Thanks for the memories!

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Charles Whitman was a dangerously disturbed but nevertheless deeply fascinating individual. Arguably even the most fascinating murderer in recent American history. Whitman can't really be referred to as an authentic serial killer, but due to his mariners' background and reputedly high IQ, he can't just be dismissed as an ordinary madman on a rampage, neither. The full reason why Whitman went up the Austin University tower on the 1st of August 1966 and caused a terrible bloodbath will probably never be revealed. Were it the insupportable headaches that Whitman repeatedly complained about and the brain tumor found in his head during the autopsy, or did he snap because of other personal reasons? "The Deadly Tower" is a sober but very compelling and intense re-telling of the events that occurred on that horrible day, when Whitman killed 16 people and wounded over 40 more with his shot and sniper guns. This is the second film I've seen regarding the subject, after Peter Bogdanovich's "Targets". Whereas that film was merely a statement regarding the alienation of youth and the largely uncontrolled weapon legislation, "The Deadly Tower" is a very truthful reconstruction of the facts. In an aptly stone cold manner, Kurt Russell (until then only known from silly Disney comedies like "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and "The Barefoot Executive") depicts Whitman from the day before the massacre until the moment when Texas police officers shot him dead. Prior to going up the tower, Whitman murdered his mother and wife, went out to buy an arsenal of artillery and – knowing very well he wouldn't return – wrote a suicide note. The film is slow-paced but moody, atmospheric and very suspenseful. Given the fact it's a made-for-TV, and out of respect for the victims and their families, "The Deadly Tower" isn't a very bloody or exploitative thriller. The emphasis lies on inhumanity of the crime and solidarity/collaboration of the people downstairs – police officers as well as civilians – to stop the killer. Jerry Jameson, the director of "Airport 77", does a professional job and the supportive cast including Clifton James and Ned Beatty deliver admirable performances.

Kurt Russell's eye-opening performance (which might well have inspired both Peter Bogdanovich's TARGETS and Arnold Schwarzenegger's implacable killing machine approach in THE TERMINATOR) only adds to the tension in this made-for-TV docudrama. Russell comes across as an almost emotionless automaton, moving through scenes with truly frightening purpose. While I don't think this one ever needs to be remade, some of the more recent revelations regarding Whitman's final moments would certainly satisfy the more blood thirsty among us: the man who finally killed Whitman has mentioned that Whitman, hit in the head at one point during the gun battle that ended his murder spree, fell back into a sitting position against a wall and began to throw his head violently from side to side; from the description, it reminded me of the scene in BLADE RUNNER where Daryl Hanna is shot and bucks furiously before succumbing to her wounds.

A powerful 1975 TV movie about the real life events that took place on the University of Texas campus in 1966 when a deranged 25 year old Charles Whitman began shooting people from the top of the Tower. When it was all over it would be the largest one-person murder spree in U.S. history to date. Whitman played by a young Kurt Russell who at the time was known for his light hearted Disney movies. Russell's portrayal of the killer is very effective as he keeps silent like a man possessed. This was an early glimpse of the kind of role Russell would do later in the 80's with Escape from New York and The Thing. The movie also focuses on the rescue team and police officers who put their lives on the line that fateful day. YouTube has some actual live news footage of that August day in 1966 where a camera is fixed on the Tower and you can see the assailant moving around and shots being fired. The movie is now on DVD through Warner Brothers Archive Collection and it looks great!! Also check out the real life crime TV movies Killer in the Family and The Deliberate Stranger on Warner DVD!

I saw this movie when it first aired in October 1975. NBC ran a viewer advisory that it was very intense and may affect sensitive viewers. Yes, indeed! Whitman was one demented person and the casting of All-American Disney actor Kurt Russell to play him was incredible...it showed Russell could do heavy stuff. The casting of journeyman Latino actor Richard Yniguez to play Officer Martinez was also great. The supporting cast (Ned Beatty, John Forsythe, Pernell Roberts, etc.) was also excellent. It was interesting to see Mr. Forsythe as a detective investigating the gun stores-a far cry from Bentley Gregg or Blake Carrington. This was also Pernell Roberts' first time on TV in a while playing Martinez' sergeant. Part of the intensity of the movie came from the fact that Whitman shot at anyone or anything that moved and any attempt to take him out (shooting from a plane or citizens shooting with their hunting rifles) only agitated him. The bookstore clerk guiding Martinez and his fellow officers into the tower showed true heroism. I was in college in California when this movie first aired and I mentioned to my father that my college's library had an observation/study deck that somebody could use for such an act! In fact the college security department worked out a plan in case of somebody doing this. Thank goodness nobody tried this. Back to the movie...it was presented from Martinez' point of view and some have said there is a Latino bias, but I say it is a very intense depiction of true heroism. 43 years have passed since that tragic day. One would hope it would never happen again anywhere, but it does (Fort Hood, San Ysidro, Orlando, to name a few).