I have always found it hilarious that a bunch of strong-looking guys help them set up the Christmas tree as a ladder, then refuse to follow them up it to safety. They wanted to be helpful, just had no interest in saving their own lives.
This was a favorite movie for me growing up - not sure how many times I watched - its now been long enough for me to have forgotten most this scene - and visually and effects wise it still holds up remarkably well IMO.
When the Grenfell tower was on fire in London, residents where told to "stay put". Those who listened perished in the fire. At the time of the fire it was sound advice, but after the inquest, it was concluded that the advice to stay and wait for help was wrong.
@@ya00007 wow calm down dude 😂. I’m simply saying stay in a burning tower block? Or try and get out yourself and maybe meet the firefighters half way? Same with this video.. your going to stay in a ship that’s gradually sinking in a room with windows around that could crack? I think Scott made a good judgment call to leave. I’m more commenting on the video here your the one who bought up real life
@@TheIndependentLens oh yes they were running like chickens in a storm after that explosion trying to scurry up the tree, its logical to climb to the top the tail end up closer to sea level. the pompous ass choked on his words..
@@TheIndependentLens I was trying to respond to someone else not u.. get over yourself u jerk, i dont drink, perhaps its the meth thats screwing your brains up. it isnt even that serious.
This proves that people in authority (e.g. the purser) aren't always right. I also noticed part of the time the purser was holding his right arm as if it were injured. If that were the case, he wouldn't have been much help to anyone - & he would have needed help himself. His problem was hubris surpassing any common sense he had remaining. It should have be logical that the water pressure would have eventually busted that window - explosions or no.
oh yeah that purser was a dominate pompous ass who choked on his words. i would have listen to the logic in that split second moment of life and death that to climb upwards to the top the tail end is closer to sea level if they r turn upside down, so those who followed suit choosing to stay put and suddenly they have to run like chickens in a storm scurrying over to climb the tree that tumbled over. more would have survived if they had not also panic.
@@Forwardbias83 thanks for the heads up. i never heard about it, will search for it. in this day and age u must be the leader of your own thought or logic, otherwise if u follow the leader u might end up falling in a hole if u move to fast, if u follow its best to tread slowly so therefore if he falls in u can go the other way.
His acting was phenomenal in this movie. This is a great movie but this scene is my favorite! I just like the passion he had when trying to reason with them.
I saw “The Poseidon Adventure” as a 9-year-old when it came out in 1972, and I thought the purser was right about staying put instead of Gene Hackman. It wasn’t until Hackman and the others had climbed up the Christmas tree that I realized I was supposed to be rooting for him and that I’d be “left behind” plot-wise if I stayed with the purser. If something like that had happened in real life and I was there, I suppose I would have been one of those people in the ballroom who ended up drowning.
oh yes so have i.. soon though u give up trying and watch some fall to the wasteside, those who stayed behind couldn't see the logic until it was to late, they all had to run like chickens in a storm to scurry up the tree that tumbled over while also realizing the pompous ass choked on his words.
it was obvious to climb upwards to the top tail end thats closest to sea level, it was a split second decision between life and death. no time for squabbling over anything i wouldn't listen to the most dominate like the purser.
A peculiar detail at 1:32 : It was James Martin (Red Buttons) who got the idea to climb upward. It is always beneficial to have on board the paratrooper that got stuck on a church tower in Normandy the night before D-Day.. He knows how to get out of extremely prercarious situations! :)
@@michael.prescott4016 Nothing to do with speed; everything to do with the ship not being stable enough due to lack of ballast. This isn't Titanic and even that story is not as simple as simply going too fast.
@@Kaidhicksii the problem was that Mr Linarcos was unwilling to allow Captain Harrison to continue at slow ahead and begin taking on water ballast instead because he insisted that the Poseidon arrive that Monday night so that she could be taken to the breakers Captain Harrison was forced to have her go full ahead and she could not go and take on water ballast safely while going that fast I guess as a result the SS Poseidon was too far up out of the water in other words she was top heavy and when the seaquake occurred and the seismically generated rogue Wave occurred she was a tender ship at that point and could not stay upright when it hit even though Captain Harrison had his helm officer go hard left and even though he closed all the water tight doors it was not enough so there was some connection between the speed that the ship was going at and the disaster that unfolded.
He wasn't a priest. He was a protestant minister. And he couldn't go with them. That was the difference between him and Revered Scott. Scott was a maverick renegade in the new style where the older minister was from a different generation and believed in the old ways. Which can also work. When Scott was trying to convince him to go with them, he asked what the old minister thought of his sermon. The old minister replied, "you spoke only for the strong." And was was right!
So did I - actually he was a chaplain who may or may not have been a priest; he was wearing a roman collar which meant he could be a Catholic or an Episcopalian priest or a Methodist minister, possibly other kinds of Protestant ministers. He was more old school (traditional) and since he was older than Rev. Scott, he may not have felt as physically capable of joining Scott's group. Although he knew he was incapable of saving those who stayed behind (some of whom were injured too severely to join Scott's group even if they wanted to) and that they would most likely die, he felt his priority was to remain behind with them so he could provide them with spiritual comfort until the end - that was the POV I saw with Chaplain John's decision.
@@alexisdiva9 He most definitely was NOT a Catholic priest. Protestant although I cannot say from which denomination but based on the way he and Scott spoke, I can almost guarantee you it was not Episcopalian.
Since there are themes of spirituality running through this film, if you look carefully, why do you think ST. John said at 1st John 4:1: "Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world."
I always enjoyed this movie as well as the novel it’s based upon. As I grew older, I learned a few things. A competent captain at sea is said to be master after God Himself. The captain should have locked up Linarcos for attempted mutiny and continued to keep adding ballast. Odds are, most of the heavy machinery, turbines and the boilers would have broken free upon capsizing and crashed through the decks and superstructure, sinking to the seabed. And interesting that in the final scene, the fire in the engine room didn’t eat up all the oxygen and snuff itself out, suffocating the survivors.. But then, there’d be no suspenseful plot line.
Agreed. I would've contacted the Admiralty and notified them of the situation and requested Linarcos to be transferred into naval or coast guard custody. There have been scenes where it appears machinery collapsed through the decks and cut off some routes of escape. Oxygen, flammable substance and heat are the main ingredients of a fire.
It is hard to play a villain but he was exceptional. Imagine the reception he got at the local market after the movie debuted! From Movie.... Mr. Linarcos : 'I did not suggest full ahead, Captain. As the new owner's representative on this ship, I ordered it!'
Always hated the Linarcoss character. In real life he could have been forcibly removed from the bridge for interfering with the safe operation of the ship. It doesn't matter who you are ashore, at sea the Captain is the final word. Now, once they get to port, he could fire the Captain, but at sea he has to obey like everybody else.
The other problem with Linarcos is that if the ship hasn't completed it's final voyage, why is the representative of a shipbreaking company already on board? The Captain's first obligation would be to get the passengers to their destination, then deliver the ship to the scrap yard. And "three days behind schedule"? Shipbreaking is a huge business, and even one ship that size would take months to dismantle. Breakers yards are huge, and filled with old ships waiting to be cut up.
In real life the explosions would have come from the engine rooms and boiler rooms. The 1969 novel "The Poseidon Adventure" by Paul Gallico gives a lot of information about what happened as the Poseidon turned over.
oh yeah they started running like chickens in a storm after that explosion, if that had been me amongst those folks i would have followed the logic once pointed out, it was a split second decision between life and death, i would have chosen to climb upwards using the tree, only because the tail end is up closer to the top of the ocean or sea level. more could have survived if they had not panic all trying to climb up in a scurry..
Although this is a film there’s a real parallel with so many real travesties. 9/11, the Sewol disaster where ppl were told to stay out and died as a result
This is what I think of when I see how the economy is going. So many people with an obvious logical choice to put their wealth in gold or even better silver, but so many will follow the talking heads in the media and gov't to their doom by staying in dollars and bonds.
Honestly, I don't blame the people that chose to stay in the ballroom. Would you rather follow bunch of random passengers to who knows where or listen to an actual crewman who knows the ship?
After watching this movie many times in the past,I am very curious to know one thing,and maybe you will agree with me-What was the real reason for making this movie-Was it to prove or demonstrate that a disaster like this one in real life could really happen,if one goes traveling on any ocean liner?
@@man975dog Yes, and the actual Queen Mary was used during filming as the Poseidon for some shots. It's unlikely that the real Queen Mary would have actually flipped. It's more likely it would settle on its side, as for obvious reasons, they designed the ship not to flip upside down.
Riiiiight. First of all, why'd you have to bring politics into this? Second, now that you did, what was your "reasoning," just outta curiosity, and how's it working out for you a year later? You can skip the first two questions if you want.
