The Towering Inferno (Remake)

The Towering Inferno is a remake of the 1974 film.

Directed By: Michael Bay

Produced By: Jerry Bruckheimer

Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas & Ron Howard

Plot
Architect Doug Roberts returns to San Francisco for the dedication of the Glass Tower, which he designed for contractor James Duncan. The Tower, 1,688 feet tall and 138 stories, is the world's tallest building. During pre-dedication testing, an electrical short starts an undetected fire on the 81st floor. Roberts suspects that Roger Simmons, the electrical subcontractor and Duncan's son-in-law, cut corners. Roberts confronts Simmons, who feigns innocence.

During the dedication ceremony, chief of Public Relations Dan Bigelow turns on all the tower's lights, but Roberts orders them shut off to reduce the load on the electrical system. Smoke is seen on the 81st floor, and the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) is summoned. Roberts and engineer Will Giddings go to the 81st floor, where Giddings is fatally burned pushing a guard away from the fire. Roberts reports the fire to Duncan, who is courting Senator Gary Parker for an urban renewal contract and refuses to order an evacuation.

SFFD Chief Michael O'Halloran arrives and forces Duncan to evacuate the guests from the Promenade Room on the 135th floor. Simmons admits to Duncan that he cut corners, doing so to bring the project back under budget, and suggests other subcontractors did likewise. Lisolette Mueller, a guest being wooed by con man Harlee Claiborne, rushes to the 87th floor to check on a deaf mother. Security Chief Jernigan rescues the mother, but fire forces her children – along with Roberts and Lisolette – up to the Promenade Room. Bigelow and his mistress Lorrie are killed when fire traps them in the Duncan Enterprises offices on the 65th floor.

Fire overtakes the express elevators, killing a group whose elevator stops on the engulfed 81st floor. Though the scenic elevator is still working, the stairways from the Promenade Room are blocked – one by fire, the other by mishandled cement. Just as the firemen begin to bring the fire under control, the electrical system fails, deactivating the passenger elevators; O’Hallorhan must rappel down the elevator shaft to safety.

An attempt at a helicopter rescue fails when panicky party-goers rush the helipad, causing the helicopter to veer off, crash, and set the roof ablaze. Naval rescue teams attach a breeches buoy to an adjacent skyscraper and rescue a number of guests, including Patty Simmons, Duncan's daughter. Roberts rigs a gravity brake on the scenic elevator, allowing one trip down for twelve people, including Lisolette and the children. An explosion near the 110th floor throws Lisolette from the elevator and leaves the elevator hanging by a single cable, but O’Hallorhan rescues the elevator with a Navy helicopter.

As fire reaches the Promenade Room, a group of men led by Simmons attempts to commandeer the breeches buoy, which is subsequently destroyed in an explosion, killing Simmons, Senator Parker, and several other men. In a last-ditch strategy, O'Halloran and Roberts blow up water tanks atop the Tower with plastic explosives. Most of the party-goers survive as water rushes through the ruined building, extinguishing the flames.

Jernigan gives Claiborne, who is heartbroken at Lisolette's death, her cat. Duncan, consoling his grieving daughter, promises that such a tragic debacle will never happen again. Roberts accepts O’Hallorhan’s offer of guidance on how to build a fire-safe skyscraper. O’Hallorhan drives away, exhausted.

Cast

 * Tom Cruise as Doug Roberts, the Glass Tower architect
 * Nicolas Cage as Michael O’Hallorhan, SFFD 5th Battalion Chief (replaced was Billy Bob Thronton)
 * William Hurt as James Duncan, the builder
 * Cameron Diaz as Susan Franklin, Doug Roberts' fiancée
 * Richard Chamberlain as Harlee Claiborne, the con-man who flirts with Mrs. Mueller
 * Jessica Biel as Patty Duncan Simmons, James Duncan's daughter
 * Edward Norton as Roger Simmons, the electrical engineer and Duncan's son-in-law
 * Sally Field as Lisolette Mueller
 * Don Cheadle as Harry Jernigan, the chief security officer
 * George Clooney as U.S. Senator Gary Parker
 * Ben Affleck as Dan Bigelow, the public relations officer
 * Charlize Theron as Lorrie
 * Meryl Streep as Paula Ramsay
 * Michael Chiklis as Will Giddings, electrical engineer
 * Liam Neeson as Mayor Robert "Bob" Ramsay (replaced was Harrison Ford)
 * Ryan Reynolds as Kappy, SFFD Truck Co. 12 fire captain
 * Felton Perry as Scott, SFFD Engine Co. 4 fireman
 * John Leguizamo as Carlos, the bartender