City on Fire 1978

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City on Fire woof! 1978 (R)

Arguably the worst of Hollywood's disaster epics, this stinker came at the end of the cycle. The plot borrows heavily from such boxoffice heavyweights as “The Towering Inferno” and “The Poseidon Adventure.” A cast of secondmagnitude stars (with the exception of Henry Fonda) deals with civic corruption, an enraged pyromaniac, political ambitions, blackmail, and assorted hankypanky. Several stuntmen are set afire, but the titular blaze is handled with unimpressive effects. The rest is choppy editing, cliched situations, and flat characters. 101m/C VHS . CA Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, Leslie Nielsen, Henry Fonda, Ava Gardner; D: Alvin Rakoff.

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