The Towering Inferno
Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: December 17, 1974 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
The Towering Inferno is one of the greatest disaster pictures made, a personal and professional triumph for producer Irwin Allen. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
The fun of watching The Towering Inferno is in figuring out which old star Allen is going to indiscriminately kill off, as well as watching ultramodern décor go up in flames while a bunch of stubborn egotists refuse to listen to reasonable men. Read full review
80
EmpireAndrew Collins
Much more than a way to pass a rainy bank holiday afternoon, this is rocking good superleague disaster adventure. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
By far the best of the mid-1970s wave of disaster films. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineEric Henderson
In nearly every reasonable sense it’s the far more accomplished of the two famed Allen disaster epics. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Everything a disaster movie should be, a combination of soap opera and the spectacle of destruction. Read full review
75
Rolling StoneDavid Fear
The story is stock, but thanks to the behind-the-scene fire wranglers, you can practically feel the heat. Read full review
70
The New York TimesVincent Canby
Movies like The Towering Inferno appear to have been less directed than physically constructed. This one is overwrought and silly in its personal drama, but the visual spectacle is first rate. You may not come out of the theater with any important ideas about American architecture or enterprise, but you will have had a vivid, completely safe nightmare. Read full review
70
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
This is the disaster film which set the style for the genre in the decade to come. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
As the bland, star-laden drama gets swallowed by fiery special-effects setpieces, it feels like one type of big-budget mediocrity giving way to the next. Read full review
50
The New YorkerPauline Kael
The movie doesn’t stick together in one’s head; this thing is like some junky fairground show—a chamber of horrors with skeletons that jump up. Read full review
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