POSEIDON

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Ships)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

“Oh, It was sad (oh it was sad)
Oh, It was sad (oh, it was sad)
It was sad when the great ship went down to the bottom of the sea
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives
It was sad when the great ship went down.�
- From the popular camp song, “Titanic�

What do you do when your life is turned upside down? How do you keep your head above water? How do you surface from your troubles? You need help. You need grace. You need someone who can show you the way. And sometimes, you need someone who will sacrifice him or herself for your safety. I’m talking about the new movie POSEIDON, but I could just as easily be talking about your life when a crisis hits. We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt like we are drowning at times. And that is why these adventure/survival movies keep being made and why they keep resonating with audiences. They are perfect metaphors for our struggles here on earth.

The1972 THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, a B-movie classic, starred Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and Shelly Winters. This one stars Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, and Jacinda Barrett. Seconds after ringing in the New Year, a “rogue wave� upends the ocean liner POSEIDON, making anything not locked down into a projectile weapon, killing many and injuring countless others. One man, in this case Josh Lucas as Dylan Thomas, realizes the only way to even possibly surviving is to find his way to the hull (or bottom) of the ship and escape out the propeller shafts. Several others come along, despite the protests of the captain played by Andre Braugher. Together they swim, climb, avoid electrocution, evade fire, and otherwise scream and scare themselves out of harms way. A few die, most survive, while countless other nameless passengers face a watery tomb.

There are two major differences between the 2006 movie and the 1972 movie and they are qualitatively significant. Unlike the first version, the 2006 movie has no back-story or context. We don’t know where the ship is, where it is traveling. Secondly, we know little about the 2006 characters that are on this upward journey, and hence, we don’t care much about them as individuals. Hence, the story isn’t as rich or as powerful as the original. (Sequels. Sigh!) In fact, Gene Hackman played a priest with a faith crisis in the 1972 movie, a character with some real depth and intrigue.

Nevertheless, despite the shallow characterizations and the bigger explosions, the 2006 POSEIDON had one key scene that made it a perfect parallel to the saving power of Christ. The two weakest people in the upward traveling team, a hysterical stowaway woman and a child, combine their limited resources and save the rest of the team from death. The woman gives up her cross necklace and the boy uses it as a screwdriver to reach his little hands through a narrow hole to unscrew a hatch so others can crawl out of a duct, quickly filling with water. The least of these and the cross of Christ brought salvation to others. It was a scene to get my own water works flowing.

POSEIDON isn’t a good movie. It’s not original. Its characters are shallow. And, is falls back on special effects to “wow� us, like too many modern stinkers. But, it contains so many biblically rich parallels, its fun to discover them and to be surprised by the joy they bring. For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it offers unexpected spiritual pleasures. Indeed, it takes a broken vessel to receive a blessing.

— Overview