Often we tend to focus on new things. In the field of films and series, we feel (especially if you blog about movies), forced to see what has just been released as soon as possible. Therefore we sometimes forget to reflect on what’s already there and may have missed in the past. Especially when it comes to older films, it is sometimes difficult to find out what films are worth seeing, but which don’t appear in the “classics” lists. For example, I had never heard of Juggernaut, until I was researching films with bombs in them. It seems it is the first film to have a bomb defusing scene where someone needs to make the choice between cutting a red or a blue wire.
The story mainly takes place on the cruise ship SS Britannic which has started a cruise across the Atlantic and has 1200 guests on it. The owner of the shipping company, Nicholas Porter (Ian Holm) receives a call from the mysterious Juggernaut who tells him that he has installed seven barrels of explosive materials on the SS Britannic and that they will explode the next morning, unless he receives a large sum of money. Because of the rough weather at sea the passengers can not be evacuated and bomb expert Anthony Fallon (Richard Harris), together with his team, is dropped by helicopter near the boat to try to defuse the bombs. At the same time Scotland Yard, led by John McLeod (Anthony Hopkins), is attempting to locate Juggernaut.
The film is inspired by true events in 1972. Only then no bombs were found. Here they are there and it results in an entertaining movie. The shots of a real cruise ship sailing through heavy weather is impressive, as are dropping the bomb experts into the water and climbing onto the huge boat. When it comes to defusing the bombs it really builds the tension and Richard Harris is convincing as someone who is an expert in his field. Other events that happen on the ship don´t always work well, but nevertheless Juggernaut succeeds in getting you on the edge of your seat.
