| | | One Tiny Spark Becomes A Night Of Blazing Suspense.
Features: DVD, Widescreen
The Glass Tower is touted as the world's tallest building, and its owners are holding a huge gala to celebrate its completion. But the building contractors used cheap wiring to cut corners, against the recommendations of architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman), and a blaze starts in a janitor's closet. Soon the Glass Tower becomes the Towering Inferno as the fire quickly spreads upward, trapping the party guests. The firefighters can't fight the blaze fast enough and the fire chief (Steve McQueen) devises a daring and dangerous rescue, but not before a slew of spectacularly fiery deaths and heroics. Never fear, though: in the end humankind once again learns a valuable lesson about its arrogance!
"A camp classic disaster movie." Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Editor's Note
A horrible fire engulfs the world's largest skyscraper trapping a group of people on the top floor. Academy Award Nominations: 8, including Best Picture. Academy Awards: 3, Best Cinematography, Best Song ("We May Never Love Like This Again"), Best Editing.
Plot Summary
One hundred and thirty stories of glass and steel pierce the landscape, a monument to architectural know-how and the power of money. But the builders have taken some cash-saving shortcuts, and it takes just one spark from an electric current to set off a disaster.| During a celebratory party full of wealthy movers and shakers, the tower bursts into flames, and chaos erupts as the raging force of nature envelopes the structure. A courageous fire captain on the outside and the desperate architect trapped inside struggle to save the guests from the fire created by their greedy manipulations.
| Features | AMC Backstory: "The Towering Inferno" | | Audio Commentaries By F.X. Feeney (Film Historian) & Scene-Specific Commentary By Mike Venzina (Special Effects Director) & Branko Racki (Stunt Coordinator) | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 4.0, Spanish Dolby Digital Mono | | Dubbed: Spanish | | Extended & Deleted Scenes | | Featurettes: "Inside The Tower: We Remember", "Innovating Tower: The SPFX Of An Inferno", "The Art Of Towering", "Irwin Allen: The Great Producer", "Directing The Inferno", "Putting Out Fire", "Running On Fire", "Still The Worlds Tallest Building" & "The Heart Of Disaster: Stirling Silliphant" | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | The Towering Inferno - DVD Review By: Don Willmott - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 7/3/2009 10:48 PM | |
There is so much to love about The Towering Inferno it's hard to know where to begin. Steve McQueen and Paul Newman are together at last! Fred Astaire gets drenched! O.J. Simpson saves a cat! Faye Dunaway wears Dacron! As one of the first mid-'70s disaster epics (produced by the King of Disaster, Irwin Allen), this supersized burnfest inspired countless star-studded copycats and lives on today as a sort of camp classic of its kind. It doesn't have Red Buttons like The Poseidon Adventure does, and it doesn't have Victoria Principal's cleavage jiggling in the tremors of Earthquake, but it does have pretty much everything else....read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 5/9/2006 |
| Running Time: 335 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1974 | | Catalog ID: 2233170 | | UPC: 00024543231707 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1975) |  | Carl Kress, Harold F. Kress, Winner, Best Film Editing | | | Fred Astaire, Nominee, Best Supporting Actor | |
Golden Globe (1975) | | Fred Astaire, Winner, Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture | |
Oscar (1975) | | | Herman Lewis, Theodore Soderberg, Nominee, Best Sound | | | Irwin Allen, Nominee, Best Picture | |
Golden Globe (1975) | | | Jennifer Jones, Nominee, Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture | | | Joel Hirschhorn, Al Kasha, Nominee, Best Original Song | |
Oscar (1975) | | Joel Hirschhorn, Al Kasha, Winner, Best Music, Song | | | John Williams, Nominee, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score | | Joseph F. Biroc, Fred J. Koenekamp, Winner, Best Cinematography | | | Raphael Bretton, William J. Creber, Ward Preston, Nominee, Best Art Direction - Set Decoration | |
Golden Globe (1975) | | | Stirling Silliphant, Nominee, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture | | Susan Flannery, Winner, Most Promising Newcomer |
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| | Professional Reviews | USA Today
"...One of the best movies of its type ever made..." 04/02/1999 p.8EEntertainment Weekly
"Disaster master Irwin Allen's thrilling Best Picture nominee is overflowing with classic instances of historical import..." 06/04/2004 p.35 DVD Veridct 7 of 10
My other complaint is one often heard by other DVD purists. Why do studios continually change the original poster artwork in exchange for some bland new photo spread of the actors for the box art? I will never understand that. - Patrick Naugle
Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
Was it that during hard times and uncertain world conditions we turned to escapist entertainment? Perhaps when we fear for ourselves, we go to disaster movies to face and exorcise greater fears. Or perhaps Hollywood simply rediscovered a dependable old genre and reinvigorated it with millions of bucks and lots of big-name stars. - Roger Ebert
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