falling off the roller coaster is from Final Destination. Thank you for sharing your story, I'm about to finish college and I'd like to work in the film industry too
Thanks for sharing your story. I loved this movie and still do today. The music is perfect and I found Segal to be well-cast. It does pace itself and builds slowly but that is offset by great scenery of the parks. I was in Kings Dominion park in 1978 and had seen the film the year prior. I loved seeing all the highlights of the film in real life not long after the making of the movie.
I'm glad Sparks were featured instead of those other two bands, cause they're a genuinely talented and flagrantly underrated group who deserved the exposure they received from the venture.
Loved this movie when it came out, I personally think Timothy Bottoms is the actor who makes this film, his quiet, pensive, melancholy performance perfectly captures the chilling psychosis of the central protagonist. Great soundtrack by Schifrin to boot.
I remember Timothy Bottoms as the father from the early 90s Land of the Lost reboot. I had no idea he had such a big career in the 70s. I also thought he was good in this.
I too appreciated Bottoms portrayal. He wasn’t the stereotypical over the top villain but a calculating psychopath. An interesting tidbit I gleaned from this video was how a telephone call to his mother was cut from the movie. It definitely wasn’t needed.
I remember everything about this film from the moment I saw this in the mid eighties.Big boy, the crashes,the ending, the beautiful Helen Hunt.When I heard George had died.the first thing that came to mind was this film.Loved him in the Goldberg's.
I love this underrated gem of a film. I used to watch it a lot as a kid when I recorded it on vhs from the TV. I now own the collector's edition Blu ray.
It's 70s perfection 👍😎......my dad took me to see Earthquake with the sound and the movie theater seats moving, I was 8,...I go to therapy on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I enjoyed Rollercoaster very much when it first came out and even since. I found it very suspensful. And the theme music haunts me to this day as I catch myself still humming it at odd moments.
It was written by COLUMBO co-creators Richard Levinson and William Link, so it really has that cookie cutter '70s Universal NBC Sunday Mystery Movie vibe to it, only in anamorphic widescreen.
I LOVE Rollercoaster. This is the movie that first brought my attention to Lalo Schifrin. The score during the ending credits is haunting after seeing the movie. And yep, George Segal used to be The Man.
There were only a handful of movies that used Sensourround, however it lead to surround sound stereo in theaters that typically had monorial sound and things such as THX sound which incorporated something like it.
I was once talking to a retired man who was a projectionist at the Empire cinema in Leicseter Square London for about 40 years - till he retired. He told me that Earthquake did not do its full run at the Empire because the sensurround vibtarion were causing damage to the structure of the London Underground (Subway) system under Leicester Square ! THey were adivsed to pull it so it stopped screening. So those stories abotu sensurround causing damage to buildings are quite true.
I really like this movie. Far, far better that other Widmark and Fonda movie “The Swarm.” George Segal is perfect in the role and maybe Sparks wouldn’t have regretted being in this movie if they played a better song than that incessant “Big Boy” that repeats the same lyrics for what seems like forever
I'm glad Sparks were featured instead of those other two bands, cause they're a genuinely talented and flagrantly underrated group who deserved the exposure they received from the venture.
@@newworldpuck Yes! One of "my" rides I operated. It was replaced by Serial Thriller b4 the park closed. I actually have ride "bolts" of both. I hope you liked the ride.
That pesky Star Wars film wiped out EVERYTHING that summer, Wizards only got two weeks screen time, but I got to see it in that window. I remember all the ads for Rollercoaster but at that age, Star Wars and Wizards was a LOT more fun. I don't regret not seeing it.
I remember seeing Wizards in Dallas then of course Star Wars which changed everything, also saw Midway and Earthquake in Sensurround and thought it was pretty cool kind of early surround sound , saw Rollercoaster on hbo and always enjoy George Segal thanks
a ripper movie with Timothy Bottoms is 'Operation Daybreak' - they remade it recently with Cillian Murphy under the title 'Anthropoid' - check them both a out a really incredible true story about some awesome unknown WW2 heroes.
I remember seeing this on TV as a kid. One of the funnier scenes was where Segal was trying to quit smoking with electro-shock therapy. Didn't remember the "pre-Police Academy" Steve Guttenberg - that was even before another of his serious roles in The Boys From Brazil.
Timothy Bottoms, *wow!* I haven't heard of him since the pre-9/11 show 'That's My Bush'. And now that I look at his IMDB page I see that he was also the dad on the 91' series 'Land of the Lost'. Thanks for the video, Jonny.
I saw this as a kid and the crash scene in the beginning with the wood coaster messed me up. Still to this day when I ride a wooden rollercoaster, when we make that turnaround. I always think I'm going to fly over the side.
After seeing a Sensurround screening of Rollercoaster in 1977 my father vowed never to go to the cinema with me ever again. He only went with me because he was a fan of Richard Widmark. Sensurround took him completely by surprise.
@@h2omonsta619 I went to see _Roller Coaster_ mainly because I was curious about Sensurround. Was disappointed, because I could hear a hiss from the system when they turned it on for the rumbling scenes, so I always knew it was coming. But, I got to see a good movie. At the time, I vowed that was a close as I was ever going to get to a coaster. That vow didn't last long.
Jonny, I just discovered your channel and it’s really great. Love the overview and details, it’s the kind of discussion that real movie lovers get into. I just subscribed and I’m looking forward to what’s next. Just a suggestion for a future piece... “The Hindenburg” from 1975. That would make a good discussion. All the best! 👍
0:49 I miss the "Rebel Yell" at Kings Dominion. This was LONG before Paramount Kings Dominion in Doswell, VA. That new rollercoaster name is too campy - Racer 75. I rode that roller coaster when I was 5 and went again and again. I loved the singing mushrooms, too.
Cracking film. Watched this way back in the day and still turn to it when I want a little bit of old fashion 70s suspense. Will have to admit the score, by Lalo Schifrin, still creeps me out; to this day. I have the score on vinyl, which gets the dust blown off it from time to time, just to remind me its time to watch the film again
Ok..a couple of points here - the novel was RE-issued as DEATH RIDE, but was originally published as ROLLERCOASTER, featuring identical artwork as @0:10 - I know, because I have a copy of it ! Ironically, in the novel, there is a reference to George Segal who of course played the lead role in the movie !
I grew up where this roller coaster (Skyrocket [The Rocket] at Ocean View in Norfolk. VA) was located. Rode it many times. It was old, shaky and terrifying. Lol. I am old. 😢
I remember seeing this as a kid and quoting lines from it when I went to both King's Dominion and Magic Mountain. I've to this day recommended it to people to see. I found out after the fact that it was at the local drive in about a month ago. I was disappointed to miss seeing it again.
I LOVE this movie. Segal, Bottoms, Widmark, with a score by Lalo Schifrin, it was awesome! I wish they hadn't cut the Pittsburgh sequence. I purchased the soundtrack and listen to it from time to time. Such a fun movie.
saw this in the theater when it came out. they had big 6-8 feet tall woofers set up at the front of the theater that would trigger a vibration that you could feel in your chest at appropriate moments
5:05 This is straight up false. Sensurround never had any vibrating elements in the seats. The effect was created by large horn shaped subwoofers installed under the screen and / or the back corners.
The whole means of how that worked is crazy, people forget sub bass is a recent invention, sensurround faked it, with a pseudo-randomised bass noise made by a pretty basic circuit, but it wasn’t directly reproducing any sound from the soundtrack, it was a separate sound effect turned on and volume-controlled by signals from the film. Mad really considering it’s limited use.
I remember sitting next to the "sensurround" sound box at the back of the theatre for Battlestar Galactica in 1978. It was about the size of a refrigerator.
Great movie, Great soundtrack. It is a movie I MUST watch every July 4th. I didn't think Timothy's character was boring. You don't have to be Cruella De Ville to scare the sH%$&& out of someone. He was cool & calculating. Lots of great subtle one liners in there. "Hey! I bet you a million dollars we beat you Mister" The rider tells Calder, who happens to have a mil in the suitcase. Thank You George Segal, I miss you.
Bottoms' performance was great! I can't imagine sitting on those rides and being so utterly emotionless about it. He was there on business, and absolutely nothing else! His matter-of-fact attitude to everything he does creeps me out to this day. I didn't even notice at first that his character was never given a name, nor are we told his motivation. As an aside, I was at a roller coaster club convention at Magic Mountain many years ago, where they showed this movie - _in Sensurround!_ - and Bottoms was in attendance! I got his autograph on a CD of the movie's soundtrack.
I first heard about the movie early in 1977. I was a student at USC, and the campus paper, the Daily Trojan had an ad for extras in the movie. I was like, where the hell is Magic Mountain? I did not have a car then, so if it was a place where RTD didn't go, I didn't know about it lol. I saw the movie shortly after it came out, then ended up going to Magic Mountain that summer. The Revolution was a cool ride.
The most exciting part of this movie was when Ronald Mael smashed his piano bench. Sparks continues to this day to make inventive and entertaining music. Kiss and the Bay City Rollers? Well, they were always kind of a joke.
One of my all time favorites; I thought Bottoms was about as realistic as a villain as there has ever been portrayed in a movie. Learned a few things I didn't know, thanks.
I think that nearly the only bad thing about this movie is that it underuses Harry Guardino. In a suspense film, he should be playing an excitable character, and he doesn't. It also underuses Susan Strasberg, but not as much.
The last time that this great suspense movie was shown on the BBC was in 1990 and it seems to have been forgotten about since but that is the BBC for you. Please show this on Tv again. Robert Bridgend 🏴
Thanx! This was entertaining because I was 15 t the time and worked several days as an extra during filming at Kings Dominion. I chatted with both James Goldstone (who saw me filming behind-the-scenes footage with my super 8 camera, borrowed it to look thru the lens, then handed it back, saying he'd rather stick with his Panavision 35mm camera) and George Segal, who was very nice, but sadly at the time I was too young to realize what a talent he was at the time, not having yet seen him in any previous movies, like Virginia Woolfe. Damn! Hey, how about an Everything you need to know about Cutter's Way (1980) video???
Saw this in the theater when it came out. Thought it very entertaining. Being from Pittsburgh, I can't believe I never knew Kennywood was their 1st choice.
Your description of how Sensurround works is incorrect. There was nothing attached to the seats. The infrasound low frequency from the audio lfe arrays were the only thing used to “vibrate” the audience. The Sensurround moments in the film were were tagged with a metallic tape that would trigger the system to generate a low frequency tone that was not part of the actual film soundtrack
I remember going to see this when it first came out in cinemas. The day I went my whole school was practivally there and we made a partyout of the screening which really made watching the film so cool. The only thing is the cinema did not show it in senssurround , But I had seen Earthquake in sensurround and to me that was the ultimate sensurround experience. Never experienced anything like that again.
Happened to see this on TV once and was surprised by how many random things that kept popping up that I'd actually seen in real life: 1. Helen Hunt (on stage) 2. Timothy Bottoms (when I was an extra on some cheap-ass movie he was in) and 3. King's Dominion and the specific new Rollercoaster featured at the end (which was an old-school antique by the time I rode it in the '90s).
I don't like that number Sparks performs that doesn't seem to want to end, and the closing theme is terribly repetitive, too. Beyond that, however, Schifrin's scoring throughout is very effective. I think the cool detachment in Bottoms' performance feels very much in keeping with the way a true sociopath would behave. Nice to see a photograph of the underrated James Goldstone, too.
I found this movie on dvd many years ago and fell in love with it because I am a huge fan of 70's disaster movies. The script for this movie is outstanding and the acting by this amazing cast was terrific. Unfortunately, the sound quality on the dvd copy I have is horrible so you don't get a sense of the sound effects at all. The musical score for this movie is so captivating, especially the theme written for the end credits.
@@SoUtHMeMpHis Not a disaster movie but try giving Turk 182 a try. It's about a firefighter who gets injured off the clock & his younger brother takes on "Government" rules to get him justice. I've never found it on DVD yet but I still remember it.
@@SoUtHMeMpHis check out 1977 tentacles about killer octopus (timeframe of jaws ) check out Poseidon (1972) the towering inferno (74) all airport flicks (4)..70’s were great for disaster movies I’m sure I’m forgetting some
I can't see why they would call it bland. He played it exactly as a psychopath would act, cold with no feeling. I guess their idea of a psycho is someone who jumps around cackling, which they usually don't.
Saw it the same summer as Star Wars. Great summer for movies....and, I used to go to Kings Dominion and ride the rollercoaster featured, the Rebel Yell. The first Sensurround film I saw made me feel sick, Earthquake. After that, I think I got used to it by this movie and BSG. Sometimes I think some theaters still use it.../covers my old man ears.
ROLLERCOSTER foi um excelente filme que tornou-se CAMPEÃO dos filmes CLASSE B, no BRASIL e em PORTUGAL. Excelente participação da Banda dos IRMÃOS MAEL, RON e RUSSEL MAEL, os SPARKS estão no auge do talento e da fama. O final é sensacional e a trilha sonora melhor ainda. Muito bom rever o que o BRASIL chamou de "O TERROR NA MONTANHA RUSSA".
It came in the time of Star Wars Jaws. George Segal great performance, wouldn't of thought Timothy Bottoms would be the one to to these horrific attacks. George Segal says to Bottoms 'Get a job' Bottoms replies 'I had jobs i'm not much productive at them'. If at near the end if bis voice was not recorded before T. Bottoms boarded the rollercoaster, how would George Segal catch him
What's up with throwing shade at George Segal? He is 85 years old in the Goldbergs, l wonder what you will be doing at 85? "He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and has won two Golden Globe Awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in A Touch of Class"
No. The roller coaster in the movie is named Revolution. And they refer to it as Revolution. It was the first year it was operating in real life. Why they wanted to tie it to this movie where it’s endangered of being bombed I’ll never know.
This film has been added in the disaster genre, why? It's more stop a terrorist. More a crime then a disaster. True , he causes damage but for ramson money.
Towards the end the of 70s came the end of these disaster filmd by Irwin Allen . They usually had unemployed old actors in them with big names to get you to watch them.
Magic Mountain wasn’t purchased by Six Flags until 1979. Prior it was just known as just "Magic Mountain". Its claim to fame in 1976 was The Great American Revolution named to celebrate the US’s bicentennial, and is considered the first modern steel vertical looping coaster.
@@iakona23 I think you were right the 2nd time around. Black Sunday was the movie with the exploding blimp. 2MW had extra footage for the 📺version, drastically changing the plot.
