Earthquake

Earthquake is one of the all time great disaster movies. It was directed by Mark Robson and had an all star cast including Charlton Heston, Ava Gardener, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene and Victoria Principle. The film is set in Los Angeles when a huge earthquake hits and follows the survivors as they try to reach safety.

The film was a huge box office success and was a continuation of the popularity of the disaster film genre in the 1970’s. Whilst being ably supported by the cast and particularly Heston’s talented performance; the effects at the time were state of the art and still hold the attention today. In fact the effects inspired a major attraction at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.

Interestingly in one original working of the script Heston’s character survives but he felt it was not in keeping with the moral of the story and so his character dies whilst trying to save his wife. Many viewers of the DVD lament the loss of the sensurround sound that used to rumble the seats in cinemas.

At the start of the film the characters’ back stories are set up and we find out what motivates them. When the earthquake hits we find out how they deal with the disaster and the movie reveals all sorts of emotional turmoil going on underneath their day to day lives.

Cinema release 1974

Certificate PG

Available on DVD