1977's "Rollercoaster" is one of my all-time favorite movies. My uncle took me to see it in New York City when I was a little kid, back in 77. Seeing this movie for the first time in the theater was really a suspenseful experience. The suspense is fueled by the extortionist/terrorist character played by Timothy Bottoms, and we're made aware of what he's capable of at the beginning of the film when he, with the use of an explosive, causes a terrible roller-coaster crash that kills several people. This scene heightens our fear of him, at least I feared him throughout the rest of the movie, and I was hoping he wouldn't cause anymore crashes. But Director James Goldstone obviously exploited this, as he tortured the viewer with suspense, as, throughout the film, he never makes it clear about what Bottoms is going to do, through cuts of Bottoms reaching into his pocket for "something," or camera POVs looking like a roller-coaster train might be derailing, suspenseful music, and other means.
Bottoms' character's goal is to extort money from the amusement park owners, under threat of causing more havoc. Safety inspector Harry Caulder (George Segal) and FBI agent Hoyt (Richard Widmark) are called in to try to catch Bottoms before he does anymore harm, leading to a cat and mouse chase that brings them to several amusement parks across America, as they go through the initial motions of cooperating with Bottoms' demands, while waiting for their chance to grab him. Caulder is the main character here, and he's the type that hates red tape. The movie is given some personality by dipping a little into Caulder's personal life -- he's divorced, trying to quit smoking, has a daughter, and a new girlfriend played by the late Susan Strasberg.
But finally, this exciting film climaxes at Magic Mountain near Los Angeles, where the final showdown between Bottoms, Segal and Widmark play out with great suspense, involving the new, at the time, Revolution metal looping coaster. To this day, as an adult, I still have an abnormal fear of rollercoasters because of this movie. And I remember going to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania about two months after seeing this film in 1977, and I remember how scared I was on the coasters there because of this film. Highly recommended movie. Mike R.
Bottoms' character's goal is to extort money from the amusement park owners, under threat of causing more havoc. Safety inspector Harry Caulder (George Segal) and FBI agent Hoyt (Richard Widmark) are called in to try to catch Bottoms before he does anymore harm, leading to a cat and mouse chase that brings them to several amusement parks across America, as they go through the initial motions of cooperating with Bottoms' demands, while waiting for their chance to grab him. Caulder is the main character here, and he's the type that hates red tape. The movie is given some personality by dipping a little into Caulder's personal life -- he's divorced, trying to quit smoking, has a daughter, and a new girlfriend played by the late Susan Strasberg.
But finally, this exciting film climaxes at Magic Mountain near Los Angeles, where the final showdown between Bottoms, Segal and Widmark play out with great suspense, involving the new, at the time, Revolution metal looping coaster. To this day, as an adult, I still have an abnormal fear of rollercoasters because of this movie. And I remember going to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania about two months after seeing this film in 1977, and I remember how scared I was on the coasters there because of this film. Highly recommended movie. Mike R.
