Customer Reviews

Terror on the 40th Floor

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am afraid that this rather murky and smeary print of a most forgettable film does full justice to the original. Materials handled with a certain amount of class in THE TOWERING INFERNO (such as the flashback, the smoke-filled room, the heroic firefighter, etc) here receive short shrift. This is disaster by the book, with little sympathy for the participants, little compassion for the victims, and little effort in the effects.

The print from which this DVD is taken seems in dire need of restoration. Focus is foggy, color faded, images darkened, clips and frames missing.

And yet, if you are a disaster-film junky such as I am, this film at its modest price will be a suitable addition to your collection.

During the unsettled atmosphere of the late 1960s and the 1970s, films dealing with people victimized by natural and unnatural disasters were all the rage, and this tale of several couples trapped at the top of a tall burning building is an undistinguished example. An obvious attempt to capitalize upon the box-office success of THE TOWERING INFERNO, this effort, titled BLAZING TOWER before sagely being changed, is set in an unidentified New York City, on the opposite coast from the former production's San Francisco. Occurring upon Christmas Eve, the script follows obligatory romantic entanglements involving three pair of illy-matched employees during a company's annual holiday party, and with a much smaller budget than INFERNO, this work made for television displays lesser lights in its cast. Television film director Jerry Jameson routinely leads many of this type of calamity narrative, and mediocre describes this affair, although the skillful editing, largely by Jameson, effectively moves the action past points of tedium. While John Forsythe and Anjanette Comer are edging toward an adulterous romance, Don Meredith and Joseph Campanella are helping themselves to proffered charms from others of the secretarial class as the holocaust approaches. While actual New York City firemen struggle manfully with the encroaching blaze, flashbacks are utilized so that we may fully appreciate the risks, romantic and otherwise, milked by the threatened sextet. It is best to overlook some flawed tactical firefighting operations as presented in order to develop a sense of suspense as to the picture's outcome, but in any case the trite romantic machinations take precedence in the scenario. The cast performance is of a piece with its non-demanding script wherein lack the seeds to garner deep interest of performers, although Forsythe is as unruffled as ever.

Not one second was put into improving the quality when transfering it to DVD. A very old used VHS transfer is what it looks like. There should be a law against this!

The sound of this dvd is terrible and the no clear picture at all.
Don,t buy this film .

Terror on the 40th Floor Direct Source issued a DVD of this film, which is now out of print. I just purchased it, hoping it would be a better transfer than the one released by Braun Media (which has a video glitch in one scene). However, I found that Direct Source's print is missing about 8 minutes of footage, including the scenes where the party guests first realize their building is on fire. This is not the result of this being a different edit of the film. There is simply a noticeably awkward jump in the film that skips over the scenes. I'd rather have the slight video problems of my Braun Media copy than an incomplete print. I am returning the Direct Source copy.

This movie started slow but did become very exciting. It was fun watching the dated cloths etc. A little melodramatic in places but John Forsythe and Joseph Campanella were worth watching. Some scenes were dark but it was a fire disaster with lots of smoke.