Movie Description
This essential 1970s disaster epic, with a script co-authored by Mario Puzo (THE GODFATHER), centers around a devastating earthquake in Los Angeles and the shocking aftermath it causes. The all-star cast is led by Charleton Heston as a construction engineer whose marital problems supply him with plentiful stress before the quake even hits. The film was presented theatrically with a sound process known as "Sensurround," which caused cinemas to physically vibrate during quake sequences.
| Credits | | Producer: | Mark Robson | | Cast: | Gabriel Dell, Geneviève Bujold, George Kennedy, Richard Roundtree, Tiger Williams, Walter Matthau |
| Details | | Sound: | HiFi Sound, Stereo Sound, Surround Sound |
Notes
Color by Technicolor.
Originally released in Sensurround, a sound system which creates low-frequency vibrations that simulate the sensation of small tremors in the theater. Universal charged exhibitors $500 a week for use of the system. A warning for the faint-hearted flashed on the screen before the film began.
Additional cast members: Scott Haylands (Assistant Dam Caretaker); Tiger Williams (Corry Marshall). Walter Matthau is credited under his real name, Walther Matuschanskavasky.
Additional technical credit: Jack McMasters, special effects.
Waldon O. Watson, Richard J. Stumpf, Robert J. Leonard and the Universal City Studios Sound Department received a Class II Technical Award for the development and engineering of the Sensurround System for motion picture presentation.
The disaster movie was a unique phenomenon of the 1970s. "The Poseidon Adventure," about the sinking of a giant ocean liner, was the movie that launched (no pun intended) the mini-genre. Other entries, besides "Earthquake," include "The Towering Inferno" and the "Airport" movies. All disaster movies conformed to a similar plan: a vast array of characters (portrayed by movie stars and celebrities), usually trapped in one place together (airplane, skyscraper, ocean liner), confront a major calamity. Though these characters are plagued by a variety of personal problems, they are all linked by their common fight for survival.
Copyright 1974 Universal Pictures.
Editorial Reviews
"They really don't make 'em like this anymore." -- Rating: B
Entertainment Weekly - p.90 - Steve Simels (09/09/1994)
"There wasn't a boy in the 1970s who didn't get all giddy over this pleasing and plot-light demolition derby..."
Entertainment Weekly - Joshua Rich (06/04/2004)
Awards
1974Academy AwardsBest Sound, 1974Academy AwardsBest Visual Effects, 1974Academy AwardsScientific or Technical Award
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