Starring: The Wicked, Charming, Dutch Icon Rutger Hauer

To be honest, I've never envisioned myself awarding four stars to a Hallmark product, but here we are. I see it as further proof of the great quality of the source material from which the film is derived.

The film frequently makes it evident that we are dealing with a Hallmark product, particularly in the way it plays on the romances, cinematography, and even the score, which at times arrives with these catchy and fantastic melodies only to give it away through these sentimental and melodramatic notes, which became overbearing after a while. Also, I'm not sure whether it's in the novel, but I thought the purist ending for one of the…

.......Would you believe me if I told you there was a Hallmark movie with a higher body count than all their other films combined?

SWAT teams, Terrorists gunning people down, suicides, drownings, burnings, explosions... NO, that doesn't sound much like the Hallmark you know and avoid.

........BUT what if the first ten minutes had some text stating it took place on Christmas Day?

That's OUR Hallmark.

This date is part of the source material, but one can immediately see what drew the greeting card giant to this project. Now I've seen the 70s film and sketchy sequel often enough, that I have a pretty good frame of reference for Stella Steven's fate - but decided to check out the wikipedia…

English Version below ...

The Poseidon Adventure (2005)
Der Poseidon Anschlag

Die grösste Gefahr ist bereits an Bord ...

Suzanne Harrison: Wie feiert man die Rettung von neun Menschen, wenn Tausende gestorben sind?

Der Poseidon Anschlag ist ein Katastrophenfilm aus dem Jahr 2005 von John Putch mit Adam Baldwin, Rutger Hauer, Bryan Brown, Peter Weller, Rory Copus, C. Thomas Howell und Steve Guttenberg.

TV Remake: "Der Poseidon Anschlag" handelt, wie schon der Katastrophenklassiker aus dem Jahr 1972, von einem Kreuzfahrtschiff, das mitten im Ozean kentert und mit dem Rumpf nach oben im Wasser treibt. Allerdings ist die Ursache hier nicht eine Flutwelle, sondern eine Explosion, die durch einen Terroranschlag ausgelöst wurde. Die Überlebenden - unter ihnen auch der Bombenleger -…

This two-part TV mini-series remake of the beloved early 1970's disaster thriller classic is a whole lot better than its undeservedly poor reputation suggests. For starters, the whole terrorist angle nicely captures the strongly unsettling sense of dread, unease, and paranoia that hung heavy in the air throughout the 2000's in the wake of 9/11. Next up, the capsizing set piece is actually a tad better here because you see it happening all over the ship instead of just in the ballroom. In addition, this film isn't afraid to brutally bump off some of the more likeable secondary characters. On top of this, there are assorted neat nods to the original sprinkled throughout. However, while the sets and stunts are…

A remake of the 1972 movie, with an elongated running time and a shortened budget. The budgetary constraints justify the poor CGI but not the terrible script. As a whole, it feels like a poorly put together list of the most cliched plot points, presented without even a modicum of workmanship. And with an added pinch of xenophobia and sexism, to boot.
If in the original Poseidon, the threat came from human greed and underestimating the forces of nature, here it all happens because of evil dark-skinned foreigners. And the characterizations of both the terrorist and the intrepid military officer that deals with him, are laughably crude. Between Peter Butler and Adam Baldwin, I would be hard pressed to decide…

Christmas Watch #13 (Christmas in Jul…August):

Terrorists on the boat, instead of a giant wave! Some of this was cool, I guess, but what a ridiculous plot to wedge into this remake of a classic story. The rouge wave wasn’t good enough? The terrorists didn’t really serve a purpose other than the catalyst for the boat flipping. They’re not used in any substantive way afterwards. And these terrorists were such early 00s caricatures, it was cringeworthy. I guess everything was about terrorists, back in the early 2000s. It’s also due in part to it being a cheesy Hallmark TV miniseries. It was a weird angle for them to take. Not particularly family friendly, like you’d expect from Hallmark.

While some…