At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
- Won 3 Oscars
- 13 wins & 14 nominations total
Sheila Allen
- Paula Ramsay
- (as Sheila Mathews)
Norman Burton
- Giddings
- (as Normann Burton)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBoth novels were inspired by the construction of the World Trade Center in the early-1970s, and what could happen with a fire in a skyscraper. In Richard Martin Stern's novel "The Tower", the fictional 125-story building was set next to the north tower of the World Trade Center. The climax of the novel was centered around a rescue mounted from the north tower.
- Goofs(at around 2h 35 mins) At the end of the movie the tower seems to be well lit despite the power outage caused by the fire.
- Quotes
Doug Roberts: I don't know. Maybe they just oughta leave it the way it is. Kind of a shrine to all the bullshit in the world.
- Crazy creditsThe 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Pictures logos don't appear in the beginning.
- Alternate versionsThe film was re-dubbed in 2003 for the German DVD release. All subsequent releases on DVD and Blu-ray feature this new dubbing, many TV airings as well.
- ConnectionsEdited into St. Elsewhere: The Abby Singer Show (1988)
- SoundtracksWe May Never Love Like This Again
Sung by Maureen McGovern
Words and Music by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
Featured review
McQueen and Newman create sparks
Your typical dumb disaster flick, produced by the king of the genre, Irwin Allen, made notable by the presence of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman who finally agreed to share the screen as equals, something they almost did in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The ever competitive McQueen made his film debut with a bit part in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" in which Newman starred, and one of his ambitions was to finally get top billing over his number one rival. Even with the so-called "diagonal billing" employed in the film and its advertising (with Newman's name elevated slightly above McQueen's), those of us who read from left to right can see that McQueen got his wish. He also got the best role. He's the firefighter, a tight jawed man of action, while Newman is saddled with the less sympathetic role of the architect. But the real star is the burning building. It burns, and impressively at that, but there's something very claustrophobic about this situation which results in less action than Allen's previous smash, "The Posiedon Adventure."
But the acting is better. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes Richard Chamberlain (particularly good), William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Fred Astaire. That's an improvement over Carol Lynley and Eric Shea, both of whom Gene Hackman had the misfortune of emoting with two years earlier. Whatever one thinks of this particular genre, "The Towering Inferno" is probably the best of the bunch.
But the acting is better. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes Richard Chamberlain (particularly good), William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Fred Astaire. That's an improvement over Carol Lynley and Eric Shea, both of whom Gene Hackman had the misfortune of emoting with two years earlier. Whatever one thinks of this particular genre, "The Towering Inferno" is probably the best of the bunch.
helpful•4318
- bwaynef
- Dec 13, 2003
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Flammendes Inferno
- Filming locations
- 2898 Vallejo Street, Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California, USA(Roger and Patty Simmons' house)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $14,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $116,000,000
- Gross worldwide
- $116,000,429
- Runtime2 hours 45 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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