This Classic Disaster Movie Deserves a Proper Remake — Not Just a Dwayne Johnson Rip-Off

There was something special about the ‘70s disaster movie boom in Hollywood that today’s cinema cannot compare to. Although technological advances in CGI have phased out practical sets and miniatures over the years, recent disaster epics such as Greenland and Twisters lack the star power that made audiences care for the characters, as well as a relevant underlying subtext. With one recent survivalist film, The Lost Bus, proving that the combination of spectacle and human drama can still succeed creatively, it might be time to give 1974’s The Towering Inferno a fresh re-imaging.

Directed by John Guillermin (1976’s King Kong, Death on the Nile), The Towering Inferno was more than just another cash-in on the ‘70s disaster craze. It was an epic event, produced by Irwin Allen, the producer of The Poseidon Adventure fame, featuring A-list icons led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, who lent their gravitas to a Hollywood spectacle. Achieving the record of the second top-grossing film of 1974 and winning three Academy Awards, the film paved the way for such high-rise suspense-thrillers as Die Hard and Dwayne Johnson’s Skyscraper. The latter picture attempted to recapture the formula of heroic feats being accomplished within the context of a closed space on fire. Where Skyscraper failed, however, is the one key element that would make a Towering Inferno remake worthwhile: The suspension of disbelief.

What Is ‘The Towering Inferno’ About?

Based on source material from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson, The Towering Inferno follows architect Doug Roberts (Newman), who is invited to the opening ceremony of The Glass Tower in San Francisco. Billed as the world’s tallest skyscraper, Roberts was the chief designer of the building operated by its developer, James Duncan (William Holden). Right before the event, Roberts raises safety concerns after finding some bad power wiring by Duncan’s contractor son-in-law, Roger (Richard Chamberlain).

Once the ceremony gets into full swing, the tower’s spectacular lighting display overloads the electrical systems, resulting in the fire breaking out all the way up to the 135th floor. On the ground, fire chief Michael O’Hallorhan (McQueen) leads the evacuation plan by working with Duncan over the phone to help the guests to safety. But as the gas lines explode and elevators trap claustrophobic guests, the danger becomes greater as the potential mass casualties.

The Stars of ‘The Towering Inferno’ Ground Their Characters in Real Fear

Image via 20th Century Fox/Warner Bros.

The Towering Inferno featured the megastars of the day, such as Newman, McQueen, and Faye Dunaway, sharing the screen with cinema legends before their time, including Holden, Fred Astaire, and Robert Vaughn. Each actor breathed life into the roles in a way that made audiences care and not just come across as stock archetypes. Newman and McQueen, both at their career heights in 1974, get their moments to shine, whether it’s Newman hanging off metal above a collapsed stairwell or McQueen atop a bending elevator. Yet, they are far from superheroes like the stars of today because they exemplify the cast ensemble’s genuine fear of facing death in a moment of crisis. The use of pyrotechnics on sets that are physically on fire in front of the actors adds to the authenticity of the performances, where no one has time for quick one-liners and winking at the camera. Whether it’s the guests witnessing a real helicopter explosion in front of them or Vaughn’s panic in rushing to a rescue chairlift, the audience can believe this situation could really happen to them.

Beyond the hair-raising stuntwork and pyro effects, The Towering Inferno carried a deeper message about the greed of corporations and the desire to make everything bigger and better without attention to the limitations. In the midst of the chaos, aside from the soap opera-level subplots that include Robert Wagner and Susan Flannery’s affair, is a greater conflict between Newman, Holden, and Chamberlin about the cost-cutting measures to the building that led to the fire outbreak, as well as McQueen’s restrained disgust over the company’s safety oversight. In today’s times, a remake would go further than just money-hungry businessmen seeking a quick buck. As The Lost Bus and the satire Don’t Look Up highlighted, themes of powerful people ignoring climate change, spreading disinformation like a virus, and a current generation’s need to livestream a disaster on their phones would tell a greater tale about humanity’s ignorance of a mass casualty event.

Why ‘Skyscraper’ Failed to Be a True Remake of ‘The Towering Inferno’

When the 2018 blockbuster Skyscraper came along, it retained Towering Inferno’s concept of terror atop the world’s largest building. Many of the same traits were carried over: Johnson’s hero security expert takes the place of Newman’s ethical architect, the building’s safety systems go haywire, and innocent lives are put at risk. With Johnson in the lead, however, Skyscraper easily becomes a Die Hard clone with the addition of terrorists holding the star’s family hostage while seeking to rip off the building’s financier. Rather than making a compelling throwback to the realism and subtle commentary of Inferno, Skyscraper is treated like a hollow CGI-driven spectacle where the stunts come off too sleek and the paper-thin premise cannot be elevated by one-dimensional characters played by Johnson and his co-stars, including Neve Campbell and Chin Han.

To remake The Towering Inferno today would not be as simple as using CGI to accomplish the Fast & Furious-level absurdity that Johnson’s Skyscraper aimed to do. The latter picture took away all the 1974 film’s tension, not only because it has a larger-than-life action hero in the lead, but also due to the video game approach of a rescue mission featuring physically impossible heroic feats. Never once does Skyscraper make the audience feel the true fear of heights and being caught in a blazing fire, because never once is it believable that Johnson will die. The Towering Inferno, however, had shock value because any one of the A-list ensemble could lose their lives in the disaster. Even Newman and McQueen’s characters were human enough to avoid death narrowly. If a modern-era filmmaker like Paul Greengrass got an opportunity to re-tell the Inferno story, the emotional connection to human characters could be the true selling point, with the spectacle being more grounded and less stylized.

The Towering Inferno is available to purchase on VOD services.