1977 Rollercoaster movie question

I have a question that has been on my mind for years now concerning the 1977 movie, Rollercoaster.

Throughout the years, I've read that there are at least three, possibly four, different edited versions of this movie.

When I first saw it the year it came out, I recall some scenes were longer especially one in particular. The scene where the train on the Ocean View Rocket flies off the track is the one that stands out more prominently for me. In the theater version, I recall seeing more gory things happen in that scene. Blood gushing out of one person's throat, and more people getting thrown around.

A few years after the theater version came out, I saw another version on Show Time where the Rocket scene has the gory details but appears shorter.

A few years later I see another version on TV and the gory parts are deleted all together as well as some other scenes. The wonderful introduction of the Rebel Yell that is shown like a collage is massively edited and cut short as well.

I purchased a copy of Rollercoaster in the mid '90's and have an edited version that is different from the original theater version.

So, finally my question is, exactly how many edited versions of this movie are there? I eventually will be getting this movie on dvd and want to get the original theater version. I assume that will be more costly. But then maybe not.

Any help is appreciated.

CoasterLisa

So, coasters were around in 1877? ;)

Ha! Thats exactly what I was wondering. I was imagining a horse pulling a long rope over a pulley, with some cowboys in a cart and all that.

I've never even heard of this movie. I'll keep an eye out for it though.

You've never heard of Rollercoaster!? That's crazy.

Editing the subject title, sorry - the 1877 jokes won't make sense anymore. :)

Nope. Never heard of it. Sounds awesome though. Is it nice and campy?

Youngsters, sheesh! djDaemon, the movie Rollercoaster was the catalyst for the beginnings of the American Coaster Enthusiasts. Check your late night movie listings, or your local Blockbuster. Although rather hokey looking now, the movie shows many older and defunct roller coasters and the finale was based upon SFMM's Revolution.

I recall the original movie in theatres and the gory parts, but I've only seen the TV version since which is pretty cut back from the original. I would think someone in ACE might know where you can get a copy of the original version that I believe was shown at an ACE coastercon at SFMM a few years ago.

i remember that movie... lol
Came out around the same time as KillDozer.

I searched: can't find anything to indicate multiple edits or releases. *** Edited 11/22/2005 8:59:14 PM UTC by FLYINGSCOOTER***

Yeah, it's standard 70's disaster movie fare. That can be good or bad depending on your take.

It's one of the few films to be done in SenSurround.

Daring Dobermans ruled.. :)

Im not sure how many versions of this movie made it to VHS or Beta, but my DVD has what the 90's version had in terms of gore.

I haven't seen any others different than mine... if that helps.

I love 70's & 80's disaster/chaos/gore/etc.! Always entertaining on various levels!

Yeah, I feel dumb for not having seen this flick. I'm not a young youngster, though - mid-20's. That prolly just makes it worse that I haven't seen it, eh?

Heh, I made my brother and his girlfriend take me to see it when it was released in the 70s. To be honest, I don't recall the Rocket scenes to be much different to the cut of the movie I recorded from TV here a few years back but I was only eleven years old back then so go figure lol

One thing that did remain though was the really crappy footage for the second carload of the coaster train - none of the riders had bones lol

-Jimvy! ;)

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invy said:

One thing that did remain though was the really crappy footage for the second carload of the coaster train - none of the riders had bones lol

-Jimvy!

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Yeah. Hehehe. I guess you could say those poor dummy riders came to a "bend in the road" while riding the derailed coaster car.

CoasterLisa

I have both the VHS and DVD versions of this movie. The DVD is about 4 minutes longer but nothing of substance was edited out of the VHS version. It was mostly shorter shots of scenery without any dialogue that I noticed were a little different.

For you "youngsters" this was one of a handful of movies (Earthquake, Midway were also) that were presented in Sensurround in many theaters.

Sensurround was a gimmick using large low frequency drivers in the theaters to create a rumbling effect at appropriate times.

It was interesting for a few minutes.

IMO, Rollercoaster is much better without it. *** Edited 11/23/2005 5:01:55 AM UTC by Brad G***

Here's the IMDB link if you want to check out more details. I remember this being a big summer blockbuster movie for the era.

-Lary

http://imdb.com/title/tt0076636/

In other words it used sub-subwoofers.

Basically they moved air at a frequency inaudible to the human ear. (generally below 20hz)

I think only 5 movies were made in SenSurround. Theaters had to invest in a lot of new equipment and it had a tendency to disturb viewers in adjoining theaters.

(think that tricked out Escalade that you feel coming past your house a few moments before it actually gets there :) )

I don't know... no Carol Lynley, no Stella Stevens, no Charlton Heston. Can't be considered a real disaster movie without at least one of those three in it.

Is it true they're working on a remake of the film that will somehow involve Dippin' Dots (the ice cream of the future)?

Mom, why are my Dippin' Dots ticking?

...

...

KABOOM!

The traveling ride Fighter that got imported to the US last year has a set of actual sensurround speakers under the ride deck as subwoofers for the ride sound system. Lets just say you can feel the bassline in the dirt a block and a half away from the ride. It is amazing how powerful those speakers are.

Something interesting from the IMDb page on "Rollercoaster," namely the Trivia page:

"The rollercoaster crash that kicks off the film was significantly more graphic in its depiction of flying bodies and gore as the cars derail and topple over, and the sequence was toned down considerably before the film was released."

Could it be that you saw an early release, or that television inadvertently played the other version of the film? Sounds to me like the authoritative cut was the one that snipped out the excess gore.