User Reviews

I saw this in the theater… yep, in SENSURROUND… on July 13, 1977, and I'll never forget it. Mostly because after we left the theater in Times Square and began to walk back to our hotel, all the lights in New York City went out, people started screaming and glass started breaking… but that's another story.

"Rollercoaster" has more suspense and less action than many of the 1970's genre disaster movies… whether or not that's a bad thing depends on your point of view, I suppose. For me, I didn't find many aspects of it that really stood out, and 20 years or so after I'd seen it in New York and finally watched it again, I found I remembered almost none of it except for the crashing coasters. None of the plot and none of the characters had stuck with me… oh, I remembered the kid with the bomb fetish, but not in any meaningful way. (Tim Bottoms looks like a cross between Ryan O'Neal and Ted Bundy, by the way.) Just last week my dad offered me the loan of his DVD, and I immediately said "oh, the blackout movie!", and he too remembered it well… being trapped with two children in a pitch-dark, paralyzed metropolis filled with looters and muggers hundreds of miles from home appears to be seared into the man's memory, far worse than any "disaster" that could be presented on a movie screen. This third time through, my expectations were a bit lower and I found I enjoyed it more than I had the second time.

There are a couple of things that really date it… can you imagine in this day and age finding a bomb on an amusement park ride, simply taking it off, and then deeming the ride safe and starting to load it with unsuspecting people? "Nah, it's fine, we found the bomb… okay folks, step right up, no problem, you'll have a blast… er, a great time." There's also a lot of smoking… I don't object to it; I just notice it and get taken back to 1977 by it. I'd also have to say I found the end a bit abrupt and simplistic. That was IT? Not "The Poseidon Adventure" and not "The Towering Inferno", two superior period disaster flicks, but an interesting enough little movie.

It's more fun that it has a right to be, an inexpensive movie about a Safety Inspector (Segal) who must deliver a million dollars to a techie madman who will otherwise blow up one of the rides at the King's Dominion Amusement Park in Richmond, Virginia.

There's a scene in "Dirty Harry" in which the madman "runs Harry all over the city" with a suitcase full of cash, attempting to lose or confuse the many cops known to be following Harry and watching for the pick up. This whole movie is like that, except that instead of simply running from one point to another, Segal is instructed by radio to buy funny hats, ride the roller coaster multiple times, be weighed by a cute girl in glasses, have his picture taken, and do the usual things that people do in amusement parks.

George Segal does a nice job as the reluctant but savvy and inventive hero. He's supported by several familiar names, most of them past their prime, few of whom worked on the picture for more than a day or two -- Henry Fonda, beginning to gargle with age; Richard Widmark as the federal agent in charge of tracking Segal's moves in hope of capturing the madman, Timothy Bottoms; Harry Guardino from "Dirty Harry", who has about two lines of dialog; Susan Strasberg who is there to prove Segal is an ordinary heterosexual; and an adolescent Helen Hunt.

It's silly and enjoyable, like spending a day at an amusement park, and, like cotton candy, after it melts so engagingly in your mouth there's nothing of substance left.

While trying to find another angle towards the many disaster films that materialized back in the 1970's, "Rollercoaster", though not the worst film of this particular genre, but you'd be kidding me if you all think this was the best of of its genre, because in reality it never even comes close. Sure this film delivers a cornucopia of footage from the rollercoasters, but what brings this movie down was the narrow-thin plot and a poorly structured story. Directed by James Goldstone and running for exactly two hours, "Rollercoaster" is an excuse to exploit audience people who have short-attention spans, which leads to the gripping amusement park scenarios are awkwardly pasted on as a ploy to bring this story to feature-length. For the genre being a crime-drama, it's tedious and mundane which is rare because most crime dramas are both exciting and settling, "Rollercoaster" is simply not like that.

Timothy Bottoms stars as a unnamed bomber who's modus operandi is to wring out $1 million from amusement park owners after observing that getting through security is a piece of cake. While at the amusement parks, he places explosives on the roller-coaster tracks and releases the bombs with the help of a remote trigger and promises to inflict more damage unless his demands are compromised. George Segal plays Insp. Harry Calder, a cantankerous man trying to quit smoking by using shock therapy, seems to have more access knowledge than the other detectives and just knows the right strategy needed to outsmart this sadistic fiend. He becomes the right person for the job while sacrificing his safety and finds himself in one precarious situation after another.

Like its predecessors, this movie has an ensemble of talented thespians, although it doesn't really feature very many A-list performers. The only two standouts are popular 1970's performer George Segal and the very iconic Henry Fonda who was lowered to a very low supporting role and doesn't really have much to do here. There are debuts from younger performers who would go onto bigger and better roles in the future. Helen Hunt is in this movie playing Harry's daughter Tracy Calder. Although he did not get credit for his performance, Steve Guttenberg has a cameo role as a messenger. And voice legend Michael Bell is here in a small role as Chuck Demerest.

During the time of its release, there was some speculation that theatres wanted to add more to the sound systems by creating more dimension to get the audience pumped up by creating sound-waves where bass speakers came into effect which would manipulate the theatre chairs to tremble on impact and to add extra sound during explosives, almost as though the audience was in on the action. This archaic technology was there way before HD and 3D were invented. I guess this was desperate move to keep the audience awake from their slumber because it sure didn't keep me awake.

Even the technical features were a bummer as well. Lalo Schifrin's pedestrian score sounded like a giant rip-off to Hitchcock's "Psycho". And who in their right minds though that glam-rock musician Russell Mael of Sparks could act? Now "Big Boy" will etched in my mind for a very long time. For amusement park aficionados will marvel at the amusement park footages, but will not grab anyone else's attention if you are not. Even though there are a lot of casualties I the movie, the audience gets to witness only one. I guess the audience must be dumb or hard at seeing, but there are obvious dummies replacing live actors during the sporadic graphic scenes makes one felt like they were cheated by low-budget obviousness.

"Rollercoaster" is an obscure and dated film that was released at a time when disaster films were wearing out its welcome by the late 1970's. This movie might appeal to those who are nostalgic junkies or fans who love old movies and of course there are a few enthusiasts who insist that this movie is a top-notch heart-pulsing thriller. Sorry folks I'm not on your side for this one. This movie is one long, slow ride that will inspire you to seek elsewhere for more fun rides. Even the shaking, trembling seats would not have held my interest if I was old enough to had seen when it was released in 1977.

Just how many films exist which are centered on rollercoasters? - Unfortunately, exceedingly few. Well, that's where the aptly titled Rollercoaster comes into play. Rollercoasters and theme parks, in general, have been a fascination of mine since childhood with all those hours spent sitting at the computer playing Rollercoaster Tycoon (ah, good times). Even the ending of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms had me disappointed when that lovely rollercoaster was set on fire in order to kill the creature. I can happily sit all day and watch nicely shot and edited footage of theme parks as well as POV footage of Rollercoasters of which this 70's thriller has in plenty supply.

Rollercoaster is often mischaracterized as a disaster movie and while it does feature that 70's disaster movie motif of having an all-star cast, the only disaster occurs at the beginning of the film in which a bomb is detonated on an active rollercoaster (shot at Ocean View Amusement Park, Virginia). This leads to a very well staged and brutal sequence in which carriage goes off track and bodies are seen being crushed on screen, albeit very briefly. Throughout the remainder of the film, the killer in question is threatening disaster rather than having disaster play out. Rollercoaster is also one of several films in the 1970s to feature Sensurround, a process to give the viewer a sense of vibration. This along with the film's ties to the disaster genre gives the impression Rollercoaster is going to be a gimmicky picture however it's a stronger film than its exterior would indicate. Rollercoaster is a Hitchcockian, cat & mouse thriller which if anything owes more to Jaws than the disaster movie genre (both films feature July 4th as a major element in their plots). Rollercoaster also makes a worthy companion piece to fellow terrorist thriller from 1977, Black Sunday, which both explore how public attractions can't just be shut down due to terror threats. Likewise, it goes without saying that in the 21st century no company would allow their brand to be featured in a film in which their product is at the basis of a terrorist attack while the plot itself would be less likely to occur in today's surveillance world.

No motive is given to the killer played by Timothy Bottoms (simply billed as the "Young Man" in the end credits), however, the character comes off more frightening this way than if he was given a clear motive (see Peter Bogdanovich's Targets for a similar villain). In one scene the Young Man is shooting with precision at a fairground range and is asked by the carnie if he is ex-military to which the Young Man gives no response. Could he be a Vietnam veteran? - Along with his knowledge of explosives, the movie leaves such a reading open. The relationship between the hero Harry Calder (George Segal) and villain in Rollercoaster takes place over audio channels as they never encounter each other face to face until the end. This dynamic would later become commonplace in action films such as Die Hard or Speed, but Rollercoaster is the earliest film I'm aware of to feature this trope. In retrospect, I feel Bottoms gives the strongest performance in the film. He has a cold, calculating menace to him and even manages to do a lot with his eyes and tone of voice. Timothy Bottoms would later go onto portray U.S President George W. Bush a total of 4 times, and once you know that you can't unsee it. The middle portion of Rollercoaster involves a lengthy sequence of mind games at King's Dominion Park, Virginia, in which the Young Man orders Harry to perform a series of tasks including wearing a funny hat and going on various rides (including one titled Vertigo - a little Hitchcock reference?) in order to transfer a briefcase containing a cash ransom. It's a very well constructed piece of suspense similar in vain to the Simon Says series of mind games in Die Hard With A Vengeance (not to mention that camera trick they pull off on the Rebel Yell rollercoaster is a real shocker).

So who is that band featured in Rollercoaster playing at the film's finale in Six Flags Magic Mountain on the 4th of July? They're called Sparks, a respected music act from what I gather despite their resemblance to an 80's hair metal band as seen in the film. Their song Big Boy is played as a bomb squad is attempting to find and disable an explosive on the rollercoaster and on first viewing, it feels like the song is on loop for a comically absurd amount of time, even with several intervals in which the film cuts to other scenes in which the song is not played. When watching the film again and timing how long the song is actually played for it only lasts 5 minutes but on first viewing, I could swear it felt more like 20 minutes (good tune though). The roller coaster featured in film's climax is the Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California which opened the year prior in 1976 and is the first rollercoaster in the world to feature a complete 360-degree vertical loop. The score by Lalo Schifrin on the other hand is surprisingly varied. The carnival motifs are original pieces composed for the film and not just lifted stock music, and like any carnival music, its one part joyous and the other part sinister. The score also occasionally transitions into the style of Bernard Hermann's Psycho score and even throws some nice blaxploitation style funk into the mix at the beginning of the Magic Mountain sequence.

The film's writers Richard Levinson and William Link were primarily involved writing for TV, thus Rollercoaster does have a made-for-TV vibe to it which it can't quite shake off. The plot itself does sound the type of premise which would be the basis for a TV movie and unlikely to make it to cinematic A-picture. The characters themselves in Rollercoaster are only surface-level interesting but the plot has enough intrigue to keep it engaging. George Segal is likeable as everyman Harry Caulder who gets caught up in the Hitchcock tradition of an ordinary man getting trapped in an extraordinary situation. He is also given an odd but memorable introduction seen trying to give up smoking via Clockwork Orange style methods. Likewise, the always cool Richard Widmark does his reliable thing however I'm just disappointed Henry Fonda's role in the film barely goes beyond a cameo. Fonda's part could have provided some entertaining comic relief with the antagonist relationship he shares with George Segal by popping up now and then but instead only appears in two scenes and is clearly phoning in his performance - the part must have been a quick pay-cheque. Regardless of shortcomings, for now, Rollercoaster is probably the best film in the not so contested category of best rollercoaster film of all time.