The 1970s was the era of the disaster movie, capturing political discontent, Cold War paranoia and uncertainty in the West. ‘The Towering Inferno’ audaciously killed off the man from UNCLE (or at least the part Robert Vaughn was playing), ruthlessly dispensing with an iconic hero of the previous decade. Against this gloomy backdrop came ‘Juggernaut’, a film with distinctively British qualities that doesn’t comfortably sit in the disaster genre into which it is often categorised.
The premise is that a disgruntled former government official, going by the name of Juggernaut (played by the delightfully eccentric and twitchy Freddie Jones, who was especially chilling as the circus master in ‘The Elephant Man’), is holding cruise ship ‘Britannic’ to ransom. Before it set sail, he primed it with several intricately-constructed bombs that are almost impossible to dismantle. If the authorities don't pay up, he'll blow the whole thing sky high. With hundreds of civilians aboard, the ship is left circling the ocean as a specialist bomb disposal team is helicoptered in. But it’s a race against time to find and defuse all of the explosives on board, whilst on land a manhunt takes place to find and unmask the mysterious ‘Juggernaut'.
The appeal of the film, then as much as now, is the stellar cast attached to it. Richard Harris (‘This Sporting Life’, ‘Gladiator’) was in his pomp, and a hit on the West End and Broadway in ‘Camelot’ at around this time. Anthony Hopkins (‘The Remains of the Day’, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’) was very much in the ascendancy. Egyptian actor Omar Sharif had won legions of fans for his supporting role in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and leading role in ‘Doctor Zhivago’, both David Lean epics. Everywhere you look in this film there are classy and familiar faces. Director Richard Lester often cast Roy Kinnear, and had recently worked with him on ‘The Three Musketeers’ (an association that would so sadly end in tragedy). The rotund character actor is superb as the comic relief. David Hemmings (‘Blow Up’) plays Richard Harris’ bomb disposal right hand man. Ian Holm (‘Alien’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’) is one of the leaders of the counter-terrorism initiative. Julian Glover (‘For Your Eyes Only’) is cast, as he so often has been, as a naval officer. There are blink-and-you-miss-them cameos from Gareth Thomas (the eponymous Blake in ‘Blake’s 7’) and Simon MacCorkindale (‘Falcon’s Crest’) who was making his big screen debut.
Director Richard Lester approaches ‘Juggernaut’ with his usual gusto, keeping his actors on their toes and filming everything at breakneck speed. His central achievement is to bring out great performances from a cast of top talent. Everybody is impressive in ‘Juggernaut’. Anthony Hopkins, known for his intensity, manages to ratchet up his burning screen presence in every scene. Richard Harris, who has the most screen time, is as charismatic as ever playing a bomb disposal expert, and his rapport with buddy and younger acolyte David Hemmings is especially well-played. Roy Kinnear seems to be in a different film to everyone else, but he is in turns touching and hilarious as the entertainment manager, charged with keeping up passengers’ spirits even once the news breaks that all on board may imminently die in an explosion.
There are prolonged moments of tension, and a cleverness to the plotting as Richard Harris becomes locked in a remote battle of wits with the genius who created the bombs. Yet the central problem of the film is that Juggernaut is clearly a very clever and precise man, or he wouldn’t have been able to construct the bombs and stash them aboard a cruise ship unnoticed. Even before the identity of Juggernaut is revealed (and what a coincidence it turns out to be), we see that he sends a hapless small time crook to run his errands and leaves incriminating evidence lying around in his house for the police to easily uncover. There’s a clear mismatch between the on and off-screen versions of Juggernaut that diminish the story’s credibility. Shirley Knight’s role dates the film somewhat as well. In a rocky romance with Omar Sharif, she flirts with the second in command and even with Roy Kinnear. As one of the few female characters to appear, it’s a shame her part is so shallow.
These weaknesses in the writing are surprising, since Richard Lester brought Alan Plater onto the project, and he completely overhauled the original script. Plater, best-known as a small-screen writer, penned plenty of exceptional television dramas, not least ‘The Beiderbecke Affair’. Much of the dialogue in ‘Juggernaut’ is sharp, but it lacks a cinematic quality. It may be as a consequence of there being so many different iterations of the film whilst in development – two directors were attached and dropped out before Lester took it on – that what ends up on screen is a somewhat inconsistent amalgamation of versions. Or it may simply be that Lester’s shooting schedule was so frenetic they went into filming before the script was as polished as it might have been.
That said, ‘Juggernaut’ is undoubtedly thoroughly entertaining and often suspenseful. The dizzying parade of top British (and Egyptian) talent is more than enough on its own to recommend it. Generally, a thriller of this nature will appeal more to male than female viewers, and ought especially to be sought out by those who enjoy 1970s curiosities. In high definition Blu-ray, it looks pin sharp and wonderful.
There are some extra features included that will delight behind-the-scenes enthusiasts. You can listen to a commentary with Melanie Williams and James Leggott. There are two features with film historians – ‘Down With the Ship’ is twenty minutes with Sheldon Hall, and ‘All Hands on Deck’ is nearly half an hour with Neil Sinyard. Both speak much more to the film’s virtues.
Cast: Richard Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Omar Sharif, Roy Kinnear, Shirley Knight, David Hemmings, Ian Holm, Simon MacCorkindale Director: Richard Lester Writer: Alan Plater Certificate: PG Running time: 110 mins Released by: Eureka Classics Release date: 18th November 2024 Buy ‘Juggernaut’
