Beyond the Bermuda Triangle (1975)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz--- oh sorry, I didn't see you there. I was just taking a little nap. You see, I was watching 'Beyond the Bermuda Triangle' and I dozed off. Can't imagine why.... it was so (*cough*) interesting.The plot of the film involves some has-been actors-- I mean, local islanders, who begin investigating the disappearance of various boatniks. Fred MacMurray leads the pack by taking aimless excursions through the Everglades via ship and plane to look for the lost idiots-- I mean, people. Donna Mills stands around doing nothing in particular except making out with boyfriend Sam Groom before she refuses his marriage proposal (she's gotta do what's right for her.... whatever that may be). Dana Plato is sweet as the daughter of a vanished couple.Minor sea adventure has the presence of MacMurray and pretty scenery, not much else. (*Yawn*).... excuse me while I resume my nap.

Although barely under an hour and a quarter Beyond The Bermuda Triangle seems an eternity sometimes with Fred MacMurray and his cast doing a whole lot of palabering about just why people get lost in the patch of ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle.ABC did not invest a whole lot into this film with location shooting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida standing in for Bimini in the Bahama Islands. One harbor is as good as another.Fred and a bunch of friends are in those southern waters for a bit of a holiday when some of those legendary disappearances occur. When it happens to young Dana Plato's parents Fred shows some concern. In fact the only thing that gives this nicely photographed film any excitement is when Dana claims to hear her mother calling. So where does she go? Not out to sea, but into the Everglades.Nice characters, nice photography, but a dull story.

Another contrived TV-movie of the week.Everybody's getting killed at the most famous hot-spot in the world, so dried-up sea captain Fred MacMurray tries to figure out what the hell is going on. Donna Mills tags along occasionally - not that anyone ever gives a crap what she does, and boat-freak Sam Groom is the village idiot who likes to talk about what a loser he's been all his life to anyone who's bored enough to listen. Sweet Dana Plato is cute as a recently orphaned little girl. Directed by William Graham for Hugh Hefner Productions, this film takes place at Bimini Island 50 miles off the southeastern seaboard.

A classic example of a film which sadly fizzles when it really ought to sizzle. The basic premise is certainly intriguing enough: a handful of folks in planes and boats alike mysteriously vanish in the legendary Bermuda Triangle located just off the coast of Florida. Alas, William A. Graham's blandly by-the-numbers direction crucially fails to provide any much-needed suspense, vitality and spooky atmosphere. Instead the movie gets bogged down in a tedious surplus of dull talk, with precious few scares or action to alleviate the general boredom. The cast do their best with the meandering story: Fred MacMurray gives a typically robust and amiable performance as an affable retired wealthy businessman while both Sam Groom and Donna Mills are solid and engaging as an estranged young couple. Plus future "Different Strokes" TV sitcom star Dana Plato pops up as a spunky little girl whose mother disappears in the Devil's Triangle. Gayne Rescher's pretty, picturesque photography and Harry Sukman's suitably shivery'n'sinister score are likewise up to par. But only at the very end does this largely lethargic snoozer finally come to life and deliver some excitement with a fairly creepy zinger of a surprise ending, but by then it's way too little much too late to redeem this mediocre timewaster.