20 Best Survival Movies Of All Time
17. The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno is a seriously iconic piece of film, brilliantly structured and well filmed by director John Guillermin. On top of having one of cinema's best ensemble casts, Inferno is at its core a tension fuelled, claustrophobic and thoroughly engaging thrill ride about a group of people trapped in...well, a towering inferno.
With a cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, and including Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Richard Chamberlain and Robert Vaughn, Inferno takes its star power and exciting set pieces and turns the whole thing into the ultimate against-the-clock adventure.
Sure, there are parts of the film (mainly in the exposition-laden first half) where things lag slightly, but the danger and palpable tension keep the film nicely afloat as one of the best survival movies going. And despite its extravagant cast and indulgence on scenery, Inferno's most impressive feat is making a film about people trying to escape sure death without the use of bigger themes like war, aliens, and the apocalypse.
It's just a load of people getting together and trying not to be succumbed by flames. And that's pretty damn cool.