samurai7
September 18th, 2009, 5:30 pm
By total coincidence (I am a member of Netflix) I happened to get "The Towering Inferno" in the mail on Friday, 9/11.
In the commentary on the DVD, the film historian mentioned that part of the inspiration for Irwin Allen to make this film (besides the two books, "The Tower" and "The Glass Inferno.") was the fact that the World Trade Center was under construction (at that time). The film came out in 1974.
In fact, there is a heavy emphasis on fire safety in the film, and how those constructing these buildings don't consider that safety enough in making these buildings.
Ironic when you consider that they had weakened the safety code for buildings in NY, and they no longer required a concrete box around the steel girders. They instead sprayed fire retardent material on the steel. Most of which was immediately brushed off when the planes hit, leaving the steel naked to the fire.
Although the building does not fall in "The Towering Inferno" the film with all it's flaws seems somehow prophetic. I guess Irwin Allen didn't just make successful cheesy disaster movies, he could see a problem in the making.
Let's remember the final line by Steve McQueen:
You know we were pretty lucky tonight, body count's less then 200. You know, one of these days, you're gonna kill ten-thousand in one of these firetraps, and I'm gonna keep eating smoke and carrying out bodies until someone asks us... how to build them.
In the commentary on the DVD, the film historian mentioned that part of the inspiration for Irwin Allen to make this film (besides the two books, "The Tower" and "The Glass Inferno.") was the fact that the World Trade Center was under construction (at that time). The film came out in 1974.
In fact, there is a heavy emphasis on fire safety in the film, and how those constructing these buildings don't consider that safety enough in making these buildings.
Ironic when you consider that they had weakened the safety code for buildings in NY, and they no longer required a concrete box around the steel girders. They instead sprayed fire retardent material on the steel. Most of which was immediately brushed off when the planes hit, leaving the steel naked to the fire.
Although the building does not fall in "The Towering Inferno" the film with all it's flaws seems somehow prophetic. I guess Irwin Allen didn't just make successful cheesy disaster movies, he could see a problem in the making.
Let's remember the final line by Steve McQueen:
You know we were pretty lucky tonight, body count's less then 200. You know, one of these days, you're gonna kill ten-thousand in one of these firetraps, and I'm gonna keep eating smoke and carrying out bodies until someone asks us... how to build them.