When a rollercoaster derails at an amusement park, it appears to just be a deadly accident. However, when a fire breaks out at another park, Department of Standards and Safety inspector Harry Calder (George Segal) suspects foul play. However, his boss (Henry Fonda) scoffs this off, and FBI Agent Hoyt (Richard Widmark), who’s leading the investigation, also tells Calder to leave things alone.

Calder’s concerns are soon confirmed when a mysterious young man (Timothy Bottoms) calls him and tells him to head to Virginia. Calder soon learns that several amusement park owners are meeting there to discuss a $1M ransom demand. Calder now finds himself the pawn in the blackmailer’s game, and must do everything the young man says and personally deliver his money or more innocent people will die. However, the man seems to have thought of everything and is constantly thwarting all of the plans Calder and the Feds come up with. Can they outwit this young man at his own cat-and-mouse game and stop him before another amusement park has an “accident”?!

I had never heard of this film before I sat down to watch it, and I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked this premise of a thriller set at an amusement park. George Segal is excellent as this divorced, downtrodden safety inspector who’s already on edge due to the fact that he’s just quit smoking and doesn’t have the patience to deal with the demands of the psychopath, his boss or the Feds. And Timothy Bottoms is perfectly creepy as the crazy-but-calm villain. The film also has some fun cameos with a young Helen Hunt playing Calder’s daughter, and musical group Sparks appearing as themselves, performing “Fill ‘Er Up” and “Big Boy” (apparently the role was originally offered to Kiss, who turned it down).

Rollercoaster does a great job of ratcheting up the tension as things escalate, including integrating carnival music and first-person footage of the rollercoaster rides to help build this excitement. There is a really fun audience fake-out early on in the way the camera moves while on one of the rides. Once we get to know the villain more and what he’s willing to do, things get even more stressful—there is a really tense scene near the end of the film that literally had me on the edge of my seat!

If I had one major complaint about the film, it’s that the villain is never given a really good motivation, just his million-dollar ransom, which is kind of weak. I would have liked him to have had some more personal or ideological reason for his actions. The ending of the film also feels a bit abrupt, though I still found it to be satisfying.

Rollercoaster is almost 30 years old, and at times you can see this age in the video. The movie was shot on film and so there are some moments where dust or scratches can be seen. Some of the darker scenes get a bit grainy, while some of the lighter scenes get a bit foggy or dull. As the movie went along, either I grew accustomed to all of this, or things generally got a lot cleaner and sharper. However, during some of the scenes in the final 15 minutes of the movie, I did notice a cross-hatched pattern across the entire frame. That said, when compared to the trailer, you can see a lot of effort must have been made to clean up the video for this Blu-ray.

This Blu-ray release offers two audio options, including the film’s original Sensurround® audio track presented in the more-modern Dolby TrueHD 3.1 format. While I didn’t really notice much use of the surround and subwoofer channels, I did find that this track sounded much fuller when compared with the stereo DTS-HD Master Audio option. The track provides clear dialogue, the roar of the coasters, screams of the patrons, and the fun carnival-like score, though there are a few moments where the audio sounds slightly tinny.

As far as the bonus features, the disc contains a brand new 13-minute interview with writer/producer Tommy Cook, who came up with the original story for the film, as well as four original radio spots, a photo gallery and the original film trailer.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:58:38)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 3.1 (The Original Sensurround® Track), English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Interview with Writer Tommy Cook (12:51)
  Writer/Producer Tommy Cook talks about his love of rollercoasters as a child, and how he came up with the idea for the film. He goes into the process of what he went through to get the film made, and how the finished product differs slightly from his original story.



• Radio Spots (2:08)
  Listen to four 30-second radio spots originally used in the marketing of the film.
• Still Gallery (4:55)
  Manually advance through this 58-photo gallery of production stills and promotional posters, or allow the slideshow to auto-advance every 5 seconds.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:19)

Final Thoughts:

Rollercoaster is a fun thriller set in the world of amusement parks featuring an excellent, recognizable (though much younger) cast. Not only does the movie feel like a classic cat-and-mouse film, but there is also a sense of timelessness to the story and setting. There is some unique camera work that not only brings the viewers right into the excitement of the rides, but also has them on the edge of their seats, nervous about what could happen next. This Blu-ray contains decent audio and video as well as a mix of new and vintage bonus material. Whether you’re already a fan, or just looking for a movie to check out, this release of Rollercoaster is definitely worth a look!