The most popular and critically lauded of the cookie-cutter disaster movies of 1970s, The Towering Inferno set the high-water mark for the genre. Though the film's eight Academy Award nominations may seem laughable today, there's no denying Inferno's strength at tapping the era's sense of morbid paranoia. Irwin Allen produced the film -- as well as directed the major action set pieces -- and he delivers the lavish production design, star-studded cast, melodramatic subplots, and life-and-death dilemmas audiences had come to expect in the wake of Airport and The Poseidon Adventure. Inferno stands out from the crowd mainly for its audacious sets and high-quality performances. The cast list is staggering; Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, and Fred Astaire are among the luminaries. Spurred on by the overwhelming success of The Towering Inferno, the disaster genre went into high-gear for the rest of the decade, with mostly disastrous results. John Williams did the excellent score.