Yep, that's what the title of this review says. Now why would I write that? Let's see. Why would I WRITE THAT? Is it because I just read in the Trivia section that principal filming of The Towering Inferno wrapped up on September 11, 1974? I think so. Nobody in 1974, not even Irwin Allen, the authors of the books on which the movie was based, and not even the screenwriter, were aware that 27 years after its release, THE REAL TOWERING INFERNO would happen, when Al Qaeda flew two planes into the World Trade Center and brought them to the ground. Steve McQueen's character, Chief O'Hallorhan, remarks that the ladders of his fire engines can't reach above the 74th floor. Chilling. High rise buildings like the World Trade Center, the newly proposed Freedom Tower, and the original MGM Grand Hotel, have a glaring flaw in their designs. One that wasn't corrected in the 31 years since The Towering Inferno was shown in theaters. That deficiency is the same as it was in 1974. The ladders of the fire engines still can't reach above the 74th floor. High rises, like the World Trade Center, don't have external fire escapes. They have internal fire stairs and elevators. In The Towering Inferno, they tried to get the people down in the elevators. BAD IDEA. Why? Because the elevator cables can break in a fire and send those inside hurtling to their deaths if the breaks fail. So to whom was The Towering Inferno dedicated to? Firefighters. In the movie, it was a short circuit that caused the fire. If it was made today, then it would probably be brought down by terrorists. That's what it's come to in this post-9/11 world. I wish I was back in the '70s right now. We were so naive and innocent. We've lost our innocence and we can't get it back.
Review of The Towering Inferno
