I don't like action movies at this best of times but this is well below par even for that genre.Starring Eric Roberts & Jürgen Prochnow it tells the story of a group of disgruntled former government employees who plan on getting back at old employers by stealing over 100 million dollars. Sadly things don't go to plan and they find themselves stuck in a burning building as well as an innocent tourist group.But never fear as we also have fellow former government worker Eric Roberts there to save the day and the stakes are high as his future wife, her daughter and his son just happen to be there as well. Oh did I mention his ex wife and former friend are involved as well?Cliched all the way to hell and back, looking seriously cheap and lacking any form of originality this messy action flick is one for true action junkies only.The Good:I liked the bit where it endedThe Bad:Embarassing cover artSome of the writing is ridiculously badThat final stare down was comedicThings I Learnt From This Movie:Closing a wooden door will protect you from an incoming crashing helicopterWhen performing a flying kick through a window one must always consider the landingAt no point does anyone acknowledge just how much to blame the antagonist is for everything that happens!

I saw Eric Roberts was in it and figured it could be pretty good. It is very amateurish. Acting and pacing is poor. Photography is good, but framing is poor. I swear I also saw some trailers that looked exciting, so maybe I missed something, but I doubt it.

Although this is set in a skyscraper which is on fire, rather than a ship that's sinking beneath the water, lots of the stock characters seemed to have been filched from The Poseidon Adventure. Prochnow's villain has the strongest character definition, or seems to have, perhaps because he's acting better than the rest of the cast. Eric Roberts 'tries hard' as they might say in a school report, but it's a pretty thankless role, and his son and girlfriend are dreadful. The flames and a crashing plane scene are so bad they're hilarious. At one stage I expected Leslie Nielsen to appear saying 'And stop calling me Shirley'. There is a slight twist to the story, but not enough to redeem it. Really the best way to enjoy it is as a spoof, but as that's not what the director intended then it has to be written off as a pretty bad film. Good for Prochnow fans, okay for Eric Roberts fans, waste of time for anyone else. Incidentally, Prochnow's girlfriend was way too young for him; nice for him, but annoying to watch. Why not give men girlfriends within fifteen years of their age for a change?

Not surprisingly the bad guy (Prochnow) outshines the good guy (Roberts) in this average action-flick. The stunts and computer effects are not half bad, and a nice tongue-in-cheek attitude and good production value make up for most lulls in the plot. At times the actors actually seem to be enjoying themselves, and that's more than one should expect from this DIE HARD-clone (the hero is even named McConnell... hello? McClane!). Eric Roberts and Jürgen Prochnow in "The Towering Inferno" meets "Die Hard" on a TV-budget. How can you go wrong with that on a Friday night? :)