10 Dumbest Decisions In Disaster Movies

2. The Towering Inferno (1974) - Overloading The Breeches Buoy

Breeches Buoy The Towering Inferno
20th Century Fox/Warner Bros.

Perhaps the second best known disaster film, The Towering Inferno explores the pure terror of being trapped inside a massive burning building.

After panicked partygoers flood onto the helipad of The Glass Tower, causing a helicopter to crash on it, the San Francisco Fire Department sets up a breeches buoy as an alternative means of winching them down one by one (albeit a far slower one).

When Roger Simmons (Richard Chamberlain), the electrical engineer whose corner-cutting caused the fire, insists on going next on the breeches buoy, an angry mob tries to stop him, clinging to the winch-and-wire apparatus even as it sets off with Simmons aboard. Even Senator Gary Parker (Robert Vaughan) attempts to stop Simmons from descending, only to be shoved to his death by the madman.

Ultimately, due to being overloaded with too many people trying to escape, the entire thing fails and it all collapses, taking the dishonest and murderous Simmons to his well-deserved fate... as well as some of the honest people who tried to stop him.

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.