The film opens with Timothy Bottoms (The Last Picture
Show, That’s My Bush!), in the credits named only as “Young Man,”
walking along the pier, presumably to fish. An amusement park is visible in the
distance. Soon it’s clear that the park is his focus, particularly the roller
coaster, and he watches through binoculars as a man inspects the track. While
he watches, he listens to some relaxing classical string music. Interestingly,
as the man’s focus becomes clearer, the music begins to take on more ominous
tones. It’s a really nice touch. Soon we see the Young Man is walking the track
himself, and places a device on it. It is still early, and folks are setting up
before the park opens. The film’s entire opening sequence is excellent, and
builds the suspense is such an unusual way. Firstly, introducing what will be
the movie’s villain before any other characters is interesting. And then
setting up the film with very little dialogue works to add to the suspense and
realistic feel of the film. That evening the Young Man walks through the crowd,
smiling, as people load onto the roller coaster. There is a nice bit of humor
as the attendant reminds people to close the safety bars. Soon an explosion
goes off, causing the roller coaster to derail, killing and injuring multiple
people.
Harry Calder (George Segal) is also introduced in an
unusual way. When we meet him, he is taking part in a strange experiment to
help him quit smoking. From the number of cigarette butts in front of him, the
method doesn’t seem to be working. Harry works for the Department of Standards
and Safety, and had inspected that roller coaster just two months earlier, and
so is called in after the disaster. As Harry investigates, the Young Man is off
creating mayhem elsewhere. Interestingly, this time we see him just at the car
rental place, picking up and then returning the car, and in between those two
shots we see emergency vehicles rushing to an amusement park. I love the pacing
of this film. For the first disaster, we see all of the build-up, and the
second time, none of it. Both are equally effective, and the first makes the
second all the more frightening.
Harry begins to think that the two amusement park
disasters are related, and convinces his boss (played by Henry Fonda) to pay
for a trip to Chicago, where the owners of the parks are meeting. That’s where
the Young Man first learns of Harry’s involvement, and develops something of an
attachment to him. What I love is that the film handles its subject with
intelligence. When the federal agents are called in, it isn’t like they’re
buffoons and Harry has to work around them, as is done sometimes in lesser
films. And when they take over, Harry actually goes home without arguing the
matter, which is also refreshing. It is the villain who reels him back in,
after overhearing what he takes to be compliments coming from Harry.
This film creates believable characters, particularly
Harry, a delightfully flawed hero that is well fleshed-out. George Segal turns
in an excellent performance here. Sometimes I think it would have been nice to
learn a little more about Timothy Bottoms’ characters, but other times I think
it works just as well that he is something of a mystery. We do get little hints
that he served in the military, but don’t learn much else.
The sequence where the Young Man keeps Harry moving
through an amusement park as federal agents try to keep up with him is
excellent. I love how unenthused Harry is at his involvement as the sequence
stretches out. The film does some wonderfully surprising things. For example,
when Harry’s daughter ends up at the amusement park, Harry actually runs into
her and tells her to go home, and she does. Any other film would have had her
disobeying and going on the roller coaster and unknowingly putting herself in
danger. Harry’s daughter, by the way, is played by a young Helen Hunt. Also
making an appearance in this film is Craig Wasson as Hippie Boy (Wasson would
later go on to star in Schizoid, Body Double and other films).
Special Features
The Blu-ray disc includes an interview with writer Tommy
Cook, who talks about going on roller coasters as a child, and about the
original idea for the story. He also mentions his enthusiasm for the film’s
music. This interview is approximately thirteen minutes.
There are also four radio spots, a still gallery and the
film theatrical trailer.
Rollercoaster was directed by James Goldstone, and
is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on June 21, 2016 through Shout! Factory.
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