One of a quartet of films designed to be shown in the brief-but-effective sound system of Sensurround, ROLLERCOASTER was a thriller that based on one online rumour became the inspiration for Keanu Reeves’ 1994 blockbuster SPEED.
A young man (Timothy Bottoms) has a vendetta against theme parks and proves it by blowing up the track of a rollercoaster and then causing a fire at another, before demanding a ransom of $1 million to stop his acts of destruction.
Safety Inspector Harry Calder (George Segal) is contacted by senior executive Simon Davenport (Henry Fonda) to investigate and becomes involved a bit more directly with the bomber, who leads him into more potential chaos and the cat-and-mouse game begins….
Simple but effective film that is elevated to a bigger impact on the big-screen via the Sensurround system, which was sometimes too effective and caused a number of cinema to shake beyond their foundations. Helen Hunt, future Oscar winner for AS GOOD AS IT GETS amongst other works, plays a teenager in this film. Pop group The Sparks feature later in the film.
For more on the SENSURROUND process, please click on the link below:
https://www.in70mm.com/library/process/sensurround/index.htm