1974 was the peak year for the all-star disaster movies of the 1970's. That one year brought us Airport 1975, Earthquake, and The Towering Inferno. Set in San Francisco, this time around the disaster involves a fire in the world's tallest building, on the very night the building is having it's christening party in the promenade ballroom on the 135th floor.

This movie follows the same blueprint as The Poseidon Adventure only it takes place in a tall burning building instead of on a capsized ship. Take a group of people played by famous aging movie stars, throw in a couple of children and a ballad by Maureen McGovern, then light a fire and watch them fight to survive. This movie is nowhere near as good as The Poseidon Adventure. Besides the obvious fact that it is a rip-off of that movie it also lacks a good script with characters that you care about.

The cast and some decent special effects are all this movie has going for it. How many movies can boast Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and William Holden? How about Fred Astaire, Faye Dunaway and Jennifer Jones in her last movie role? Richard Chamberlain, Robert Wagner and Robert Vaughn are here too. It also boasts O.J. Simpson, Dabney Coleman and Bobby Brady (Mike Lookinland). Surely a cast for the ages.

McQueen is a fireman, Newman is an architect, Holden is the owner of the building blah, blah, blah. None of them are fully fleshed out characters. Faye Dunaway suffers the most as she is given very few lines, she just gets to kiss Paul Newman a few times. Jennifer Jones and Fred Astaire are the best characters. In one scene they share a dance and the performer in Fred comes eagerly out.

The last hour is pretty entertaining. The action builds to a decent climax and the effects hold up reasonably well. And boy is this a time capsule of the era. This was how cars looked when they still made them in Detroit. This movie is but a curiosity today, watch it for the cast or for the nostalgia but don't expect too much.

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