Earthquake (2016) User Reviews

Global success. Yet more of drama, than a disaster.

[topblock · 8/10 · 18 December 2016]

I'ma put on a table:

Soundtrack: A perfect duduk monologues makes you even more sentimental. Like the people saving each other on this disaster background is not enough. Actors: Close to a perfect. Armenian actors looked natively natural, Russian - as usual, knowing what they're doing, even the french guy fits in. Script: Strong and weak at the same time. Dramas played surprisingly well, but the camera was too attached to the earthquake epicenter. I think the film would have win couple of points if this catastrophe would have been shown from different angles. Including Mass Media, politicians involvement, additional forces arrival, other cities shown destroyed as well as Spitak. Without all mentioned before - it's not a "disaster movie", but a drama related to disaster. Moreover, the earthquake itself was demonstrated for merely 5 minutes. Which in turn is a disaster for "disaster movies". Of course, all mentioned above require a solid investment, which is probably the reason it didn't play out. Still' it's a solid "Russian disaster movie". All in all - it's improving as we speak. Spirit: Extremely international. A guy from Lesoto, Iceland or Nicaragua would appreciate this movie same as armenian or Russian. It has no "mother tongue", as long as you have them subtitles.

8 out of 10, and I'm tough.

tragedy. I was there

[mikadospain · 10/10 · 29 April 2021]

No film can convey that horror. I was 17 years old. I was afraid to watch it for a long time. But I wanted to show my children what I went through. Of course, you can shoot a lot of scenes. Everyone has their own terror in their souls. But, well filmed. It was as if I had moved back. I cried for two days. We still don't know the exact number of victims. And our "neighbors" Azerbaijans were very happy for our earthquake and they celebrated it. On the trains carrying with the aid from other coutrys, the Azeris wrote "Congratulations with the earthquake."-- A lot of things there were, in one film its inpossible ti show- Very good casr, good music- THANK YOU.

So much potential, yet ruined by Hollywood-style storytelling

[paulclaassen · 5/10 · 1 December 2020]

Based on the 1988 earthquake that devastated numerous villages and wiped the town of Spitak from the face of the Earth, 'Earthquake' should have been a dramatic account of those fateful events.

Instead, the director attempted to make this a Hollywood style movie by adding a comic relief character, characters with uncalled for attitude issues, and a gang of thieves to spice up the story, I suppose. The film would have done much better without the thieves. Sometimes the back stories overshadowed the issues at hand. What did the car accident in the beginning of the movie have to do with anything? They should have concentrated more on the earthquake itself, and the aftermath.

I didn't find the characters very compelling and they also didn't do a great job in introducing the characters in the first place. I knew straight away the earthquake would last about five minutes or so, that it would be impressive, and that the remainder of the film would revolve around the aftermath. I was right, and that's what I wanted to see. Pity the characters ruined much of the film. Some characters did the strangest things considering their circumstances, with unnatural dialogue. I wanted to see the characters unite in the face of a tragedy, as they would in real life, but they opted for Hollywood-style cliched characters and situations instead. Pity.

The film has a beautiful score, and there are some truly fantastic scenes. The earthquake was obviously CGI, but it was very well done. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the film; I did. It just could have been that much better...

Fantastic movie. Highly recommend.

[bek-valera · 10/10 · 1 May 2018]

I was submerged under the beautifully shot scenes and drowning in the epic music... it made me cry...

Terrible dubbing

[prhazell · 5/10 · 19 January 2021]

Watching on Amazon Prime and you have no choice but a dubbed version . I always prefer original audio and subtitles . Terrible mawkish music . I quickly became bored and switched off .

Phenomenal Experience

[sahakchalkdzhyan · 10/10 · 7 March 2021]

This film beautifully captures the events of the tragic Earthquake that impacted the cities and it gives the viewer information that they never knew occurred. I enjoyed the film and definitely a must watch.