DVD - EarthQuake

Synopsis:
When the most catastrophic earthquake of all time rips through Southern California, it levels Los Angeles and sends shockwaves through the lives of all who live there.

Charlton Heston heads the all-star cast as Stewart Graff, the rugged construction engineer who lives with his spoiled and wealthy wife, Remy (Ava Gardner). George Kennedy plays Lew Slade, a tough cop in a city of devastation. Lorne Green is Sam Royce, a construction company owner trapped in his own building. Earthquake also features Genevieve Bujold, Marjoe Gortner, Lloyd Nolan, Barry Sullivan, Victoria Principal and Richard Roundtree plus some of the most chilling special effects ever filmed.

Guess what, this is a film about Los Angeles being destroyed by an earthquake. The special effects are dated yet they still hold up. The film innovated a system called Surrondsound. It used low level sound waves to shake the theater seats, which was a fun gimmick that worked. When they first broadcast the film on NBC, there was a stereo simulcast that used the Surroundsound and it worked. Too bad they don't have that on the DVD.

Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston) is an ex football player turned structural engineer that is concerned with overbuilding in Los Angeles. He is married to Rene (Ava Gardner) but is having an affair with the widow of a friend, Denise Marshall (Genevieve Bujold). His boss is his father in law, Sam Royce (Lorne Green). George Kennedy plays the hard nosed street cop Lew Slade who is suspended after a high speed chase. The featured cast includes Richard Roundtree as daredevil Miles Quaid, Victoria Principal as Miles manager's sister Rosa, Marjoe Gortner as a store manager obsessed with Rosa and is in the National Guard Reserves, Lloyd Nolan as a doctor and Walter Matthau makes a cameo as drunk.

A young scientist (Geoffrey Duel) accurately predicts a minor earthquake and tells his boss that this could be a precursor to the big one but his supervisors (Barry Nelson and Donald Moffat) don't agree. When the second predicted minor quake happens, the question is what to do.

At the damn, the first quake floods the machinery shaft and drowns a watchman. After the second, a crack is noticed on the damn and the water level is rising.

As the big one hits, everyone is scattered. Denise is walking in the hills, her son is on a bridge over the LA river, Rosa is at a movie, her brother and Miles are at the stunt. Stewart and Rene are outside the office building with her father in the building.

What follows is everyone trying to find their loved ones. Stewart tries to rescue his father in law who is trapped when part of the staircase is destroyed. Denise finds her son on the bed of the LA river with downed electrical wires and approaching water. Slade tries organize survivors. Marjoe lets his activation by the National Guard go to his head. Eventually, most characters wind up at the underground parking lot at Wilson Plaza (actually Arco Towers.)

An aftershock happens, trapping the survivors in the parking lot but the damn burst and threatens to flood the parking lot. In the end, Stewart saves Denise but has to decide to risk his life for his wife.

As in most multiple jeopardy films (better known as disaster films), the star is the disaster. The cast is just decoration. For 1974, this is cutting edge. The filmmakers have never liked earthquakes on previous films. Therefore, they did two things. They built a scale model of downtown LA and Hollywood and the sets were built on springs. This created a realistic destruction of the buildings and the actors did not have to pretend the earthquake, the sets moved under their feet.

Earthquake was not a great film but it is fun. With special effects that run from awesome to cheesy. This is a great Saturday afternoon flick.
This review was taken from amazon.com

• Number of Discs: 1

• Run Time: 2 Hours 3 Minutes

• Picture: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)

• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

• Rating: PG