The DU Lounge
In reply to the discussion: Name a movie that should have been a flop but became a hit based on word of mouth [View all]Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)Saw it in the theater with my girlfriend.
Half way through the movie, they shut it down and asked us to evacuate.
When we left the theater, we saw an angry red sky from horizon to horizon.
A refinery less than a mile away was on fire.
Got to see a cracking tower take off like a rocket, summer-sault in the air, and crash back on top of some tanks... More explosions.
Chaos and confusion.
I remember driving back into the subdivision behind the refinery, where my house was located. Stopped by a cordon of Mexican soldiers in green uniforms and rifles at the ready.
I remember pushing one of them with my truck until he stepped aside and let me through only to be stopped cold several blocks later by a barricade of vehicles.
I raced the last few blocks on foot, feeling the heat coming from the refinery to my right on my face, expecting the whole thing to blow up at any moment.
I made it home, checked that there was nobody there, and ran back out.
I hitched a ride on the way out on a vehicle that was still just leaving the subdivision. My girlfriend still with me.
We got back to my truck and raced as fast as we could to safety.
Cars were crashing into each other every other block, as people ignored traffic signals and ran red lights.
We managed to make it out of the city and to the ranch, about 15 miles outside the city limits.
From there we watched until the fires were brought back under control.
Many dead. Some refinery workers died closing safety valves and draining tanks to reduce the damage.
That was 39 years ago.
I never did get to see the ending of the movie.