Rollercoaster

Released by: Shout Factory
Released on: June 21st, 2016
Director: James Goldstone
Cast: George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Susan Strasberg, Henry Fonda, Helen Hunt
Year: 1977
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The Movie:

A young and mysterious terrorist without motives or mercy is extorting theme park owners by setting explosives on some of the country's newest and most popular rollercoasters. It's only a matter of time before more lives are lost, unless a determined safety inspector, the park owners and police can come up with a way to stop the young man before it's too late.

Rollercoaster is a film which makes itself stand out from the number of 1970s disaster films thanks mainly to the acting chops and likability of its cast. George Segal stars as safety inspector Harry Calder, who becomes the liaison between the authorities and an ice cold terrorist, played by Timothy Bottoms. Segal is all chatter and assuming 70s everyman cool as he begins to understand the Young Man's next move, eventually coming to a climactic head at California's Six Flags Magic Mountain. In particular is a running gag/theme where Segal's character, a recovering smoker continually waffles between trying to stay off the wagon and attempting to light up a smoke, with something always coming between the character and puffing away. Elsewhere,Susan Strasberg and a young Helen Hunt appear as Calder's love interest and daughter, respectively, while Henry Fonda cashes a check and acts from one location and a telephone as Segal's belabored boss.

The cinematography is another place where Rollercoaster shines, as David M Walsh's camera captures some excellent first person images from the front cars of various coasters. This is especially effective if, like yours truly, aren't the biggest fan of heights, with some of the disaster sequences of people falling out of cars coming across as particularly effective, even if the film mainly stages them via obvious dummy deaths.

Rollercoaster certainly possesses its fair share of the kitsch and goofiness inherent within the 70s disaster genre, but director James Goldstone and his screenwriters actually treat the story by producer Tommy Cook with plenty of thriller elements, which make this entry stand out from the crowd. Indeed, even though the film is presented in the same "Sensurround" presentation invented for fellow disaster flicks like Charlton's Heston's Earthquake, the overall mood of Rollercoaster is satisfyingly more serious.

The excellent score from Lalo Schiftin is also something worth mentioning, as the Argentine composer balances light orchestral flourishes with the furious funk with which his career is most closely associated. Soaring strings cut across a groovy backbeat during the film's opening titles, amplified by some pretty righteous jazz flute, to boot. Oh, and music fans should also note that the band Sparks appear here in a concert scene, providing a really fun and hilarious distraction. The scene is worth watching, just for the facial expressions of keyboardist Ron Mael, who clearly does NOT want to be there, in fact noting years later that appearing in this film was Sparks' biggest regret as a band.

To each his own, for Rollercoaster is good stuff, and doesn't drag much for a film that's nearly two hours in length, thanks again to its unique premise, solid music and charismatic actors.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Shout Factory brings home Rollercoaster in a bright, colorful and well defined widescreen print, set at 2.35:1 in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. The image never appears cramped, and skin tones look warm and detailed with enough of that 70s grain to give this one a nostalgic appeal. The coaster scenes especially look great in high definition, while there's plenty of awesome location shots at Magic Mountain, which was only about six years open during this time. The DTS-HD audio track is presented in the original Sensurround fashion, which was intended at the time to give audiences the experience of being in the middle of all the chaos. Although the home video experience is missing that feeling of rumbling seats and audience participation, the actual dialogue itself comes across super clean and undistorted, making this disc all good on the AV front.

Extras here include the film's original theatrical trailer, as well as an interview Tommy Cook. who was responsible for the story idea behind the script. It's a fun chat as he looks back upon how the film was produced from his initial idea, and how the studio changed some of his original details, specifically how his intention was to make the climax more focused on the coaster itself, as opposed to a chase on foot. He also talks about his early days as a close friend of crooner Dean Martin, and his career as an actor.

The Final Word:

Rollercoaster may not be the film to turn you on disaster movies if they're not your bag, but fans of the genre should have a lot of fun with this well-remembered and better than average take on craziness at the carnival.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!