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Reviews
Le Mans (1971)
Steve McQueen is out for a drive in the Country, the country is France and the drive is at 200 mph.
Le Mans was released in 1971 to the world, but it was a project that Steve McQueen had been developing for over 10 years. He was originally going to make it for Warner Bros in 1968, but with the selling in the studio to Kinney National Services, his contract was terminated.
McQueen has said him self that it was one of his most personal films that he had ever made and was determined to get it made, he convinced famous action director John Sturges to take the wheel and direct it. McQueen was able to work out a deal with Cinema Center Film to finance the picture and have National General Pictures release the film.
When production began it seemed like everyone on the picture had different ideas on how to make the film, and after several weeks of filming John Sturges quit the film and McQueen himself took over the directing chores until Lee H. Katzin. After all this crazyness was sorted out the film was completed and McQueen himself supervised all the editing and since the fim ran over budget and over schedule he gave up par tof his salary to complete the picture.
Time Travelers (1976)
Irwin Allen's production of the Time Travelers
Okay, Irwin Allen made this film after his enormous success of the Towering Inferno. It stands to me as a really good TV movie. the plot is some what strange, but you loose track of that after you really get into the movie. You watch it and are amazed at how fine the acting is. The characters are loosely based on the original Irwin Allen TV series the Time Tunnel (1966). I recently bought the series on DVD and was glad to see this was included, I can only hope that they will include other telefilms of Allens with the releasing of his other series on DVD. This film is watchable with the whole family and is worth watching.
Tom Horn (1980)
The day they came to get Tom Horn they didn't bring enough men.
As one of my personal favorite westerns I have looked at this film several times and wondered how McQueen was able to give such a fine performance as the title role of Tom Horn. McQueen signed on to do the role in 1977, and would spent three years researching the role and even spending the night at Tom Horn's grave to help develop the his character. The film is viewed by many to be very dark and not historically right, but viewing this film more than once you see that the character is really the victim and not the enemy. You also see this a different side of McQueen and the way he portrayed this character. For me anyways the picture will always remain in my top ten films of all time, just for its acting talent and superb camera-work. When viewing the film notice how McQueen portrayed the character as never being afraid of anybody even death. This is also an example of a standard western in which the hero dies honorably without showing fear. The courtroom scenes are also very interesting to watch on how the character seems to loose himself in the end.
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Irwin Allen's production of The Towering Inferno
Steve McQueen, Paul Newman in Irwin Allen's production of The Towering Inferno. After the huge success of the Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen received the nickname "The Master of Disaster" and began looking for his next big-Budget disaster picture to make and found "The Glass Inferno" by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. A few weeks later Warner Bros. announced they were making a similar movie based on the book "The Tower" by Richard Martin Stern. so instead of competing at the box office they would team up and each pay half the production costs. This would be the first time in Hollywood history that two major studios would team up to produce a single film. The films budget was $14 Million. a large amount for the time.
In order for the picture to be a success Allen knew he need two big superstars in the leading roles. Hollywood legend Steve McQueen was offered a role and he quickly signed up. McQueen was originally offered the role of the architect but insisted on the role of the fire chief. After he was cast as the fire chief, he said to find someone of his box office caliber to play the other part and he suggested Paul Newman for the architects role. McQueen and Newman had both been looking for a project to do together since the 50's. After both actors were signed they were both demanding top billing and finally an agreement was made were Steve McQueen's name would be in the bottom left corner and Paul Newman's would be in the top right corner, thus making it look like each man had top billing, but McQueen was the one who truly got top Billing.
The film grossed $116 Million.
Both McQueen and Newman were paid 1 million plus 7.5% of the gross.
This film ranks in my top five best movies ever made. It has a lot of that "movie magic" and outstanding special effects that audiences love and it story is on of heroism and bravery of the firefighters who are sent in to fight the deadly blaze. It's a great movie to watch anytime and the whole family can watch it and remember. It's a movie that has stood the test of time and will never grow old from repeated viewing.
Alice in Wonderland (1985)
Irwin Allen's production of Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass
You Have a TV mini-series produced by Irwin Allen, in his last big-budget TV movie production before he retired. I can remember seeing this movie on Television when i was a kid and being amazed at the special effects and the huge cast which were trademarks of Irwin Allen. i feel this has been the best movie adaptation produced. The Disney animated version was the only other one worth watching. Many years have gone by now since I have seen it and I recently saw it for sale on ebay and quickly bought it and it brought back many memories of when I first saw it. I have wondered why it has not been released on DVD yet, as many families would love to have it a part of their collection. find a copy of it today and be amazed by its "movie magic".
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
The Adventure is not quite over!!
Irwin Allen's production of Beyond the Poseidon Adventure was very exciting to watch. It was always intended for Irwin Allen to make the sequel, but some delays caused it to be shelved for seven years. Micheal Caine acted for Allen for the second time giving the same tempered performance as he did with Allen the previous year in The Swarm. He plays a scrapper and with Karl Malden and Sally Feild who discover the Poseidon still floating upside down and decide to go in her. From the moment they get in there the action and thrills never stop. Then as in the first film they realize they have to get out again and go through the ship as the the survivors did in the first Poseidon Adventure. Allen also directed this action packed sequel.
The Swarm (1978)
The very great movie about bees!
Its the swarm, one of the best disaster movies I've seen. the film was brought to the screen by Irwin "the master of disaster" Allen. Irwin had been in development of the project for years and took some time to film. When I saw the film I loved every minute of it. Its one of my ten best. The film moves along very fast and keeps the pace going. Allen never lets you stop to rest the action keeps coming in different forms. The music in the film is another great thing about this movie, composer Jerry Goldsmith composed one of most memorable scores for the film. The special photographic effects were designed by L.B. Abbott. Real bees were used in the film.