Bummer disaster epic with truly stupefying casting: Lorne Greene plays Ava Gardner's father (what was he, a horny seven-year-old?) while Marjoe Gortner is Victoria Principal's stalker (he's a grocery manager and part-time soldier who...oh, never mind). "Earthquake" does just what it promises--destroys Los Angeles--and it certainly has the requisite ingredients of a hammy disaster flick, yet it is relentlessly downbeat. The actors are kept angrily grinding their teeth, barking orders at each other (star-hero Charlton Heston leads with his granite jaw, only loosening up when flirting with single mom Geneviève Bujold). Shock effects galore, but the picture wears down the audience in a depressing way. Bujold is lovely, and Richard Roundtree has a fun role as a motorcycle-riding daredevil but, at this point, Heston and George Kennedy were getting a bit too ubiquitous in these type of surroundings. For the sheer spectacle of the thing: ** from ****
Review of Earthquake
