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Two-Minute Warning

Two-Minute Warning

  • Status: Released
  • 12-11-1976
  • Runtime: 115 min
  • Score: 6.2
  • Vote count: 90

A psychotic sniper plans a massive killing spree in a Los Angeles football stadium during a major championship game. The police, led by Captain Peter Holly and the SWAT commander, learn of the plot and rush to the scene.

Charlton Heston

Capt. Peter Holly

John Cassavetes

Sgt. Chris Button

Martin Balsam

Sam McKeever

Beau Bridges

Mike Ramsay

Marilyn Hassett

Lucy

David Janssen

Steve

Jack Klugman

Stu Sandmann

Gena Rowlands

Janet

Walter Pidgeon

The Pickpocket

Brock Peters

Paul

David Groh

Al

Mitchell Ryan

The Priest

Joe Kapp

Charlie Tyler

Pamela Bellwood

Peggy Ramsay

Jon Korkes

Jeffrey

Susan Backlinie

Pretty Blonde Woman in Crowd

Sandy Johnson

Button's Wife

Brooke Mills

Tyler's Girlfriend

Michael Gregory

Branscombe Richmond

Bystander with Blood on His Hands

J.A. Preston

Policeman

Hollis Irving

Woman at Airport (as Holly Irving)

William Bryant

Lt. Calloway (as Bill Bryant)

Allan Miller

Mr. Green

Andy Sidaris

TV Director

Dick Winslow

Man with Toupee

Garry Walberg

Governor Ogden

Cay Forester

Mrs. Ogden (as Kate Archer)

Christine Nelson

Woman at Airport

Howard Cosell

Howard Cosell

Frank Gifford

Frank Gifford

Dick Enberg

Dick Enberg

Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin - National Anthem Singer

Larry Manetti

The S.W.A.T. Team - Pratt

John Stuart West

Ambulance Attendant

John Chard

Undervalued thriller. A lone gunman has his sights set on a sell-out crowd at a championship football game. Captain Peter Holly leads the desperate fight to try and stop the maniac from picking people off at will. Perched high on top of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the gunman has his pick of the targets, the Mayor -the President - or merely the innocent? Either way he has to be stopped before all hell breaks loose. Much like "Rollercoaster" a year later, Two-Minute Warning is wrongly lumped in with the disaster movie genre that flooded the 1970s, and just like Rollercoaster, Two-Minute Warning is an excellently taut thriller. The build up is paced to precision, all characters are introduced to us to give us something to associate with should things go very wrong. As this is happening we get little POV snippets of our killer, accompanied by Charles Fox's harshly impacting music, the killer is never seen but we feel the dread, the impending sense of murder is a constant presence. Once we are at the game and the authorities are aware that a sniper is on the roof, the film shifts up a gear and lays on the suspense thick and heavy. Captain Holly (Charlton Heston in authoritative scene commanding form) is joined by the SWAT team, led by the cool and serious Sgt. Chris Button (John Cassavetes), whilst stadium security manager Sam McKeever (Martin Balsam) prays that disaster can be averted. Then the final third of the picture is a ripper of heart pounding stuff, a final third that rewards the viewers patience for having invested in the film and the key characters. Filling out the cast is Gena Rowlands, Jack Klugman (brilliant interplay with Mitch Ryan's priest), Beau Bridges, Walter Pidgeon and David Jansen. Two-Minute Warning is a quality thriller that is sadly undervalued on the big IMDb site, go on, give it a go and you might just be pleasantly surprised. 7.5/10 Footnote: I should point out that my thoughts are on the original unedited cut of this film, I have never seen the watered down TV cut and have no plans to ever do so.