Earthquake

I saw this movie originally when it first came out at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. For years I wanted a copy of my own and finally saw that Amazon had it for sale. Works perfect and is an awesome film!

Good plot, good acting, believable situation (earthqauke in LA), excellent effects

classic. Was one of my all time favs growing up - however some of the effects (which won acadeny awards at the time) just don't hold up to modern scrutiny. Still, a fun watch.

These were the nicknames for "Earthquake" and "The Towering Inferno" during the fall of 1974 when these films were released.Yah...what they could do today with all the CGI stuff, but I'll still take "Earthquake".The Sensurround gimmick was fun and the special effects and matte paintings by Albert Whitlock still hold up.I was at Universal studios after the filming and part of the tour was the "making of".They had to dig giant holes in the soundstage to accommodate the fake skyscraper sets where people are flying out of the side of the building. Got to see raw footage of the stunt people flying into giant airbags etc.The part with the flood where Roundtree comes flying down a street with water behind him used to be part of the back lot tour.I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Whitlock at a seminar where he explained a lot of the tricks.Most of the tops of the buildings on the back lot were matted in.If you slow the picture down you can see the amazing optical work during the big one. Debris falling, insulation, broken glass. My only fault with film is when the chick is screaming "Mother" during the big one, you can tell Mommy already had broken glass in her face before it falls. Look quick you guys.At the end of the film you see fires at different points of the scene. Mr. Whitlock did this by setting blow torches off at different parts of a dark soundstage and then incorporating it into the film.If you want to see the late Mr. Whitlock in "person" check out "High Anxiety".He played Madeline Kahn's father and also did the matte work for this Mel Brooks film.He also did the matte work for "The Hindenburg" the following year which he won his second consecutive Oscar for special effects along with "Earthquake" the year before.He also did matte work for Hitchcock during the early years in the sixties starting with "The Birds" and into the seventies up to "Family Plot". He was a master painter.Hope this was helpful to all of the "fifty some things" who remember the disaster craze with fond memories.P.S Chuck and Ava really did hate each other in real life. Guess that's why their scenes seem real."Airport" "Poseidon Adventure" "Towering Inferno" and now "Earthquake" are available on Blu-ray.All we need is "Airport 1975" on Blu to complete the high def fun of the 70's disaster genre.

SOME---if not most---of these reviews are over ten years old, and are for a DVD.I bought t-h-i-s Blu-ray in 2016, and watched it TODAY.The picture has been cleaned up to appear to be MUCH newer than its actualscreening-date in 1974.You have the choice of watching this in DTS 5.1 Surround, or 2.1 Sensurround...a somewhat modified 5.1. ...and it's also a few other languages.I watched the movie on a 55" Sony TV with a Bose 5.1 Surround System.Of course, this was filmed before the advent/invent of Digital F/X---extensive mini-atures, and crude matte paintings, so, the MAIN reason for watching it is seeing thestars: Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Geneviève Bujold, RichardRoundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan and Victoria Principal, Lookfor Walter Matthau---credited as: "Walter Matuschanskayasky"--- playing a mumblingdrunk. In the credits after him is a guy Bowery Boys fans will recognize as Gabe Dell---(the Bowery Boys' romantic lead [with the dimpled chin] billed as Gabriel Dell).Actors DO change their names. Thomas Cruise Mapother, IV is known as Tom Cruise...HE isn't in this, but there ARE a lot of explosions and rumbles!Well, anyway, the audio was crisp; the picture was pristine; the SFX were, well... it IS a42-year-old "bomb", but CURIOSITY has to give it a few extra stars to pad out a TV-movie-of-the-week's quality flick, BECAUSE of the sensurround. This is just a few minutes over 2-hours, and is NOT the padded, TV, version.I didn't LOVE it, but, I DID like it. I'm 67, so I was just 25 when I first saw it... a couple yearsafter returning from Vietnam. I'm thinkin'... if YOU are 25---now---you'd probably rather seea newer Asylum earthquake movie; if you're old enough to KNOW the names of ANY of thestars I mentioned [other than Tom], give it a chance to shake your home theater: I watchedit with MY sound on 75 of 100.

Buena película clásica de desastresMuy buen sonido

Es una película clásica de los años 70's y que causó un gran impacto por su formato de sonido.

From 1974 comes this classic movie showcasing the stars of the time in the event of a major earthquake in L.A. before I.L.M. And special effects common nowadays, all the effect are done the old fashioned way. Great film

Its excellent value for money I thoroughly enjoyed it, its a keeper for me, recommend for Sunday afternoon viewing. Its one of those staple classics with excellent acting from Charlton Heston and Lorne Greene lovely afternoons viewing with my favourite chocolate.

A great example of the disaster movie genre. Charlton Heston at his best too. Since it's release in 1974, it has aged pretty well. Plenty of drama and sub plot, all done without the CGI nonsense. A worthy watch...