Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- tense
- suspenseful
- mechanical
- thriller night
- 1970s movie marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film’s roller-coaster spectacle and cat-and-mouse suspense effective, while many faulted its thin plotting and dull villain.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Harry Calder uses his safety-inspector expertise and investigative access to pursue the terrorist across multiple amusement parks.
The terrorist targets amusement parks, transforming roller coasters and family entertainment into instruments of extortion and mass danger.
The film was presented in Sensurround and emphasizes roller-coaster rides, amusement-park scale, and visceral mechanical movement.
The opening-day launch of a giant roller coaster becomes the setting for the terrorist's revenge plot and Calder's intervention.
Films like Rollercoaster, and why
The French Connection
shared cat-and-mouse suspense, Hitchcockian influence, and an ordinary investigator confronting a methodical criminal
Black Sunday
shared 1970s crime thriller atmosphere, terrorism threat, and procedural investigation
The Swarm
shared amusement-park peril, disaster spectacle, and escalating suspense around a public attraction
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
shared psychological pursuit, public danger, and suspense built around a calculating antagonist
Movie Details
- Director
- James Goldstone
- Release Date
- 1977-06-10
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (161)
Cast
- George Segal
- Richard Widmark
- Timothy Bottoms
- Harry Guardino
- Susan Strasberg
- Henry Fonda
- Helen Hunt
- Dorothy Tristan
- Harry Davis
- Stephen Pearlman
Common questions
- What is Rollercoaster about?
- A safety inspector races through America’s amusement parks to stop a calculating terrorist from turning a roller coaster’s opening day into mass murder.
- What is Rollercoaster like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Rollercoaster as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Rollercoaster violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Rollercoaster as moderate.
- What did critics think of Rollercoaster?
- Critics broadly found the film’s roller-coaster spectacle and cat-and-mouse suspense effective, while many faulted its thin plotting and dull villain.
- Which films are like Rollercoaster?
- Films with a similar feel include The French Connection, Black Sunday, The Swarm, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
- How long is Rollercoaster?
- Rollercoaster runs 119 minutes.
