In 1970s disaster epics, the disasters were always the result of an accident or natural phenomena, almost never caused by human intention. There were some exceptions, most notably the film Airport (1970), which sparked the trend for such films in Hollywood. Another example can be found in Juggernaut, the 1974 British film directed by Richard Lester.
The plot, very loosely based on a real 1972 incident that took place on the British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, begins in the port city of Southampton. The SS Britannic is a luxury ocean liner carrying 1200 passengers to New York. At first, the major concern for Captain Alex Brunel (played by Omar Sharif) appears to be faulty equipment and bad weather, but by the time the ship reaches the mid-Atlantic, there is a much worse problem at hand. The ship’s owner, Nicholas Porter (played by Ian Holm), is telephoned by a mysterious individual named ‘Juggernaut’ and informed about a number of bombs placed on the ship, timed to detonate the next day. The only way to prevent the explosions, the sinking of the ship, and the deaths of passengers—unlikely to survive in lifeboats under rough seas—is to pay a ransom of half a million pounds. Porter wants to pay, while the British government sends a team of elite Royal Navy bomb disposal experts, led by Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon (played by Richard Harris). Fallon and his men soon find that the bombs are rigged with ingenious booby traps, and they would need all of Fallon’s skill and luck to defuse them. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard detectives led by Superintendent John MacLeod (Anthony Hopkins) race against time to locate and arrest ‘Juggernaut’ before the bombs go off.
The script provided this film with an interesting genre combination of a disaster film and a thriller, with plenty of opportunity to create suspense. Most of those opportunities, especially in the first part of the film, weren’t well used. This is mostly due to director Richard Lester, best known for light-hearted comedies and swashbuckling epics, who wasn’t the first nor the best choice for this project. The main problem is poor pacing and too much character exposition; that includes MacLeod’s wife and children being among the passengers, thus giving a convenient excuse for Hopkins to have a personal rather than professional motive to catch ‘Juggernaut’. Roy Kinnear, an otherwise capable comedian, is almost unbearable in his attempts to provide comic relief as the ship’s social director, while American actress Shirley Knight is wasted as a passenger who just happens to have a romantic affair with the Captain. British Indian actor Roshan Seth leaves a much better impression as Azad, an Asian steward who tries to win the favour of passengers by passing as an exotic immigrant while at the same time presenting himself to his crewmates as an ordinary Englishman.
The film suffers from a lack of focus, and the scenes occurring on the ship, despite its predicament, are less interesting than those happening in London offices—especially because the latter might serve as a sort of commentary on the escalating terrorism situation related to The Troubles. That includes the scene in which a government official, played calmly but menacingly by John Stride, explains why paying the terrorists, even when the lives of hundreds of innocent people are at stake, might be a bad idea and set a nasty precedent. The film actually becomes interesting only after Fallon arrives on the ship, in a scene which is exciting and spectacular, but also overlong. Only after that does Harris have the ability to display his formidable talent to the fullest, first as a confident professional, then, after losing his comrades, as someone who openly doubts whether he is really up to the job. The answer to his questions is provided in a dramatic, suspenseful finale featuring a simple choice between cutting two wires, which would be copied or parodied in numerous future films. Although Juggernaut flopped at the box office and the audience might get a good answer as to why it happened, Harris and his performance, together with some fine British actors in their early roles, is enough to recommend this film to all those wanting to see an unconventional genre film.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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