Charlton Heston

Ava Gardner

George Kennedy

Lorne Greene

Geneviève Bujold

Richard Roundtree

Marjoe Gortner

Barry Sullivan

Lloyd Nolan

Victoria Principal

Walter Matthau

Monica Lewis

Gabriel Dell

Pedro Armendáriz Jr.

Lloyd Gough

John Randolph

Kip Niven

Scott Hylands

Tiger Williams

Donald Moffat

Jesse Vint

Alan Vint

Lionel Johnston

John Elerick

John S. Ragin

George Murdock

Don Mantooth

Michael Richardson

Alex Brown

Bob Cunningham

John Dennis

Gene Dynarski

Bob Gravage

H.B. Haggerty

Tim Herbert

Dave Morick

Ines Pedroza

Josh Albee

Don Ames

Benjie Bancroft

Buzz Barbee

Joan Blair

Hal Bokar

Reb Brown

Vivian Brown

Ian Bruce

Polly Burson

William H. Burton Jr.

Ric Carrott

David S. Cass Sr.

Lonny Chapman

Sam Chew Jr.

Shannon Christie

Erik Cord

Caitanya Dasi

Cinmayi Devi

Ken DuMain

Brent Dunsford

Patty Elder

Kenny Endoso

Jeannie Epper

Dotty Ertel

Bobby Ferro

Bruce M. Fischer

Sig Frohlich

James W. Gavin

Ernest Harada

Jerry Hardin

Bob Harks

Orwin C. Harvey

Lars Hensen

Diana Herbert

Bert Kramer

Paul LeClair

Karl Lukas

Ernesto Molinari

Stevie Myers

Jimmy Nickerson

Stuart Nisbet

Frances Osborne

Grant Owens

Charlie Picerni

Tony Regan

Leoda Richards

Clark Ross

George Sawaya

Mark Sawtelle

Fred Scheiwiller

Debralee Scott

Dean Smith

Eddie Smith

Norman Stevans

Arthur Tovey

John Tuell

Dick Tufeld

Kitty Vallacher

Keith Walker

Sandy Ward

Rick Warick

Dick Warlock

Mark Robson

Dorothy Spencer

Philip H. Lathrop

Alexander Golitzen

Jennings Lang

John Williams

E. Preston Ames

George Fox

Mario Puzo

Terry Leonard

Bernard Donnenfeld

Frank R. McKelvy

Robert J. LaSanka

William Batliner

Buff Brady

Mark Reedall

Melvin M. Metcalfe Sr.

Bill Catching

Murray Schwartz

Ronald Pierce

Joe Canutt

Fred Brookfield

Frank Brendel

Connie Nichols

Fred R. Simpson

Jerry Brutsche

Burton Miller

John Daheim

May Boss

Wallace Worsley Jr.

Bob Bralver

Tony Brubaker

Mickey Caruso

Paula Dell

Cyndi Swan

Evelyn Smith

Bennie E. Dobbins

Larry Duran

Bob Herron

Barbara Perlman

Tom Steele

Roydon Clark

Howard Curtis

William T. Lane

Eddie Mulder

Glenn Randall Jr.

Ernest Robinson

Marilyn Stader

Denver Mattson

Paula Crist

Carol Daniels

Dick Dial

Kevin N. Johnston

Ralph Garrett

Peaches Jones

Harvey Parry

Richard Washington

Larry Holt

Eddie Juaregui

Andy Epper

Julie Ann Johnson

Harry Monty

Paul Nuckles

Rip Clark

Jadie David

Troy Melton

Regina Parton

Victoria Gail Weisbart

Dottie Catching

Jack Verbois

Don Pike

Wilbur Kinnett

Robert C. Ferro Jr.

Donna Garrett

Freddie Hice

Gene LeBell

Julius LeFlore

Lila Finn

Fred Lerner

Maurice Marks

Bob Minor

Russell Saunders

Bob Terhune

Jesse Wayne

Evelyne Cuffee

Gary Epper

Action

Drama

Thriller

Earthquake

Universal Pictures

The Filmakers Group

United States of America

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

English

Josh Olson on EARTHQUAKE

Earthquake Official Trailer #1 - Charlton Heston Movie (1974) HD