David Harrison I first saw this aged 13 in 1977 in my local cinema & was blown away by the whole thing including the Sensurround effects. Timothy Bottoms' character still creeps me out a bit and I love George Segal's relaxed but determined approach to get the bomber. Great script, a Hitchcock soundtrack & it has Sparks belting out Big Boys...a single gem to treasure in these days of ad-nauseam action franchises!

Scott LeBrun "Rollercoaster" is a decent 70s disaster-type film that was shown in "Sensurround" in theatres; this process would involve the shaking of selected theatre seats to try to give audience members a more visceral experience. You of course can't get this effect at home, so you're left with the story, which is reasonably entertaining, and the filmmaking, which is competent but not particularly distinguished. George Segal stars as Harry Calder, a civic inspector who picks up the trail of a young man (Timothy Bottoms) who's already caused a horrible accident at one amusement park, and who threatens to do so again, motivated purely by financial gain.It is indeed the acting that keeps this interesting for just under two hours. Bottoms is a case study in minimalism; all you need to know about his villain is that he's a really cool customer, is extremely efficient at what he does, and that people are naturally going to underestimate him. Segal is dynamic as the flawed but still likable hero, a true Everyman type who makes up in brains what he lacks in tact. It's fun to watch these characters interact, as Bottoms puts Segal through a lot of paces in order to get his money. Segal also has some great scenes with Henry Fonda (who plays Segals' superior) and hard nosed Federal agent Hoyt (Richard Widmark). The script by Richard Levinson and William Link is sometimes funny, giving the main characters opportunities to take shots at each other. Thrilling roller-coaster sequences, featuring some good camera-work, do get ones' pulse racing. Granted, this story could have been tightened a bit, and doesn't end all that well, but Segal, Widmark, and Bottoms prevent things from ever getting painful to watch.This isn't a star studded affair, as some of these disaster films tended to be, but there are a number of familiar faces present. Susan Strasberg is wasted as Segals' new girlfriend, and Helen Hunt makes her film debut playing Segals' daughter. Harry Guardino co-stars as a detective, and he never gets to do very much. Robert "Count Yorga" Quarry plays a mayor, Craig Wasson has a tiny role as a hippie dude, and that's none other than a young Steve Guttenberg as a messenger.Not bad as these things go.Seven out of 10.

Robert J. Maxwell It's more fun that it has a right to be, an inexpensive movie about a Safety Inspector (Segal) who must deliver a million dollars to a techie madman who will otherwise blow up one of the rides at the King's Dominion Amusement Park in Richmond, Virginia.There's a scene in "Dirty Harry" in which the madman "runs Harry all over the city" with a suitcase full of cash, attempting to lose or confuse the many cops known to be following Harry and watching for the pick up. This whole movie is like that, except that instead of simply running from one point to another, Segal is instructed by radio to buy funny hats, ride the roller coaster multiple times, be weighed by a cute girl in glasses, have his picture taken, and do the usual things that people do in amusement parks.George Segal does a nice job as the reluctant but savvy and inventive hero. He's supported by several familiar names, most of them past their prime, few of whom worked on the picture for more than a day or two -- Henry Fonda, beginning to gargle with age; Richard Widmark as the federal agent in charge of tracking Segal's moves in hope of capturing the madman, Timothy Bottoms; Harry Guardino from "Dirty Harry", who has about two lines of dialog; Susan Strasberg who is there to prove Segal is an ordinary heterosexual; and an adolescent Helen Hunt.It's silly and enjoyable, like spending a day at an amusement park, and, like cotton candy, after it melts so engagingly in your mouth there's nothing of substance left.

Spikeopath Roller-coaster is directed by James Goldstone and co-adapted to screenplay by Sanford Sheldon, Richard Levinson and William Link, from a suggested Tommy Cook story. It stars George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Richard Widmark, Harry Guardino, Susan Strasberg and Helen Hunt. A Panavision/Technicolor production in Sensurround, it features music by Lalo Schifrin and photography by David M. Walsh.A psychopathic bomber known only as "Young Man" (Bottoms) causes terror at American theme parks. When safety inspector Harry Calder (Segal) is brought in to investigate, it sets off a cat and mouse game as the "Young Man" ups the ante....Even now Roller-coaster is still wrongly being lumped in with the disaster movie genre that surfaced in the 1970s. Released at a time when that particular genre of film was fading out, Roller-coaster is anything but a disaster movie. What it is is a psychopath based thriller that adheres to procedural values and character involvement. As it runs at nearly two hours in length should notify viewers that it isn't a film chocked full of Roller-coaster sequences and explosive pyrotechnics. Yes, there's some exciting "Coaster" sequences, neatly shown to us in POV, and in spite of the (obvious 1970s) use of dummies for the plot set-up carnage, this thrives on human interest and race against the clock suspense.The marker is set early on as Bottoms' smirking killer sets up his first murderous act whilst listening to some deathly string arrangement on his cassette player. We then segue into fun fare music as the joys of the amusement park brings a warmth and calm to the viewer, this is soon vanquished as the terror a terrorist can bring comes to the fore. From here on in the Bottoms character remains mysterious but we know just what he is capable of, so does Segal's character, as do the likes of Widmark's Agent Hoyt and the rest of the "suits" frantically scratching around trying to avert further tragedy as the fresh faced bomber demands money with menace. This ensures the bulk of the film is made up of Calder and Young Man interactions and police procedural movements. It has much talk, very much so, but it's well scripted dialogue and heightens the tension as we enter the final third.One of the few films to feature the Sensurround gimmick, the film perhaps logically loses much impact on the small screen. Prints of the film are only adequate, and the sound mix doesn't shake your lounges in the way it certainly did back in 1970s theatres. Yet this is still a damn fine suspense picture, a film that also carries with it some stoic performances from Segal and Widmark, and a chillingly effective villain turn from the undervalued Bottoms. Henry Fonda is on the credits, but really it's just a cameo appearance, while there's much interest value in watching future Academy Award winner Helen Hunt as the young daughter of Harry Calder.Expect a taut thriller like Two-Minute Warning that was released the previous year, and you hopefully will not feel let down. Expecting a two hour disaster movie full of Coater Carnage will only lead to disappointment. 8/10