Juggernaut

As part of the film’s 50th Anniversary, Eureka has released JUGGERNAUT newly restored on HD-Blu-ray. Featuring an all-star cast and loosely inspired by real events aboard the QE2 in May 1972, this suspense thriller from 1974 will hold the viewer’s attention but is not quite on par with other suspense or disaster flicks from the 70s.

JUGGERNAUT begins like most suspense/disaster movies, namely by ‘introducing’ the main players – in this case assorted crew and passengers who are about to embark on a voyage across the North Atlantic on the ocean liner SS Britannic. Among the 1200 or so passengers are Susan McLeod (Caroline Mortimer) – wife of Scotland Yard Superintendent John McLeod (Anthony Hopkins) - and her two constantly misbehaving kids, though John is not joining them due to work commitments. Then there is Barbara Bannister (Shirley Knight) who travels solo – it is indicated that she may have had a romantic link with the ship’s Captain, Alex Brunel (Omar Sharif). American actor Clifton James (who appeared in two Bond movies) is another passenger, Corrigan. Roshan Seth plays ship-steward Azad, whose main tasks lie in balancing trays of plates and cups along corridors during unruly weather. Last but not least, Roy Kinnear provides comedy relief as bumbling ship’s Social Director, tasked with keeping guests entertained and taking on the role of compere during specific events such as a costume ball. His jokes usually go down like a knackered lift and the real joke is that no one finds him even remotely amusing, in fact, he succeeds in alienating fellow dining guests at his table when, during a storm, he keeps on pigging out on all sorts of food while the rest have trouble keeping theirs down.

As the ocean liner sets off to the tune of a brass band and John McLeod waves goodbye to his wife and children, who stand on the upper deck, at first it appears to be a routine journey. Alas, a storm is brewing (and a pretty heavy one, too) – providing both cast and crew with unforeseen challenges. Worse is to come, however, when Nicholas Porter (Ian Holm), the owner of the shipping line, is breakfasting with is kids in his lush apartment and is suddenly interrupted by a mysterious phone call: a man calling himself ‘Juggernaut’ claims to have placed explosives aboard the SS Britannic, with the drums booby-trapped. Unless a ransom of £500,000 (these days it would be 5 Million) is being paid, he will see to it that the ship is blown up the following day. When Porter frantically informs Captain Brunel of the situation, he is as wise as everyone else regarding the next step. And yes, how can he and Porter be sure the mystery caller isn’t bluffing? Well, he isn’t, because a demonstration causes a minor explosion behind the ship’s funnel. Of course, this triggers another explosion – namely one of heated debates and egos!

While both shipping line owner Porter and Captain Brunel consider the safety of crew and passengers paramount, meaning Porter is willing to pay the ransom, British government official cum miser Hughes (John Stride) warns Porter that if he pays the ransom, then the government will withdraw the ship company’s operating subsidy in line with a certain government policy and yet, things still get worse because due to the bad storm, passengers can’t be rescued via lifeboats before the payment deadline approaches. Enter Royal Navy officer Anthony Fallon (Richard Harris) who, together with a specialist bomb disposal unit including Charlie Braddock (David Hemmings), is dispatched on-board via a dramatic parachuting operation. While back on land, Superintendent McLeod and his Scotland Yard team desperately try to establish the identity of ‘Juggernaut’, Fallon and his team are up against a race of time in order to find and to dispose of the explosives. It goes without saying that a bumpy ride lies ahead of them, and not just because of the unruly sea…
In typical disaster flick fashion, a good hour is wasted with establishing the characters (although they still remain quite vague and we don’t really care about any of them) and how they are connected to others before any action kicks in but that’s the nature of the game or so it would seem. Omar Sharif mainly looks perplexed while Shirley Knight mainly looks sceptical about this, that or the other throughout the film. It’s all held together really by Richard Harris, Anthony Hopkins and Roy Kinnear as the ship’s court jester.

The first 2000 copies of the Limited Edition release are presented in an O-card slipcase and a collector’s booklet. Other bonus material includes audio commentary, interviews and trailer.