At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
- Won 3 Oscars
- 13 wins & 14 nominations total
Sheila Allen
- Paula Ramsay
- (as Sheila Mathews)
Norman Burton
- Giddings
- (as Normann Burton)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBoth novels were inspired by the construction of the World Trade Center in the early-1970s, and what could happen with a fire in a skyscraper. In Richard Martin Stern's novel "The Tower", the fictional 125-story building was set next to the north tower of the World Trade Center. The climax of the novel was centered around a rescue mounted from the north tower.
- Goofs(at around 2h 35 mins) At the end of the movie the tower seems to be well lit despite the power outage caused by the fire.
- Quotes
Doug Roberts: I don't know. Maybe they just oughta leave it the way it is. Kind of a shrine to all the bullshit in the world.
- Crazy creditsThe 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Pictures logos don't appear in the beginning.
- Alternate versionsThe film was re-dubbed in 2003 for the German DVD release. All subsequent releases on DVD and Blu-ray feature this new dubbing, many TV airings as well.
- ConnectionsEdited into St. Elsewhere: The Abby Singer Show (1988)
- SoundtracksWe May Never Love Like This Again
Sung by Maureen McGovern
Words and Music by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
Featured review
Must see movie within the disaster genre
A San Francisco sky scraper catches fire and the emergency services battle to save the civilians trapped inside.
The Towering Inferno is a spectacle that holds up well against the technology of modern day movies. When you consider what it achieves without the use of computer generated imagery I think it should be considered one of the best of its genre.
Some of the set-pieces truly are amazing, particularly when you see actors and stunt performers doing such ridiculous things for the sake of the perfect shot.
I imagine must have seemed quite fantastical at the time of its release, but considering it within the context of events that have occurred during this century such as the 9-11, Grenfell and Beirut, it is pretty frightening in it's plausibility.
The film shows total respect to the emergency services who deal with these type of situations, particularly the fire brigade who's courage and calmness under pressure are epitomised by Steve McQueen's character. I love the scene where he walks into the party, takes charge of the situation by quietly telling the owner of the building what to do.
The plot and characters (aside from McQueen and Paul Newman) are the aspects of the movie that could have been better. I did feel it's run-time of 165 minutes. It's quite slow to get going and at times loses focus on the most compelling parts of the film. Some of the characters and moments feel like they have been lifted from The Poseidon Adventure.
Overall though it is a must see disaster movie and one that will definitely help appreciate the importance of fire safety in the design and construction of buildings.
I watched it recently with my four and a half year old daughter who was gripped by the action when it finished she told me she wants to be a fire-fighter when she grows up.
The Towering Inferno is a spectacle that holds up well against the technology of modern day movies. When you consider what it achieves without the use of computer generated imagery I think it should be considered one of the best of its genre.
Some of the set-pieces truly are amazing, particularly when you see actors and stunt performers doing such ridiculous things for the sake of the perfect shot.
I imagine must have seemed quite fantastical at the time of its release, but considering it within the context of events that have occurred during this century such as the 9-11, Grenfell and Beirut, it is pretty frightening in it's plausibility.
The film shows total respect to the emergency services who deal with these type of situations, particularly the fire brigade who's courage and calmness under pressure are epitomised by Steve McQueen's character. I love the scene where he walks into the party, takes charge of the situation by quietly telling the owner of the building what to do.
The plot and characters (aside from McQueen and Paul Newman) are the aspects of the movie that could have been better. I did feel it's run-time of 165 minutes. It's quite slow to get going and at times loses focus on the most compelling parts of the film. Some of the characters and moments feel like they have been lifted from The Poseidon Adventure.
Overall though it is a must see disaster movie and one that will definitely help appreciate the importance of fire safety in the design and construction of buildings.
I watched it recently with my four and a half year old daughter who was gripped by the action when it finished she told me she wants to be a fire-fighter when she grows up.
helpful•130
- snoozejonc
- Oct 12, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Flammendes Inferno
- Filming locations
- 2898 Vallejo Street, Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California, USA(Roger and Patty Simmons' house)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $14,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $116,000,000
- Gross worldwide
- $116,000,429
- Runtime2 hours 45 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Fred Astaire, William Holden, Paul Newman, Richard Chamberlain, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Susan Blakely, and Jennifer Jones in The Towering Inferno (1974)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA1N2JlMjItMTExZC00NTIxLWE2YTYtY2ZkM2M5OWM3M2YyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTc1NTQxODI@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)