Earthquake (1974)
Product Information
Product Details: Earthquake (1974)
- Edition:
- DVD Anamorphic Widescreen. See other editions
- MPAA Rating:
- PG
- Release Date:
- 05/09/2006
- UPC:
- 025193046925
- Directed by:
- Mark Robson
- Featuring:
- Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy. See all cast
Synopsis: Earthquake (1974)
Synopis: This essential 1970s disaster epic, with a script co-authored by Mario Puzo (THE GODFATHER), centers around a devastating earthquake in Los Angeles and the shocking aftermath it causes. The all-star cast is led by Charleton Heston as a construction engineer whose marital problems supply him with plentiful stress before the quake even hits. The film was presented theatrically with a sound process known as "Sensurround," which caused cinemas to physically vibrate during quake sequences.Features: Earthquake (1974)
Features: DVD Features:Note: This release also includes the original Sensurround Audio.
Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo - Spanish
Sensurround 3.1 - English
Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional
Awards: Earthquake (1974)
- Academy Awards
- Best Sound
- Best Visual Effects
- Scientific or Technical Award
User Reviews: Earthquake
-
best film of its time
, July 18, 2006Reviewer: daddydavepierce - See all daddydavepierce's reviews -
70'S DISASTER MOVIE HEAVEN.....
, July 3, 2005Reviewer: woodvalian - See all woodvalian's reviewsPros: GOOD CAST, SOME STILL IMPRESSIVE EFFECTS, JOHN WILLIAMS SCORE HAS GREAT MOMENTS
Cons: SOME EFFECTS ARE DATED, SOME HAMMY ACTING.
This memorable movie was definitely a forerunner of the big budget disaster/action movies of today; when seen now, one can see how far movie technology has improved since 1974, the year EARTHQUAKE first rumbled into theaters. Does anybody remember the advertisement campaign, which enthusiastically touted the sound gimmick "Sensorround"
? ...
"The management assumes no responsibility for the physical or emotonal reactions of the moviegoer"!
What the film makers did was really blast the sound extra, extra loud into the audience's ears, which caused something of a sensation for some, but deafened most others.
The film has an "all-star cast" headed by Charlton Heston...who better than he in the role of the hero who tries to save Los Angeles from the ravages of a monster quake?
As building engineer Stewart Graff, he tries to rescue people like his new mistress, played with likeable humour and appeal by Genevieve Bujold. Last on his list is his shrewish wife, played by a seemingly overwrought Ava Gardner... a hammy performance, but it works for the film.
There's also Victoria Principal in one of her minor roles before DALLAS and her billion-dollar skin care line brought her real fame and fortune. She plays a brunette-wigged bombshell who innocently incites the uncontrollable impulses of a psychotic supermarket clerk/ National Guardsman, played with a lecherous, campy intensity by the former child evangelist, Marjoe Gortner.
Basically, we are treated to the spectacle of various Los Angeles people who are all suddenly caught up in an earthquake that really rattles the city down. They try, with mixed results, to survive. Some of the effects still pack a wallop, while others are quite dated. Special effects wizard Albert Whitlock was the film's main technician, and he brought the dimensions of an epic to this surprisingly modestly budgeted movie with his skilled use of trick photograpy. This was many years before the use of computer graphics, so his efforts are quite well done for the time.
There's a lot to look at on the screen: collapsing skyscrapers, houses, freeways, even a daredevil-motorcyle set... and for the grand finale, the busting of the Hollywood dam.
John Williams did the score; the main title overture and especially the mournful end title theme really provide an evocative mood.
While movies like this are far better made nowadays (such as THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and TITANIC), this disaster movie from the 70's is still quite entertaining, and somehow, made more in earnest than the technically superior modern ones. I would enjoy seeing an EARTHQUAKE remake; THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, come to think of it, is currently to be remade...but maybe even with vastly improved visual effects, there is no guarantee it can still outshine the original!
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Pros: made people more aware
Cons: none
Charlton Heston was the best actor during the filming of this movie as he was in several other films, this movie made people more aware of the true dangers that actually did happen with deadly results just a few yearslater