THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE

Terror in the waves! Welcome to "The Upside Down," seventies-style.

AIRPORT kicked off the genre, but it took buccaneering visionary Irwin Allen to kick things up to another level with THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE: not for nothing was the producer dubbed the "Master of Disaster." Clocking in under two hours, this is a lean and taut exercise in suspenseful, spectacular action — based on Paul Gallico's well-reviewed bestseller — that notched eight Oscar nominations (and two wins) while hitting the global box-office jackpot.

Newly-minted Academy Award recipient Gene Hackman dominates the screen as a decidedly unorthodox priest leading the bedraggled survivors to safety when their ancient ocean-liner goes belly-up during her final voyage.

Future AIRPLANE! legend Leslie Nielsen enjoys a refreshingly serious role as the doomed vessel's safety-conscious Captain — but the real scenestealer is dual Oscar-winner Shelley Winters, who gets to perform the most unlikely feat of heroic swimming in cinema history. You too will be left gasping...