Rollercoaster (1977)

Rollercoaster (1977) is included in Universal’s Ultimate Disaster Pack DVD set but I’m not sure I’d call it a disaster movie. It has some elements we associate with that genre but I’d call it a suspense thriller.

What attracted me to this movie initially is that the screenplay was written by Richard Levinson and William Link. They’re best known for their work in television - these were the guys who created Columbo, Ellery Queen (one of my all-time favourite TV series) and Murder, She Wrote. I figured that if they were involved then Rollercoaster might turn out to be interesting.

It starts with a tragic accident at an amusement park. The rollercoaster collapsed (in a thrilling and well executed sequence) and a number of people were killed.

Harry Calder (George Segal) isn’t happy about this. He’s an inspector with the Safety and Standards department and he was the one who carried out the routine inspection on that rollercoaster a few weeks earlier. He doesn’t think this accident really was an accident.

Being a curious guy he does a bit of digging. There have been other recent amusement park accidents that seem slightly suspicious. Harry is not just a curious guy, he’s a guy who knows how to follow a trail and the trail leads him to the heads of five companies which owned the amusement parks that suffered accidents. What really interests Harry is why these five company heads are having a secret meeting in Chicago. He decides to crash their private party and that’s how he discovers that these amusement parks have been targeted by an extortionist who wants a million dollars.

Harry is not the kind of guy who hankers to be a lone wolf hero type. He immediately contacts the FBI. Special Agent Hoyt (Richard Widmark) takes over the investigation. Hoyt is a prickly character who doesn’t amateurs getting involved in his cases. Which is fine by Harry. He’s done his duty. And then comes a phone call from the extortionist. He insists that Harry should be the one who delivers the million dollars. Harry is going to be in the middle of this case whether he and Hoyt like it or not.

The money drop will be made at another amusement park. The FBI will be waiting but this extortionist isn’t easy to trap.

The movie’s climax comes when an another rollercoaster disaster is threatened.

The audience saw the extortionist right at the start of the movie and we soon learn that his motivation is very simple - he just wants money. So there’s no great mystery. This is a pure suspense movie.

The opening rollercoaster disaster is one of the three very long very effective suspense sequences that occupy most of the movie’s running time.

These sequences are intricate and elaborate, with the tension being ratcheted up remorselessly. They’re imaginative and superbly executed.

There’s not much focus on characterisation and this is deliberate. It’s the suspense sequence that matter. This is a suspense thriller not a psychological thriller. The only psychological angle is that the extortionist is an obsessive who goes to extraordinary lengths to make his plans fool-proof. He always has a backup plan. Since Harry makes his living as a safety inspector his mind works in much the same way. You check something, you check it again, and then you check it a third time to make sure. Harry understands how the extortionist’s mind works. He despises the extortionist as a cold-blooded killer but he respects the guy’s intelligence and attention to detail.

Harry is no tortured hero. He’s divorced but he gets on fine with his ex-wife, he gets to see his daughter regularly and he has a nice new girlfriend. George Segal’s easy-going likeable performance is a major asset. Timothy Bottoms is nicely arrogant and calculating as the unnamed extortionist.

I’ve never liked Richard Widmark much but he’s very good here as Hoyt, a cynical professional with one minor weakness - he tends to underestimate his quarry and he underestimates Harry.

The Ultimate Disaster Pack DVD set also includes The Hindenburg (which I watched recently), Airport (a movie I’ve always loved) and Earthquake (a firm favourite of mine). The DVD transfer is 16:9 enhanced and looks great. It’s a DVD set worth getting hold of.

Rollercoaster really is a superbly made rollercoaster ride of suspense and excitement. Highly recommended.