Earthquake

Not a great disaster movie and a far far cry from The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno (a personal favorite of mine) but some decent special and miniature effects even when the performances were always the best. Still passable 1970s-era entertainment.

This used to be one hell of a town, officer.

Earthquake is directed by Mark Robson and written by Mario Puzo and George Fox. It stars Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Ava Gardner, Geneviève Bujold, Lorne Greene, Richard Roundtree & Marjoe Gortner.

A catastrophic earthquake hits Southern California and begins to level Los Angeles...

"It's not a negative to have heart in the disaster genre of film"

Take yourself to 1974, are you there? Good, now maybe you can appreciate this film a little more? Maybe? Earthquake does suffer from old age, it's a statement we see and hear a lot, but it's a fact that some film's stand the test of time whilst others do not. In this desensitised computer age, it is easy to forget that not all the tools available in film making today were available back when film's like this were being made. So as is my want, I firmly judge this as a 1974 offering, to which it delivers enough entertainment to fully satisfy my genre leanings and entertainment persuasions.

The main complaint of many is the long build up of the characters, cries of boring can be read across internet forums and critics blogs. I just don't see it that way, yes we want the quake and the mayhem destruction that will follow it, because really this is a disaster film after all, but is it so bad that the film has heart to go with the crash bang wallop? After the build up of characters, where relationships and character traits are formed, the disaster strikes and it doesn't disappoint, utter destruction as effects and noise fill the eyes and ears, where those with a good home cinema system finding it literally does rock the house. We are then treated to a series of sequences that hold and engage our attention, upsetting passages of human sadness, punctured by heroic surges as Heston and the fabulous Kennedy set about saving life, hell! saving the town even. Then it's the film's fitting finale, where there are no cop outs, the makers choosing to go out with a darker edge than the detractors give it credit for.

Some can scoff at a blood splat effect, or rant about some of the acting on show, but Earthquake achieves two important things. One is that it entertains as a visual experience (quality model work), the other is that it doesn't soft soap the devastating effects of an earthquake. As the camera pulls away from a ravaged L.A. the impact is sombre, where reflection is needed and most assuredly surely gotten. 7/10

"Stuart" (Charlton Heston) is in the middle of a love triangle between his girlfriend "Denise" (Geneviève Bujold) and his ex-wife "Remy" (Ava Gardner) who just happens to be the daughter of his boss "Sam" (Lorne Greene) whom she is constantly trying to manipulate so she can have "Stuart" return to the marital fold. Meantime, would-be Evel Knievel "Miles" (Richard Roundtree) is planning a daredevil stunt full of twists, turns and pyrotechnics with his assistant "Sal" (Gabriel Dell) who is the brother of "Rosa" (Victoria Principal - yep, the very same) who is being pursued by the creepy grocer "Jody" (Marjoe Gortner). Luckily for her, her fed up cop pal "Slade" (George Kennedy) has recently lost his temper and whilst he sits in a bar contemplating his future in the force the ground starts to shake. You can just imagine the apprehension with which Mark Robson started his earthquake effects sequence here, because once the masonry starts a-tumbling, the glass shattering and the population shrieking with fear there is no turning back - and to be fair to the team behind the ensuing chaos they craft and deliver something that's actually quite decent. There is quite a gripping sense of calamity as concrete turns to dust and dams start to crumble - but not as swiftly as the assembled acting talent. I'm not sure the disaster in disaster movie is meant to apply to the cast, but Heston is really wooden throughout and he precisely zero chemistry with both Gardner and Bujold, who don't really bring much to the party either. In fact, odd as it may sound, it's probably only George Kennedy that imbues this with anything like a degree of characterisation as the dots of a standard rescue film are steadily joined before a denouement that all rather peters out. It hits a purple patch when the sets start to rock, but otherwise this is all fairly disappointing and reminds us that perhaps Chuck ought to have stuck more to his loincloths, swords and chariots.