WHEN TIME RAN OUT (1980 - ACTION / THRILLER / DISASTER) **1/2 out of ***** OR 5 out of 10
(Not exactly a vacation to Tweet about, to say the least...)
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CAST: Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, James Franciscus, Edward Albert, Barbara Carrera, Red Buttons, Ernest Borgnine, Veronica Hamel, Sheila Allen, Noriyuki Pat Morita, Burgess Meredith, Valentina Cortese, Alex Karras.
DIRECTOR: James Goldstone.
(WARNING: Some volcanic disasters - both literal and figurative - straight ahead...)
IT'S LIKE THIS: If you could rate a film solely on how hot its cast is, our next review would rate a perfect ***** or 10. Having one movie with the gorgeous likes of Paul Newman, Jackie Bisset, Bill Holden, Jimmy Franciscus, Eddie Albert, Barb Carrera, and Ronnie Hamel in it is like winning the Eye Candy Lottery. Unfortunately, when reviewing films, once must take into consideration other things than just how statuesquely gorgeous its players are. Things like plot, characters, theme, originality, and special effects. And that's where the problem starts - especially with the last two items.
Our next review is the 1980 disaster flick WHEN TIME RAN OUT, and its from the same producer (Irwin Allen) and the same screenwriter (Stirling Silliphant) who brought us the 1974 disaster flick THE TOWERING INFERNO (review # 203 ). And that's another problem, because it appears Mr. Allen and Mr. Silliphant made very little effort to differentiate the two. Take away the skyscraper in San Francisco threatened by a raging fire, substitute an island resort in the South Pacific threatened by raging volcano - and voila! They might as well have called this flick THE TOWERING INFERNO 2: DANGER IN PARADISE.
Even the characters of WHEN TIME RAN OUT are eerily similar to the those of THE TOWERING INFERNO - and two lead actors from the first film even show up again here. There's the rough-around-the-edges hero who warns of the dangers posed by the fire/volcano to the owners of the skyscraper/hotel resort - played by Paul Newman in both movies. There's the conflicted but ultimately decent tycoon who pooh-poohs the threat - played by William Holden in both movies. There's the tough, driven media executive love interest who is also sexy and playful - played by Faye Dunaway before, and by Jacqueline Bisset here. There's the duplicitous management bastard who knows just how dangerous the situation really is, but is keeping his mouth shut for fear of bad publicity and losing business - played before by Richard Chamberlain, and now by James Franciscus. There's the beautiful but naive heiress/socialite who is being hornswaggled by her duplicitous management bastard husband into thinking everything is okay - played before by Susan Blakely, and portrayed this time by Veronica Hamel. Then there's the elderly couple who seem more horny than the the characters half their age, played previously by Fred Astaire and Jennifer Johnson, and this time by Burgess Meredith and Valentina Cortese.
I could go on and on and with the strong parallels between the two movies' characters, but what would be the point? These people are only here to pass our time in the first hour while we wait for the fucking volcano to blow its top, and then to either die horribly or be rescued in the second half when pyrocastic flow engulfs everything in sight. We get something approaching a love triangle between rough-around-the-ages oil driller Hank Anderson (Newman), tough & driven but also sexy & playful media executive Kay Kirby (Jacqueline Bisset). and conflicted but ultimately decent hotel tycoon Shelby Gilmore (William Holden).
Then, as if that weren't enough, we also get a love rectangle. Seems that Shelby's shady business partner Bob Spangler (Franciscus) is schtupping the exotically lovely Iolani (Barbara Carrera), the hotel's concierge. Unfortunately, both Bob and Iolani are already spoken for. The former is married to sweet and pretty heiress/socialite Nikki (Hamel), and the latter is engaged to local boy Brian (Albert). I should also add that Brian is supposed to be Polynesian or something like that but looks like a white boy from Malibu. In other words, like Edward Albert.
Anyhow, Hank's crew strikes a vein of oil in the side of the volcano that overlooks Gilmore Kalaleu Resort. While everyone around him pretty much rips their clothes off and pours champagne all over their nude torsos in joy, Hank is more circumspect and wary. The rumblings that have been emanating from the volcano ever since they struck oil may have something to do with his trepidation. Hank's fears solidify when the local volcanology team detects "increased activity" from the crater. Unfortunately, that idiot Bob is so afraid a panic will ensue that he sits on Hank's report. Or maybe he's just so busy fucking Iolani to care.
Meanwhile, Kay follows Hank around the island like some sort of lost schoolgirl with a crush, conveniently tossing aside the fact that she was introduced as a strong, self-assured, determined advertising exec. So much for striking a blow for businesswomen everywhere, Kay. I should also mention that while Kay is following Hank like a puppy, Shelby is following her around like a stalker. Between the Hank/Shelby dick-measuring contest over Kay, and the whole Bob/Iolani/Brian/Nikki train wreck, you'd be forgiven if you were to think you were watching a special episode of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS set in Hawaii.
Just when you think you can't take another moment of this tropical soap opera madness, the goddamn volcano finally explodes. About fucking time, yo. And if you thought Kay pouting over Hank ignoring her or Bob and Iolani sneaking off into the bushes to secretly taste each other's tonsils was excruciating, wait until you lay your eyes on the "special effects" that are supposed to convince us the volcano is, um, ejaculating fire. I've seen more realistic effects in a Duck Tales cartoon, folks. Not to mention more credibility. Newsflash to the producers: if an island that small with a volcano that big was spewing as much lava for as long as shown, there wouldn't be a goddamn island or a single survivor left.
Who will survive the the "unforeseen" volcanic eruption. Will the Gilmore Kaleleu Resort be leveled? Who will live? Who will die? And will anyone discover that Bob hushed the data warning of an imminent eruption just to keep business going? Who will win Kay's heart? Hank? Shelby? And will Nikki find out that Bob has been porking that exotic slut Iolani? Will any of this bullshit matter if the lava comes flowing over the hotel and destroys everything?
Well, if you've seen THE TOWERING INFERNO, then you've seen this movie.
BUT SERIOUSLY: Earlier, we joked that WHEN TIME RAN OUT should have been titled THE TOWERING INFERNO 2: DANGER IN PARADISE. That's less tongue-in-cheek than you think. After the massive success of THE TOWERING INFERNO in 1974, producer Irwin Allen tried to launch a sequel that would reunite leads Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you feel about these movies) McQueen passed. Undeterred, Allen turned the project into this film, and was able to recruit McQueen's former co-star, Paul Newman, who was contractually-obligated to star in either a sequel to THE TOWERING INFERNO or another Allen film.
In short, WHEN TIME RAN OUT began as a direct sequel to THE TOWERING INFERNO, then became its own movie. Nevertheless, as outlined above, this film has some very striking similarities to that earlier film, from the characters and their relationships with one another, to the way the plot develops and plays out as the story unfolds. Allen also infuses elements of another titan of the Disaster Movie Genre: THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE from 1972. On paper, combining elements of THE TOWERING INFERNO and THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, solid films both, seems like a surefire idea. The end result, however, is a different story.
For a 1980 film, WHEN TIME RAN OUT had a high budget: $20 million. That's even higher than the budget for THE TOWERING INFERNO, which was around $14 million. Of course, you could argue that the gap between their budgets is closer when adjusted for inflation. Nevertheless, $20 million for a film's production budget is still pretty large-scale for that time. I read somewhere that the film's budget was spent mostly on location shooting in Hawaii, and allegedly there wasn't much money left over for special effects. I also read that the studio wasn't willing to pour any more money into the shoot. This may account for why the special effects are just so amateurish and cheap-looking, and why they stand out in a film that otherwise looks sleek and expensive. The rather chintzy effects drag down the film considerably, which may explain why it bombed spectacularly on its initial theatrical release.
Of course, WHEN TIME RAN OUT also came out at the very end of the Disaster Movie Genre run that started with the back-to-back successes of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and THE TOWERING INFERNO in the early 70s. Subsequent entries into the sub-genre performed less and less at the box-office throughout that decade. And since WHEN TIME RAN OUT essentially copies most of the character and story beats of THE TOWERING INFERNO, the "freshness factor" is considerably reduced. The bad special effects are just another liability that seals the film's fate.
The truth is, once you remove the substandard special effects, WHEN TIME RAN OUT is a fairly decent disaster film. If this film has a saving grace, is its talented and attractive cast. Paul Newman is a lot less dynamic here than he was in THE TOWERING INFERNO, and reportedly he only did the film because he was contractually forced to, as well as to get seed money for his philantrophic salad dressing business, "Newman's Own". Whatever the case may be, a low-key Paul Newman is still better than many actors at their most energetic. That's how charismatic he is. William Holden probably gives the film's best performance as the business tycoon who has more of a conscience than we realize. Jacqueline Bisset essentially plays the same role that Faye Dunaway did in THE TOWERING INFERNO, that of a strong but also seductive love interest, and does it relatively well. James Franciscus has the Richard Chamberlain role of the shifty business partner whose unethical choices jeopardize everyone. Franciscus' role here is actually more nuanced and interesting, though, and he gives the role some unexpected shadings that reveal some complexity and something approaching nobility. Veronica Hamel takes the "rich princess" role that Susan Blakely had previously, but makes it more touching and tragic. The rest of the cast are similarly familiar and competent.
Ultimately, WHEN TIME RAN OUT isn't as bad or notorious as reported. It does have some truly awful special effects that clash jarringly with its other tonier, more expensive-looking production values. However, with a cast like that, you're going to get some game-saving elements - and that is certainly the case here. There are those who feel that if WHEN TIME RAN OUT has been released closer to THE TOWERING INFERNO, and been given better special effects, it might have fared better at the box office and with critics. As it is, it's a passable disaster flick.
