Juggernaut (1974) User Reviews (79)

Taut, Suspenseful Thriller

[TheExpatriate700 · 8/10 · 3 January 2012]

Juggernaut is a well done action / disaster thriller which combines some good performances with great direction and scripting. An extortionist calling himself Juggernaut has planted several bombs aboard the ocean liner Britannic and is threatening to sink the liner in heavy seas if he is not paid off. The film follows an official from the cruise company, a naval bomb defuser, and London police officials as they attempt to prevent a catastrophe.

What sets Juggernaut apart from a thousand other 'mad bomber' films is that to a large extent it approaches the threat from an official, even technical perspective. Rather than a maverick cop chasing the psychopath around the ship, we get highly suspenseful scenes of professionals trying to defuse bombs. The film plays up the difficulty of defusing a booby-trapped bomb, taking it beyond the film cliché of simply cutting the right wire. The heroes have to get through a variety of hidden snares within the devices before they even get to the wires. Indeed, the sub-plot involving the cruise official serves to remind us that this is not just a 'technical exercise,' that there really are lives at stake.

Furthermore, the film does not succumb to the temptation to overplay its villain or make him a flamboyant maniac. Despite his code name serving as the title of the film, Juggernaut does not figure that prominently in the plot. When he does turn up, the performance is quite understated, particularly when compared to the head of the bomb squad. (Only Richard Harris would think that downing a bottle of scotch is good preparation for defusing a bomb.) Indeed, one can argue that the bombs themselves serve as the primary antagonist of the film with their fiendish designs.

The acting in the film is quite good overall, even if the characters aren't always that well fleshed out. Richard Harris does a good job as the film's overall protagonist, lending him a sense of mordant humor that keeps him from becoming a stale action hero. Omar Sharif also does a good job as the ship's captain, even though his character is largely one note.

Juggernaut does have some weak points. At times, the investigation back in London is given short shrift, so that it is difficult to follow. Furthermore, there are one or two scenes contrived for dramatic effect that take away from the film's realism. In particular, one scene where a young child gets access to a restricted area of the ship strains credibility. Still, the film definitely stands as a minor classic in its genre.

Decent suspenser without fanfare and bunting.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 4 March 2008]

Not to say there are no thrills in this 1974 British offering for the jumbled genres of action and disaster so prevalent in this particular decade, because there are more than enough for it to warrant entry into both genres. Although the sum of its parts is a simple Good Vs Evil axis the film has the bonus {and important trait} of characters that are thoroughly believable, be it Richard Harris's stoic Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon, or Roy Kinnear's Social Director Curtain, both men poles apart on a social level but crucially; both men that exist in the real world.

The film follows a predictable format of character building because the type of film demands it, if people are going to be in peril then we want to care about them, or at the very least know about them. Juggernaut does this very well, so that when the second half of the film kicks in, when the brave bomb disposal guys are putting life and limb on the line, the film has our undivided attention. It's then a case of hold your breath as the tension rises, and it's all played out with some delightful dialogue from the lead players in the film. This is good honest film making in a much criticised genre and it certainly is worth a look at least once for those interested in quality suspense without the end of the world being at stake. 7/10

Large-scale and thrilling disaster movie about a doomed luxury liner in which a madman has planted bombs

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 14 April 2016]

Exciting water-bound thriller about a crazy man who has planted explosives aboard a cruise ship and now in high sea with 1200 passengers . This big-budgeted disaster movie was professional and expertly directed by Richard Lester . It deals with a blackmailer who demands a huge ransom in exchange for information on how to disarm the seven bombs he placed aboard the transatlantic liner Britannic captained by Captain Alex Brunel (Omar Sharif) who while falls for a passenger (Shirley Knight) . As a nutty person plants explosives aboard a cruise ship and he mocks the crew about his plan over the wireless . He is asking for a £500,000 ransom , otherwise the bombs aboard will explode . An expert artificier Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon (Richard Harris) is assigned to defuse them in the teeth of a howling gale , being helped by a competent as well as resourceful team (David Hemmings , Jack Watson , among others) . The countdown surges , while the explosive experts struggle to find the bombs . Meantime , back in England Supt. John McLeod (Anthony Hopkins) and other officers whose families are aboard races desperately to track down Juggernaut , the mad bomber . The greatest sea adventure in history has just begun !.

Nail-biting film that contains intrigue , unsettling scenes , thrills , emotion and it raises a fair amount of tension on its theme of seven bombs planted aboard ; resulting out to be pretty entertaining . This formula suspense movie belongs to catastrophe genre of the 70s , being the undisputed king , ¨The towering inferno¨ along with ¨Earthquake¨ , ¨Roller coaster¨ , ¨Two-Minute Warning¨ and many others ; this formula disaster movie was widely developed by Irwin Allen , previously winner of numerous Oscars for ¨Poseidon¨ until the failures as ¨Beyond Poseidon¨, ¨Swarm¨ and ¨When the time ran out¨ . Well-done drama that turns out to be an intriguing and suspenseful film . The tension is nice if not super-tense , though there are some boring sup-plots that undermine the action . As a sub-story involving an American called Corrigan/Clifton James is so negligible as to be simply not worthwhile . The film took its inspiration from an incident which occurred in 1972 when a man claimed he had planted a bomb on board the QE2 and demanded a ransom . The movie was shot mainly aboard a real ocean liner , the Hamburg had recently been sold by its German owners to the Soviet Unión . As the production company -David V. Picker and Denis O'Dell as associate producer- soliciting extras who would take a lengthy cruise in the North Sea for free , but with the knowledge that the ship would actually seek out the worst possible weather . Main cast , -Richard Harris , Omar Sharif and Anthony Hopkins- give excellent interpretations . With special mention for Richard Harris who steals the show as the skillful Lt. Cmdr. Fallon , the brave leader who leads his expert team of men appointed to a risked assignment . Support cast is frankly awesome , all of them give memorable supporting portrayals , it is formed by an all-British-secondary-star-cast , such as : Freddie Jones , Ian Holm , Julian Glover , Cyril Cusack , Mark Burns , Jack Watson , Roshan Seth , Kenneth Colley and Roy Kinnear as the ship's comical social director . And it appears uncredited : Cyril Cusack , Gareth Thomas , Michael Hordern and Simon MacCorkindale .

It displays a colorful and gripping cinematography in Panavision by Gerry Fisher , including persistent high-angle shots photographing the cruise ship , nice camera-work and use of close-ups on bombs . Intriguing and atmospheric score by Ken Thorne . Suspenseful and fine direction by a magnificent professional , Richard Lester . The project was originally to be directed by Bryan Forbes . After his departure , Don Taylor was hired , but departed four weeks before shooting was to begin . Richard Lester then came on board . Rating : Good and entertaining , it's a fairly watchable disaster movie .

Thriller? Disaster movie? No, much more.

[vaughan-birbeck · 6 December 2004]

On the face of it 'Juggernaut' is a fairly small scale nerve-stretcher about an attempt to hold a shipping company to ransom by placing seven very large and very intricately designed bombs in an Atlantic liner. 1200 assorted passengers and crew will go to the bottom if bomb-disposal expert Richard Harris can't outwit the madman responsible for placing the bombs.

So far, so conventional. But compare 'Juggernaut' with another 1974 release, 'The Towering Inferno'. There aren't any macho heroics here: no all-knowing architect and fire-chief to handle the crisis and provide leadership. Nor are there any 'we must never let this happen again' uplifting platitudes at the end.

In 'Juggernaut' we see flawed and desperate people trying to control circumstances over which they have no real power. The company head constantly dithers over paying the ransom or not; the Government representative is a sneering bully who 'won't give in to people like this' (it then turns out the bomber was a Government explosives expert who was given a pitiful reward for a lifetime of courageous work disarming bombs); the bomb-disposal expert has seen death so many times it has lost its meaning for him, it's a human inevitability however it happens, and that's that. Some people feel Roy Kinnear's entertainments officer is a too-obvious attempt at comic relief, but here again we see someone who is supposed to do his best in all circumstances but comes up against the limitations of his personality and is just as afraid as everyone around him.

And the ending? No sense of 'achievement' in having defused the bombs. Good men, friends and colleagues, have been killed. Richard Harris walks alone on deck, smoking his pipe and nursing a drink. What is he thinking? About the men he has lost, or the inevitable next job that may see his own death? Meanwhile, the ship sails on across the eternal sea.

'Juggernaut' is well-acted and well-scripted (with dialogue by Alan Plater). Dick Lester's direction is less top-heavy with stylistic touches than usual, and he has a particularly deft touch in giving the viewer a sense of isolation and claustrophobia as the bombs are dismantled. This film can act as a piece of Sunday-afternoon escapism or something more thought-provoking. Highly recommended.

Tough, unforgiving, unsentimental suspense thriller...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 4 October 2009]

Richard Lester directed this mad-bomber saga with such a cold, jaded eye, one might assume his approach totally unsympathetic or indifferent. Instead of being heartless, Lester is actually straightforward and compact, and the film is very involving. A transatlantic ocean-liner with 1200 people aboard no sooner leaves England's port then a genius-psychotic alerts the ship's representative that 7 booby-trapped bombs are set to go off in a matter of hours if he's not paid a fortune in ransom. Getting the bomb-experts aboard the ship via parachutes was a great touch--though once they're all in place, the movie has to bide a lot of time until the inevitable wire-cutting gets under way. Still, this is an exciting journey, filmed in bleak, damp colors, and Lester has done a terrific job at scaling down his actors. Omar Sharif (looking sensational in his Captain's uniform) had not been this real and human in years; Richard Harris, though he does his usual drinking and spouting off, successfully portrays the chief bomb-detonator as a swaggering man awash in a series of inconsistencies, acting with focus and tightly-wound energy. Good show! **1/2 from ****

Underrated, Understated Nail-Biter

[blastmain · 7/10 · 8 August 2001]

This is one of those films that I was crazy about as a kid, and pleasantly surprised by years later. There are solid performances from an impressive cast including Richard Harris, Omar Sharif and Anthony Hopkins. The camera work is excellent as well, with some creative macro shots that help clarify the technical details and keep the tension high. Though it requires some patience and attention on the part of the viewer, this film is full of subtle details and is well worth the effort.

An enjoyable watch

[bamptonj · 7/10 · 1 January 2006]

It is New Years' Eve and six bombs are found on-board passenger cruiser BRITTANIC, below and above sea level. The anonymous perpetrator demands 500,000 pounds (a suspiciously low sum even in 1974.) Facing choppy seas and 'force 8 winds,' the crew are unable to unload passengers into life-rafts or rescue vessels, and so a team of bomb-disposal experts are flown in.

JUGGERNAUT is a well-paced film and can boast an all-star cast. Richard Harris plays the chief expert as a world-weary drinker who been in the job too long and faced imminent death so many times that he has lost all pretence for morality. David Hemmings has a smaller role as his assistant. A younger - but still grey haired - Anthony Hopkins heads the landside manhunt for the bomber. Ian Holm puts in a lovely performance as the compassionate head of the shipping company, who insists upon paying the ransom, even as the hard-on-terrorists British government threatens to withdraw its generous tax subsidies. Michael Hordern has a cameo, as too does Julian Glover. Rounding off the cast is an understated Roy Kinnear who plays the bumbling cruise director, offering hapless pleasantries to the passengers as well as falling short of a comfort after the bombs presence on board are revealed.

This is a very British film - these is little swearing, no resolute American hero, sandwiches are the meal of choice -offered to the bomb experts and the passengers - who are told relatively early of the threat - take the news with surprising grace, the British upper-lip prevailing over the typical Hollywood hysterier or sentimentality

"Fallon Is Still The Champion"

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 8 April 2008]

I remember seeing Juggernaut when it first came out in theaters back in 1974 and I was sucked in rather nicely as the tension builds in this film. I'm not sure Alfred Hitchcock could have done better building the suspense.

Yet it could have been a lot better. The mastermind behind the plot to extort half a million pounds really doesn't have all that good a motive for what he does. And his actions towards the end of the film when he's caught and the jig is up so to speak, make absolutely no sense.

Juggernaut proceeds on many different levels, as his HMS Britannic sails for a cruise from I presume Southampton a bomb threat is phoned into the ship owners from a man identifying himself as Juggernaut. He wants the amount mentioned above or five strategically placed bombs will explode and sink the Britannic along with 1200 passengers and crew.

Scotland Yard under Anthony Hopkins looks to find the man, shipowners decide to pay, Captain Omar Sharif finds out and tells the crew and they try to keep the passengers minds off the strange doings on the ship. Special mention goes to Roy Kinnear as the cruise director for that particular job and his performance is great.

But primarily the film focuses on Richard Harris and his team of demolition experts. As he's mentioning often enough, he's the best at his job, the champion. He has to be because the stakes are at the highest possible level if he comes in second. And the man he's up against is a brilliant demolitions man himself.

According to a recent biography of Harris he was filming Juggernaut in the United Kingdom and flying back to the USA in intervals to film 99 and 44/100 Percent Dead. How his agent got him into that kind of deal God only knows, but I think he did better on the UK side of the pond.

Juggernaut is a good suspenseful thriller that probably would have been a lot better with more understandable motivation from the villain's point of view.

The British should have made more disaster flicks

[sandpuppy · 9/10 · 2 August 2004]

This is a nice little rarity from the 70's - a disaster film that's actually good. It's about a bomber who plants several drums of high powered explosives on a British ocean liner and threatens to use it to sink the ship if payment of a half million pounds is not made. Cue Dr. Evil.

What's interesting about this movie, is that instead of boring us with the usual soap-opera antics (the edge-of-divorce couple, the terminally-ill child, etc.) the cruise itself turns into a disaster for everyone before the bombs are ever revealed. The ship immediately sails into a storm to which the captain learns that the new gyros they upgraded to are not working, causing the ship to pitch heavily, getting most everybody on board seasick. The weather outside is bad, so all the guests are moping around, shutting themselves up in their cabins or braving the lounge and the overenthusiastic entertainment director, played by Roy Kinnear, who always seemed to find himself in these kind of roles. Those who venture out onto the rolling decks can't prevent their shuffleboard games from drifting into the tennis court, both of which are placed in an area about the size of a three-car garage. In short, these people could use a good bomb crisis to liven things up.

Richard Harris plays the bomb-squad expert who is called upon along with his team to disarm the explosives. Perhaps 'expert' is not the right choice of words, as his crew end up setting off a couple of the bombs in trying to deactivate them. That, and the fact that Harris drinks on the job and at one point recommends throwing in the towel. And that is what makes this movie work - there are no typical heroics you would find in all the other standard-issue disaster flicks of the era. Even the paratroop-like arrival of Harris' team is sufficiently deflated when one of them clumsily loses his dive mask as he jumps from the plane. The ship's captain (Omar Sharif) is carrying on an adulterous affair, some of the bomb squad members get seasick on the ship, and the entertainment director eventually just gives up trying to raise the morale. Nobody is allowed any glory. One of my favorite moments is when a young boy, after being given a book about ships to pass the time with, correctly identifies an innocuous subtly-marked raised flag noting the presence of explosives on the liner, then nonchalantly exclaims "That's 15 points for me."

The movie does eventually button down and give a good, honest and tense bomb-defusing sequence at the end. There's the usual 'which wire to cut' business, but by the time the movie gets there, it has well established that it's not going to be quite that predictable about it. A good British cast is included as well. In addition to Harris and Sharif (who isn't British), Ian Holm and Anthony Hopkins are present, playing landlubber executives trying to help catch and prevent the bomber from fulfilling his threat. I couldn't find Michael Caine, however. He might have been off making a Jaws movie or something. At any rate, this is an excellent thriller that also provides some choice sardonic humor along the way.

Reasonably exciting and solid suspense thriller with an exceptional cast.

[barnabyrudge · 6/10 · 22 August 2006]

Director Richard Lester certainly had the know-how to draw good performances from the great drunkards of our time. In 1973 he got Oliver Reed giving his performance of the decade in a couple of Musketeers films, and just a year later he coaxes a fine acting job out of the formidable Richard Harris in this rather exciting suspense flick.

The HMS Britannic is a huge luxury liner travelling across stormy seas when news reaches the captain, Brunel (Omar Sharif), that his vessel has been targeted by a mad bomber who simply calls himself the "Juggernaut". The Juggernaut claims that he has placed several bombs aboard the ship and he will only refrain from detonating them if he receives a hefty ransom. A weary, experienced bomb disposal expert, Fallon (Richard Harris), and his team are parachuted aboard the Britannic to locate and defuse the devices. The bomb disposal team realise pretty quickly that the explosive devices they're dealing with are more treacherous than usual, with various booby traps and trip-wires that might vaporise them at any moment. . Meanwhile, back on dry land a policeman named John McLeod (Anthony Hopkins), whose wife and kids are on the stricken ship, races against time to unmask the identity of the bomber. In a taut finale, the captured Juggernaut reveals how to safely deactivate the bombs…. but is he telling the truth, or does he plan to supply false information to his captors, thereby triggering the bombs and sinking the ship?

"Juggernaut" has a fantastic cast by any standards – besides the considerable presence of Harris, Hopkins and Sharif, there is Shirley Knight, Ian Holm, Freddie Jones, Clifton James, David Hemmings and Roy Kinnear. Kinnear is especially good as the ship's entertainment organiser, while Hemmings generates convincing anxiety as one of the cool-nerved bomb disposal guys. Knight is somewhat wasted as the customary glamorous American female, most likely included so that the film might attract a little box office business in the States. The excitement is kept at a good pitch thanks to Lester's direction and the eventful script by Richard DeKoker and Alan Plater. While the plot is very basic and unoriginal, it serves its purpose by getting the audience gripped in the potentially disastrous proceedings. There's nothing new or ground-breaking about "Juggernaut" – it is merely an exercise in suspense which pushes all the right buttons and delivers its intended excitements with professional, polished precision.

Sorta interesting but...

[papabear-10 · 5/10 · 23 October 2009]

For the most part, the bomb disposal and the attempt to discover the bomber was moderately interesting, if a bit disjointed. Richard Harris performed adequately, but, of course, he was playing himself. Omar Sharif was wasted as the captain, most of the other adults had no reason for being there, and there were the two requisite "adorable" children thrown in for God knows what. The children's mother never knew or cared where her darlings were; I can only assume that they were the children of the producer, thrown into the picture as an act of good will. The entire film dragged for the middle hour, trying to establish some chemistry between the players and failing utterly, before finally producing one short burst of excitement, then petering out entirely.

If you like Richard Harris, then, by all means, watch this. If not, don't waste your time.

In honor of the ill-fated Roy Kinnear

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 9 April 2008]

The plot of JUGGERNAUT is similar to other films, such as Frank Sinatra's earlier ASSAULT ON A QUEEN (wherein his group threaten to torpedo the Queen Mary unless a ransom is paid). Here the great ship H.M.S. Britannic (what an ill-fated name for a great liner: the real "Britannic" was the larger sister ship of the "Olympic" and "Titanic" and sunk by hitting a mine in the Aegian off the isle of Cos in 1916) is booby-trapped by a man who is demanding a large ransom or he'll sink the ship with his bombs and kill it's passengers and crew. While the police (Anthony Hopkins) seek the extortionist, they send a bomb deactivation expert (Richard Harris) and his crew of assistants (led by David Hemming) to find and defuse the booby traps (one or two are exploded - the extortionist wants to show he means what he says - before they can start). The Captain of the ship (Omar Shariff) has to maintain calm among the 1,200 passengers and crew, and is depending on one man to do this - his cruise director (Roy Kinnear). The film bills up several very good suspense moments, even killing off one of the characters in an explosion. And it builds to a close call climax that grips the audience. Certainly this is one of the best suspense thrillers.

Which takes me to the one performance I like best in it. In his career, tubby, bald Roy Kinnear usually played comic parts. Even when he popped up as a villain in a series (like some episodes of THE AVENGERS, or like the film SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER), he is so confused and inept that he ends up making the viewers feel for him. In the Sherlock Holmes film, in a fight with Gene Wilder, Kinnear is kicked in the groin with a huge wooden boot from a shoe store). He ends up on the street trying to hail a hansom cab and yelling "Taxi" with a soprano voice! But only here, in JUGGERNAUT, was he able to find a role that let him expand a bit. He has to keep up the morale of 1,000 people who may die soon. He will die with them if that happens. And in a sweet scene he admits to a woman (Shirley Knight) the real fear and cowardice he feels but has to hide. It is a wonderful moment of subtle acting, and Kinnear never repeated it. The closest to it was in the film THE HILL where he breaks down during a punishment detail in a stockade. But this time he was a total innocent type.

Roy Kinnear never had much of a chance to build on this. He was dead within a couple of years in a freak horse accident during the filming of THE FOUR MUSKETEERS, which his friend the director Richard Lester dedicated to his memory. He fell off a horse in a sequence and fractured his pelvis, bleeding to death within a few hours. A tragic end for a gifted comic actor, who at least once showed his dramatic potential in a good performance in JUGGERNAUT.

Breaks all 1970s disaster film rules

[mls4182 · 6/10 · 1 July 2021]

All disaster films must have beautiful women in evening gowns. This IS an ocean liner isn't it? It must also have human stories so that you CARE about the passengers. It doesn't matter if the characters are compelling or obnoxious. Also, there must be one character that needs to be slapped. This film is more about men rushing to prevent a disaster, not characters EXERIENCING ONE.

Lastly, and most importantly, there must be camp comic relief. The closest this one comes is a creepy little boy that reminds you of Dodie from My Three Sons

It is worth a watch, but expect a tepid action film, not a disaster epic. Stella Stevens will not appear showing cleavage and Shelley Winters doesn't swim by and save everyone.

Well made but still dull...

[JasparLamarCrabb · 4/10 · 25 November 2009]

SPOILER ALERT! A so-so suspense yarn directed in the most restrained way, especially when you consider that the director is Richard Lester. Lester, usually the most imaginative film-maker, hands in what amounts to journeyman work. Richard Harris heads a large cast as a British navy man trying to defuse seven bombs planted on an ocean liner during a transatlantic trip. Harris cracks a lot of jokes and yells a lot at ship's captain Omar Sharif. It's all very tame and extremely well put together but nevertheless lacks punch. In addition to Harris & Sharif, the impressive cast includes Anthony Hopkins, David Hemmings, Ian Holm and Shirley Knight in the odd role of Sharif's shipboard mistress. Freddie Jones, Michael Hordern and Cyril Cusack appear briefly...one of them is a lunatic.

Terrific British suspense thriller

[rainbird131162 · 25 August 2005]

**This comment may contain spoilers**

I've just had the pleasant experience of rewatching Juggernaut which I haven't seen since I was a kid back in 1975. What a terrific film! The story concerns a luxury cruiser - the HMS Brittanic - caught in a storm at sea when a terrorist, the 'Juggernaut' of the title, announces that he has planted seven bombs on board and demands a ransom in exchange for the passengers lives (the passengers can't take to the lifeboats because of the storm). So it's up to bomb disposal expert Fallon (Richard Harris) and his team to get on-board the ship by parachuting into the sea with their equipment from an RAF plane. But when negotiations between the terrorist and the police collapse Fallon and his men find themselves in a desperate race against time.

Sounds promising, huh? And the cast is amazing. In addition to Harris you've got David Hemmings as Fallon's sidekick, Anthony Hopkins as the policeman whose wife and kids are trapped on-board the stricken liner, Roy Kinnear (in a scene stealing performance) as the ships hapless entertainments officer and Omar Sharif as the ships captain. There's lots of great British character actors too including Freddie Jones (Firefox), Julian Glover (For Your Eyes Only), Ken Collee (The Empire Strikes Back, Ripping Yarns) and Ken Cope (who played the ghost in Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

The production values are equally impressive. The actors are actually on-board a real ocean liner in what looks like fairly rough weather. In some of the deck scenes you can actually see them sliding back and forth across the deck against rolling, grey, choppy seas. There isn't one faked up shot of actors in front of a back projection setup that I could spot and the realism adds a palpable 'you are there' sense of authenticity.

Juggernaut was directed by Richard Lester who demonstrates real talent for making the personal lives of those trapped on the ship as watchable as the suspense sequences. The crew and cast of the Brittanic aren't the laughable cardboard cut-outs of an Irwin Allen epic like The Poseidon Adventure but recognisable individuals with problems sharply observed by Lester with dry, British understatement. Chief amongst them is pretty American actress Shirley Knight who starts off as the Captain's mistress but wins our sympathy by discovering she has more in common with Kinnear's sensitive loser than Sharif's handsome but heartless Captain.

The unique setting of an ocean liner is also very well exploited, especially in one edge-of-your-seat sequence where a kid and a steward end up trapped between sealed bulkheads with a bomb about to explode. The dialogue (credited in part to Alan Plater) is consistently sharp and makes some pointed political digs. When the head of the company (Ian Holm) which owns Brittanic offers to pay Juggernaut's ransom a creepy Govenment rep advises him against it because of the subsidies HMG is paying to the company. When several people get killed even Holm's businessman can't stomach the callousness of risking several hundred lives for the sake of a Government investment, 'Tell him to go stuff his subsidies!' he yells at the adviser in one of many audience-pleasing moments.

Juggernaut is a work of rock solid professionalism and boasts a nail-biting climax. It's a reminder of what suspense thrillers used to be like before the Die Hard's and their successors twisted the format almost beyond recognition. I enjoyed Juggernaut a lot and I think you will too.

A nice surprise

[WolfmanTampa · 7/10 · 17 September 2005]

This was a film I was not familiar with until a co-worker recommended it to me. Knowing of my fondness for old passenger liners like the Queen Mary, Normandie and Titanic, he suggested that I give this film a go. Although, unlike most who have posted comments here, I am not a terrific Richard Harris fan, but in this role he did provide an acceptable performance. Certainly there were technical flaws, many of which have already been discussed here, but isn't it OK to stretch science or physics a bit to be certain the "good guys" win. Has EON Productions not been doing this for the past 43 years with that 007 fellow? If you enjoy this type of film , I will recommend another for you. Try the American film from 20th Century Fox, The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three. The films worth a watch if nothing more to see the performances of Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw.

The Vidiot Reviews...

[capone666 · 7/10 · 13 August 2018]

Juggernaut

Terrorists rarely take cruise ships hostage because governments don't pay ransom on people who take cruises.

Back in the 1970s, however, commandeering cruise ships, like the one in this thriller, was commonplace.

Passengers on the SS Britannic are thrown into peril when a terrorist named Juggernaut informs the ship's owner (Ian Holm) that there are explosives on-board set to detonate if he doesn't receive a healthy ransom.

Meanwhile, a bomb specialist (Richard Harris) is airlifted in to defuse the situation, while a Scotland Yard detective (Anthony Hopkins) works on tracking down the mad bomber.

Light on Hollywood theatrics due to its British production, this fictional account of a real life event that turned out to be a ruse is grounded and gritty in its storytelling. The classically trained cast also brings a high-level of professionalism to the crisis.

Thankfully, the on-board entertainment tends to get a lot better under terrorism. Green Light

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Mr Freddie Jones,the best movie psychopath ever?

[ianlouisiana · 7/10 · 18 November 2007]

Mr R.Lester,darling of the 1960s,tries his hand at the disaster genre with "Juggernaut",a straightforward commercial piece with no artistic pretensions whatsoever.There is no tricksy editing,no zip pans,no speeded up action,none of his usual clever - clever accoutrements covering up a lack of substance,just a back - to - basics plot about a man who has planted a number of bombs on an ocean liner. This man is played by the great Mr Freddie Jones and it is the best portrayal of a psychopath I have ever seen in the movies.Forget the ludicrously overpraised Dr Lecter,"Juggernaut" is the madman's madman. Clever,conscience - free,ruthless,indistinguishable from the common herd,"Juggernaut" is a million miles from the showboating of Sir A. Hopkins and infinitely more dangerous as a result. Mr Jones gives the role a quiet confidence;it is a masterclass in emotional detachment and studied indifference. In contrast Mr Richard Harris - his former protégé in Bomb Disposal - starts out over the top and ends up out of sight as stage Oirishman Fallon,a man with a merry quip for every situation.He and his team of Jolly Jack Tars are parachuted onto the liner (losing one on the way who is last seen floating happily away on his back for all the world like a holidaymaker on a Lilo)to make the bombs safe. Rather cleverly Mr Lester creates suspense where none exists because it is blindingly obvious from the start that the liner isn't going to blow up and sink below the waves with nary a survivor. It would be fair to say I am not Mr Lester's greatest fan,but the sequences where Mr Harris - irritating though he is - slowly works his way round the booby traps hidden in the bomb are finely done. For no good reason I could think of Mr Omar Sharif plays the ship's captain.Mr Anthony Hopkins,before he became a national institution, is the cop tasked with feeling "Juggernaut"s collar.He is assisted by a number of actors who are clearly destined to end up in "The Sweeney",especially the episodes where they stand round breath steaming in the freezing cold waiting for the wheel to come off.... Mr Hopkins' wife and children are on board the liner,but he copes manfully with this extra burden and "Juggernaut" is well and truly nicked relatively early on so he can carry on a cat and mouse game with the Authorities.There are three token womens parts but mainly this is a blokes' movie,with plenty of tough love between Fallon and his lads and the stiff upper - lipped chaps at the Admiralty. There were many newspaper stories of on - board orgies involving the extras when the movie was released but there is precious little sign of life amongst any of them on screen,the whole tacky not quite top grade atmosphere of the sub - Cunard Atlantic crossings of the time is exactly captured. I enjoyed this movie.It came as a pleasant surprise that Mr Lester - when he isn't showing off appallingly - is more than capable of making a good old - fashioned entertainment movie with just that little bit of an edge.

The blue wire or the red wire!

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 4 October 2009]

It's an enjoyable suspense flick about expertly assembled bombs secretly stashed away on a passenger liner carrying 1200 souls. The name of the extortionist is "Juggernaut." The ransom is half a million pounds, which the British government refuses to pay since it does not deal with terrorists.

The captain is Omar Sheriff. The team of the naval bomb disposal unit, sent out by airplane and parachute, is led by Richard Harris. Well, it's a tough situation, boys and girls. The sea is Force 8. The captain's illicit lover and entirely irrelevant girl friend, Shirley Knight, asks, "Is that strong?" Sheriff replies, "Yes." (The scale only goes up to 9.) The rough seas, though, make attempts to dismantle the seven bombs more dangerous and they also prevent the launching of lifeboats which, in the captain's estimation, would result in the loss of half the passengers.

There are some semi-comic interludes involving the passengers but the main plot is taken up with Harris's tinkering with one of the bombs, knowing that if he finds a way to disarm it, the others can be quickly rendered impotent.

Now, that sounds pretty dull. One can imagine with horror one of the stereotypical bomb dismantling scenes, which ordinarily take five minutes, stretched out to an hour and a half. Two thousand repetitions of questions like, "Should we (gulp) cut the red wire or the blue wire?" Instead, it's pretty engrossing stuff. While Harris fiddles with the wires, Scotland Yard is trying to track down Juggernaut in London, and the two threads run parallel, kind of like the copper wires in the cord to a floor lamp, only unshielded. Anthony Hopkins is quietly superb as the Scotland Yard guy and Harris is boisterous and compelling at the other end of the channel. Freddy Jones' appearance is brief but memorable.

Two more points. (1) You don't need to know much about bombs or serial circuits to follow the goings on and be swept up in the suspense, any more than you need to know how to play pool to follow "The Hustler." (2) The writers have done a fine job of individualizing the principal characters and they've given Harris some superior dialog. "If this doesn't work, I'm going to be shocked by my own mortality." And, "You've heard about the goldfish? One says to the other, 'There must be a God. Who changes the water?'" Overall, it's not a work of art in any sense, but an enjoyable thriller about bomb disposal at sea. Craftsmanship rather than poetry.

Well worth a watch!

[dgrahamwatson · 10/10 · 20 July 2005]

Actually, not a bad film at all: the ever reliable Richard Harris (probably getting warmed up for his Rafer Janders role in WILDGEESE) steals the show playing the slightly cynical, cocky bomb disposal trouble shooter whose tired of life and doesn't know who the good guy's are anymore! He plays the part well and is supported by Anthony Hopkins, Ian Holm, Omar Sharif and a huge assortment of fine British character actors.

There is no nudity, profanity, endless gun battles nor a huge body count but a lot of dialog, so anybody under the age of the 35 will be bored stiff and consequently unable to follow the movie! In addition because it was made in 1974 there is no scenes with anybody tapping away on a computer or cell phones going off all the time and lastly no American squared-jawed tough guy to save the day. Fashions and hairstyles can all come back into favor I suppose but to me the most dated part of the film was when one of the support staff back at central command was drawing the bomb on a black board with chalk! That type of support would be utterly ludicrous today in the light of new technology. Never the less it's well paced, engrossing and a very under valued 70's thriller which I would certainly recommend!

The DVD has been restored to full grace and viewers can see at first hand the gray miserable weather that you can get around the British Isles, as well as the outrageous fashions and hairstyles way back then. It's well worth a rent for all of the above! (Note: in the 1980's TV series MACGUYVER there was an episode where they ripped off the plot from this movie.)

fine disaster movie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 20 December 2021]

After having been recently refitted, Captain Alex Brunel (Omar Sharif) sets off with ocean-liner Britannic and 1200 souls. The owner receives a call from Juggernaut who is demanding a limited ransom after placing seven bombs on the ship. Bomb expert Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon (Richard Harris) leads his team onto the ship. Under pressure from the government, the company decides not to pay. Lead Scotland Yard investigator Supt. John McCleod (Anthony Hopkins) happens to have his family onboard.

This is a fine disaster movie. Bomb disposal is not always the most kinetic of action thrillers. This one is able to maneuver around that by having seven bombs and having them on a moving ship. I do keep thinking about Speed2. The plot needs to explain why the ship couldn't stop. It could be moving towards a rescue ship. More epic production would put the ship in a storm. There is more stuff that could be done. There is one fun scene with excess weight. The ending is a bit underwhelming. All in all, this is fine.

Legendary Cast, Average Thriller

[historian63 · 5/10 · 7 June 2022]

I have never even heard of Juggernaut until catching it recently on Screenpix. That is surprising because I would have been 12 when it came out and would think to have seen it at a theater or the movie of the week been then. It appears to have almost disappeared for decades. Perhaps, given the cast, it was more popular in the UK.

The premise of the film is certainly promising. A cruise ship is crossing the North Atlantic in gale conditions that are ruining the social activities and making everyone miserable. There is, of course, an affair between the married socialite and the captain, some comic relief, and a variety of passengers with their own issues. Oh, yes, and a number of powerful bombs just to add to the misery. Think the Love Boat meets Shock Wave.

Clearly this was meant to be a blockbuster. The cast is all-star, albeit mostly British. Here you have Richard Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Ian Holm, David Hemmings, Jack Watson, the legendary Freddie Jones, along with Omar Sharif (as a British ship captain!) and Shirley Knight. Roy Kinnear and Clifton James add some lighter humor. All of this is thrown into some great visuals of the North Atlantic. The insertion of the bomb disposal team by air is especially worth watching.

Unfortunately, the overall film is rather slow and predictable. There are the overdone scenes of tension as the RN goes to work on the bombs while back in the UK Scotland Yard is looking for the rather obvious bomber. There are a few twists, but not enough. And all along we get loads of personal drama and soliloquies on the meaning of life. The suspense could have been a lot tighter and tauter. The ending is a let down. In the end you have an A movie cast and picture quality, but only a B movie plot.

Juggernaut, A Superb Exercise In Building Tension,

[greene515 · 10/10 · 9 March 2006]

'Juggernaut' Or 'Terror On The Brittanic' As it's known elsewhere, Is a superb suspense drama, that takes place aboard a cruise ship that's en route to new york, Meanwhile a mysterious voice rings the ships managing director (Ian Holm),and demands a ransom of Five Hundered Thousand Pounds, If his demands are not met a bomb which is on board will inexplicably explode,

Enter Tony Fallon, (Richard Harris who is a naval expert who along with his assistant (David Hemmings) And Harris's team are quickly sent via navy airplane,to the ship,

Meanwhile Back on dry land Police detective (Anthony Hopkins) Has his fair share of bother,( his estranged wife who along with his two children are on board the liner),Hopkins Is slowly but surely,unraveling who is behind the threat,

Juggernaut,Has a superb all- star cast that also includes type cast sheriff character actor Clifton James,(Live & Let Die, Silver Streak) (Shirley Knight), as a lusty passenger who flirts with Captain Omar Sharif, Usual Lester Mainstay (Roy Kinnear), plays the eager to please entertainment director, Juggernaut, is finally available on DVD, MgM have done an admirably job presenting the film in a pristine 1.66.1 print.

Roy Kinnear steals the show

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 21 March 2022]

Calling everyone who wasn't included in The Poseidon Adventure or The Neptune Factor: join the cast of Juggernaut, another disaster movie aboard an ocean liner. This all-star cast includes Omar Sharif as the captain, Anthony Hopkins, Richard Harris, Shirley Knight, Roy Kinnear, David Hemmings, Cyril Cusack, and Ian Holm. The set-up is fairly straight-forward, since you know going in that it's a disaster movie: there are several bombs aboard a cruise ship set to explode if the madman doesn't get his ransom money. As Scotland Yard races against time, the liner's passengers struggle through what might be the last days of their lives.

What I loved most about this movie was the realism of the crew aboard the cruise ship. One of the workers was an Englishman but pretended not to speak English when around the passengers. The ship encountered a bout of turbulent water, and as he zig-zagged down the corridor with a drink on a tray, one guest bumped into him and spilled the liquid. He merely smiled and pretended it was no problem at all, until his back was turned. Most people who go on a cruise don't think about the crew being paid to show them a good time. For those men, it's hardly fun and games, and sometimes the last thing they want to do is smile.

Roy Kinnear's performance absolutely made this movie: he was outgoing and friendly to entertain the passengers, but when they weren't looking, he was free to show his real emotions. While knocking himself out during bingo, he rolls his eyes and grits his teeth. Gathering everyone to prepare for the lifeboats, he's full of positive energy until he's allowed to show his fear for a few seconds. When everyone's afraid the ship will explode at any moment, he still hosts a costume ball and announces each song with a smile, "Here's one called 'I Can't Get Over You - So I'll Get Up and Go Around'," but when his "mask" is off, he shares a dance with Shirley Knight and feels just as human as the next fellow.

If you like your disaster movies to be action-packed, you might not like this one very much. Juggernaut has tons of tension and slow-building suspense sequences, but it's not an explosion a minute like The Towering Inferno, which was unfortunately released the same year. But if you like realism amidst impending doom, you'll find a lot to appreciate.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There are swirling camera movements during the first few minutes, and since the entire movie takes place on a ship over turbulent water, there are lots of tilts and bobs, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

A disaster film that retains the staying power of a paper boat in the bathtub.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 16 June 2017]

Yes, you've got a terrific cast here and the potential for a gripping thriller. Unfortunately, in spite of the presence of such legendary stars as Omar Sharif, Anthony Hopkins and Richard Harris, the film is an excruciating bore that seems to focus on explaining as to how this situation is being dealt with as opposed to showing much of the action in making that happen.

A rather creepy voice makes several sinister sounding phone calls threatening a luxury liner with explosion in the middle of an ocean cruise. Sounding sort of like another doomed sea vessel on screen from just a few years ago, this misses characters you really want to see spared, and time with the passengers seems like a script afterthought. Attempts at humor fall flat and the mystery of who is threatening to blow up this ship and why isn't intriguing enough for the audience to care.

There are moments when the film comes to a screeching halt, hitting empty air plot wise with a thud. Realizing an hour in to this lifeless bore that I wanted to see the whole thing speed up, I knew I'd be severely disappointed. There have been disaster films that were so bad that they become funny, but this doesn't even rank as a disastrous bomb. What it does end up being is one that wastes some fine actors pretending to be reciting intelligent dialog and dealing with a complex plot, but all it is turns out to be as exciting as trying to paddle a canoe through quicksand. Nowhere to go but down, and if the boat doesn't sink, you're basically stuck in muck not safe to try and escape from. For an hour and 20 minutes of needless exposition before anything else happens, by the time something does, it's pretty much too little, too late.