Juggernaut (1974 film)
| Juggernaut | |
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original film poster by Robert McCall
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| Directed by | Richard Lester |
| Produced by | Richard Alan Simmons as Richard DeKoker |
| Written by | Richard Alan Simmons as Richard DeKoker Alan Plater |
| Starring |
Richard Harris Omar Sharif David Hemmings Anthony Hopkins Shirley Knight Ian Holm |
| Music by | Ken Thorne |
| Cinematography | Gerry Fisher |
| Edited by | Antony Gibbs |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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109 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Juggernaut is a 1974 British crime suspense film starring Richard Harris, Omar Sharif and Anthony Hopkins. The film, which was directed by Richard Lester, was largely shot on location on the TS Hamburg in the North Sea. It was inspired by a real events aboard the QE2 in May 1972 when Royal Marines from the Special Boat Service were parachuted on to the ship because of a bomb hoax.
In the film, Richard Harris leads a team of Naval bomb disposal experts sent to disarm several large barrel bombs that have been placed aboard an ocean liner crossing the North Atlantic. Meanwhile, ashore, the police race against time to track down the mysterious bomber who calls himself "Juggernaut."
The ocean liner SS Britannic is in the middle of a voyage in the North Atlantic with 1200 passengers on board when the shipping line's owner Nicholas Porter (Ian Holm) in London receives a telephone call from an unidentified person with an Irish accent styling himself as "Juggernaut", who claims to have placed seven drums of amatol (high explosive) aboard the ship which are timed to explode and sink it at dawn on the following day. He warns that the drums are booby-trapped in various ways and that any attempt to move them will result in detonation and offers that technical instructions in how to render the bombs safe will be given in exchange on a ransom being paid to him of £500,000. As an indication of his seriousness he then sets off a demonstration attack with a series of small bombs on the ship's bridge, which injure one crewman. Unable to order an evacuation of the ship's passengers via lifeboats due to rough seas besetting it, the shipping line's management is inclined to yield to the ransom demand, however when the police are called in British government officials inform the company that if it does so they will withdraw the company's operating subsidy in line with the Government's policy of non-appeasement of terrorism.
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Wikipedia