Although the great Earthquake predicted does not sink California into the Pacific Ocean the one in this film does a pretty good job of flattening Los Angeles and putting in peril a whole lot of movie names with varying degrees of recognition. In that respect Earthquake is your typical Seventies disaster film.
The leads are an unhappily married Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. Heston married the boss's daughter when he was working his way through college on an athletic scholarship, but now he's a top man in his field of architecture and can leave any time he wants, a fact that his boss and Ava's father Lorne Greene appreciates. In the meantime Ava's pill popping and gin swilling has caused Heston to be carrying on with young widow Genevieve Bujold.
That's the main story line, but Earthquake also has various and sundry interesting characters such as Policeman George Kennedy, Daredevil cyclist Richard Roundtree with brother and sister assistants Gabriel Dell and Victoria Principal. And of course playing a National Guardsman with some real issues is former evangelist Marjoe Gortner.
That famous Sensurround sound which shook movie theaters back when Earthquake was in theatrical release guaranteed an Oscar in that department. The film also won another Oscar for Visual Effects. It's now a popular ride at Universal City in Orlando, Florida with Charlton Heston's canned narration still being used.
Walter Matthau in a god awful pimp's outfit has a really funny bit as a drunk in a bar totally oblivious to what is happening around him. Maybe he was the smartest of the characters in the cast.
Earthquake in terms of plot and acting is a cut above some of the great disaster films of the era. But it really has to be seen in theaters to get the right appreciation.
The leads are an unhappily married Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. Heston married the boss's daughter when he was working his way through college on an athletic scholarship, but now he's a top man in his field of architecture and can leave any time he wants, a fact that his boss and Ava's father Lorne Greene appreciates. In the meantime Ava's pill popping and gin swilling has caused Heston to be carrying on with young widow Genevieve Bujold.
That's the main story line, but Earthquake also has various and sundry interesting characters such as Policeman George Kennedy, Daredevil cyclist Richard Roundtree with brother and sister assistants Gabriel Dell and Victoria Principal. And of course playing a National Guardsman with some real issues is former evangelist Marjoe Gortner.
That famous Sensurround sound which shook movie theaters back when Earthquake was in theatrical release guaranteed an Oscar in that department. The film also won another Oscar for Visual Effects. It's now a popular ride at Universal City in Orlando, Florida with Charlton Heston's canned narration still being used.
Walter Matthau in a god awful pimp's outfit has a really funny bit as a drunk in a bar totally oblivious to what is happening around him. Maybe he was the smartest of the characters in the cast.
Earthquake in terms of plot and acting is a cut above some of the great disaster films of the era. But it really has to be seen in theaters to get the right appreciation.