Juggernaut continues the trend of each film in this marathon improving upon the last. It also furthers the pattern of the disaster occurring earlier and earlier: In
Airport the bomb goes off about an hour in; in
The Poseidon Adventure the ship overturns about half an hour in; and here the first explosion — the demonstration that the bomber is serious — comes just fifteen minutes in. But, in the hands of Richard Lester, that early ratcheting up of the suspense doesn't cause the plot to overwhelm the film at the expense of character and atmosphere. Instead, the ticking bomb frees Lester up to take an refreshingly oblique approach to the story, full of unexpected detours and details. Outside of the context of this marathon, some of those side stories might have frustrated me — particularly, the relationship between Omar Sharif and Shirley Knight — but given how on-point the previous films were,
Juggernaut's indirect course was all the more satisfying.
While the understated tone is great, the real draw here of course is the great suspense in watching Richard Harris and his team snip wires. The camerawork and editing are really excellent in these scenes, and I could just watch closeups of Harris' eyes all day. The cross-cutting between Fallon and his partner, each at separate bombs, does a brilliant job of doubling the suspense, and the way that sequence ends represents perhaps one of the best diversionary moves in cinema. I knew the whole time what was coming, but Harris falling backwards and then complaining to the captain in his appealing way caused me to let my guard up, and I ended up being surprised by the very thing I had long expected. Again, brilliant.
Just writing up these brief thoughts has made me wish I could watch this film again right now.
Fallon is the champion.
pixote