As being fascinated by 70s disaster movies I kept scores on the ratings of films such as Airport, Towering Inferno, Poseidon adventure and ...Earth Quake. I heard negative things about the latter one, and the scores on IMDb indicate likewise. When I by chance found a DVD-copy of this film in a bargain bin for a very low price, I reasoned that the price was affordable enough given its bad repute. Therefore, I was surprised to be quite bitten by the movie almost instantly after the initial credits were rolling. In terms of production values, I judge Earthquake at least as professional and detailed as Towering inferno, if not even more realistic. Those who actually live in L.A. perhaps now how they faked the geography, etc, but the film does manage to draw the spectator in the scenery and create a certain realistic presence. The effects of the Towering Inferno were actually cheesier, this goes especially for the skyscrapers scenes, which are definitely more convincing here than in Towering. Maybe the extras used for the hospital scenes are a bit too rehearsed for the next "surpise" after shelve, but this is also the case in most other disaster flicks.
Plot wise then, and in narration, it has perhaps some shortcomings, there is not a definite apocalyptic climax, and the end may to certain spectators appear to be somewhat sudden, although I actually felt that it offered some moral logic. Because, as is the case for all true big Hollywood disaster flicks from the era, the story is actually a pretext for supplying old-fashioned morality lessons in an era that had already ceded to sins and secularity. All sinners get theirs here, but I noted that the film spares no-one, the extremist weapons fetishist as well as the middle class adulterer will meet their horrific destiny. One may almost call this cynicism, because the inner moral voice of this film does not appear to have taken a rightist or leftist side. It is rather resigned and world-weary. Once again an interesting comparison to Towering can be made, since Towering on the surface takes on a more middle-class leftist approach, where Paul Newman as center of moral gravity, the angry and aware intellectual. Here, the corresponding character is perhaps George Kennedy's antihero, the tired copper who does not carry moral cookies in his pockets, but on the other hand acts humanly to those in need. The same moody resignation you will find in the way the marriage between Ava and Charlton is presented, a sad failure, they don't hate it each other, he just cannot find any ounce of feeling for his alcoholic, middle aged wife. So, when it comes to characterization, I would definitely give Earthquake a higher score than both Towering and Airport, which are dominated by more shallowly drawn characters.
Speaking about score finally, the lovers of John Williams will be satisfied; his strings are used effectively here. As always, I have many more things to say, requiring many thousands of words more, but I stop here to not get tedious.
Plot wise then, and in narration, it has perhaps some shortcomings, there is not a definite apocalyptic climax, and the end may to certain spectators appear to be somewhat sudden, although I actually felt that it offered some moral logic. Because, as is the case for all true big Hollywood disaster flicks from the era, the story is actually a pretext for supplying old-fashioned morality lessons in an era that had already ceded to sins and secularity. All sinners get theirs here, but I noted that the film spares no-one, the extremist weapons fetishist as well as the middle class adulterer will meet their horrific destiny. One may almost call this cynicism, because the inner moral voice of this film does not appear to have taken a rightist or leftist side. It is rather resigned and world-weary. Once again an interesting comparison to Towering can be made, since Towering on the surface takes on a more middle-class leftist approach, where Paul Newman as center of moral gravity, the angry and aware intellectual. Here, the corresponding character is perhaps George Kennedy's antihero, the tired copper who does not carry moral cookies in his pockets, but on the other hand acts humanly to those in need. The same moody resignation you will find in the way the marriage between Ava and Charlton is presented, a sad failure, they don't hate it each other, he just cannot find any ounce of feeling for his alcoholic, middle aged wife. So, when it comes to characterization, I would definitely give Earthquake a higher score than both Towering and Airport, which are dominated by more shallowly drawn characters.
Speaking about score finally, the lovers of John Williams will be satisfied; his strings are used effectively here. As always, I have many more things to say, requiring many thousands of words more, but I stop here to not get tedious.