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Awix (3310 KP) rated Earthquake (1974) in Movies
Mar 21, 2021 (Updated Mar 21, 2021)
Archetypal piece of mid-70s schlock hits all the usual disaster movie beats: slowish first half introduces various characters, attempts to drum up a sense of foreboding, then everything goes shaky and there are various subplots of people struggling amongst the rubble. A tone of rugged stoicism is usually predominant.
You can almost sense the modern blockbuster struggling to be born here - high concept, low credibility, lots of special effects, John Williams score - but the film is let down by some wobbly production values and questionable casting choices. (The subtext is surprisingly reactionary and morally inflexible, too.) All the bits which make it most entertaining nowadays - Marjoe Gortner as an unhinged national guardsman, Richard Rowntree's motorcycle daredevil, Walter Matthau's dancing drunk - are the parts which are the most camp and ridiculous. Sort of entertaining if you enjoy this kind of bombastic studio silliness.
You can almost sense the modern blockbuster struggling to be born here - high concept, low credibility, lots of special effects, John Williams score - but the film is let down by some wobbly production values and questionable casting choices. (The subtext is surprisingly reactionary and morally inflexible, too.) All the bits which make it most entertaining nowadays - Marjoe Gortner as an unhinged national guardsman, Richard Rowntree's motorcycle daredevil, Walter Matthau's dancing drunk - are the parts which are the most camp and ridiculous. Sort of entertaining if you enjoy this kind of bombastic studio silliness.