Richard Harris, Omar Sharif and Anthony Hopkins chew scenery in hugely enjoyable disaster movie Juggernaut

In the 1970s you could barely move for all the tense, action packed disaster movies clogging up the screen of your local cinema. Juggernaut from 1974 is easily one of the best.

Despite a title that suggests we may be about to witness a road trip escapade with lorries carrying dubious contraband as they thunder over dangerous and dusty dirt roads, Juggernaut is actually a British-made, sea-bound thriller that tells the tale of the SS Britannic, a huge cruise liner that is ploughing through the North Atlantic with over a thousand passengers on board when its owner – Nicolas Porter (Ian Holm) – takes a call from a mysterious stranger who only identifies himself as “Juggernaut”.

Porter is told that there are seven sets of deadly explosives planted aboard the vessel and that the caller plans to activate them and sink the ship killing all on board at dawn unless a large ransom is paid.

Springing into action, Captain Alex Brunel (Omar Sharif), bomb disposal expert Anthony Fallon (Richard Harris) and Police Superintendent John McLeod (Anthony Hopkins) are called in to deal with the crisis across land and sea in a last gasp attempt to avert the imminent disaster and save the innocent passengers onboard the ship.

Richard Harris, Omar Sharif and Anthony Hopkins chew scenery in hugely enjoyable disaster movie Juggernaut

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As that A list roll call of acting talent tells you, this is a classic, all stops pulled out, no expense spared 70s disaster flick of the highest order and all the above noted thespians grapple for screen time like only they can.

It may be a challenge trying to defuse a series of bombs aboard a cruise liner but can you image trying to deal on set with the egos on show here? It’s a horrifying thought.

Watching true heavyweights like Harris and Hopkins battle for on-screen superiority is a thrill in itself though - Harris as the wry and world-weary bomb expert just about wins that particular battle although the always game Hopkins crunches down on the scenery with the best of them - and there are other period favourites lurking a little further down the cast list like David Hemmings and Shirley Knight to edge up the acting gravitas even further.

As is usually the case in films like this, there’s also much fun to be had by playing spot-the-bit-part-player as a whole raft of familiar faces cruise past in lesser supporting roles. You’ll know most of their faces even if some of their names might elude you.

Director Richard Lester, whose remarkable CV leaps from A Hard Day’s Night to The Three Musketeers and Superman II with impressive ease, only got the gig after the film’s producers had fired both Bryan Forbes and Don Taylor, but he handles the action with real skill, holds it all together admirably and ratchets up the tension as the plot twists and turns and time starts to run out for all concerned.

Delivered in a nifty high definition restoration from Eureka Classics with plenty of extras, Juggernaut is a superior action adventure that you should re-visit as soon as you can.