Terror on the Britannic

Synopsis

As the liner Britannic embarks on a cruise from England to the United States, a man calling himself ” Juggernaut ” (Freddie Jones) phones Nicolas Porter (Ian Holm), director of Sovereign Lines, who owns the Britannic to announce that he has placed several bombs on board. After a small explosion on the deck of the ship to prove he is serious, Juggernaut requires a strong ransom to provide the means to defuse the bombs. The weather is terrible, there is no hope of putting the boats into the sea. The BritannicCommander(Omar Sharif) can not make the payment of the ransom accepted by the authorities, will have to welcome on board a team of deminers parachuted in open sea. The chief of the deminers, Fallon (Richard Harris), exuberant man and whimsical but very competent, will collide with the commander after the death of his best man and friend, Charlie (David Hemmings), during the attempt to defuse one of the bombs. While the crew and passengers, although terrorized, try to keep a good figure, Fallon, overwhelmed by the complexity of the machines, is asking for help from an old friend Sid Buckland, a former minesweeper like him. The fatal time is approaching and the passengers are preparing to embark on the boats despite the risks. Meanwhile, the police, arrival at Buckland realizes that he and Juggernaut are the same person. They take him away to talk to Fallon who has isolated the heart of the bomb. Only Juggernaut can help Fallon to take the final step of defusing. Despite their friendship and his prayers, Juggernaut tells Fallon the wrong way, but this one, suspicious, will, at the last second, choose for himself and thus save his life, the boat and its occupants.

Technical sheet

• Original title: Juggernaut
• French title: Terreur sur le Britannic
• Country of origin: United Kingdom
• Year: 1974
• Director: Richard Lester
• Scenario: Richard Alan Simmons ¹ and Alan Plater (Additional Dialogue)
• Producer: Richard Alan Simmons , Denis O’Dell (Partner)
• Executive Producer: David V. Picker
• Production Company: David V. Picker Productions ² , Two Roads Productions
• Distribution Company: United Artists
• Production Manager: Roy Stevens (Production Manager)
• Artistic direction: Alan Tomkins
• Music: Ken Thorne
• Photo: Gerry Fisher , assisted by Ernest Day (cameraman)
• Editing: Antony Gibbs
• Sets: Terence Marsh
• Costumes: Evangeline Harrison ³
• Makeup: Wally Schneiderman
• English language
• Format: Color – 1.66: 1 – 35 mm – Mono
• Genre : Thriller
• Duration: 109 minutes
• Release dates:
  •  United States : September 25 , 1974
  •  France : January 8 , 1975

Distribution

• Richard Harris (VF: William Sabatier ) : Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon
• Omar Sharif  (VF: Andre Oumansky ) : Alex Brunel, Cmdt. the Britannic
• David Hemmings (VF: Bernard Murat ) : Charlie Braddock
• Anthony Hopkins (VF: Francis Lax ) : Inspector John McLeod
• Shirley Knight (VF: Michèle Montel ) : Barbara Bannister
• Ian Holm : Nicolas Porter, Director of Sovereign Lines
• Roy Kinnear (VF: Albert Augier ) : The Curtain Executive Director
• Jack Watson : Mallicent, Chief Engineer Britannic
• Roshan Seth : Azad
• Freddie Jones (VF: John Topart ) : Sid Buckland, the ‘Juggernaut’
• Clifton James (VF: Pierre Garin ) : Corrigan
• Caroline Mortimer : Susan McLeod
• Mark Burns (VF: Jacques Richard ) : Hollingsworth
• John Stride : Hughes
• Julian Glover : Order Marder
• Kenneth Colley : Brown Detective
• Doris Nolan : M ^me Corrigan

External links

• Terror on the Britannic [ archive ] on Allociné
• (en) Terror on the Britannic [ archive ] on the Internet Movie Database

Notes and references

• When it was released in Dvd in the United Kingdom, the title was changed to Terror on the Britannic instead of Juggernaut .