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Earthquake

Play trailer Poster for Earthquake PG Released Nov 15, 1974 2h 2m Mystery & Thriller Action Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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44% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 36% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
When a major earthquake hits Los Angeles, the various residents of the city cope with the chaos and destruction. Successful architect Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston) argues with his demanding wife, Remy Royce-Graff (Ava Gardner), as the disaster hits. Later, when he checks in on his flirtatious friend Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold), they begin an affair. As the personal dramas continue, the city is threatened by aftershocks and possibly even greater quakes.
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Earthquake

Earthquake

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Critics Consensus

The destruction of Los Angeles is always a welcome sight, but Earthquake offers little besides big actors slumming through crumbling sets.

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Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker Earthquake is a marathon of destruction effects, with stock characters spinning through. Sep 27, 2023 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Mark Robson's Earthquake is an excellent dramatic exploitation extravaganza, combining brilliant special effects with a multi-character plot line which is surprisingly above average for this type film. Mar 26, 2009 Full Review David Parkinson Time Out The special effects are of a high order as Los Angeles is razed, so it is unfortunate that the same intelligent attention is not extended to either script or direction. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Steve Warren The Barb (Atlanta) Earthquake uses a gimmick, "Sensurround," which makes the theatre seem to tremble during the quake scenes. It's effective and makes about 10 minutes of the picture worth seeing. The rest is crudely-written formula melodrama that wastes an all-star cast. May 9, 2023 Full Review James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk for all the bodies falling and crushed when “the big one” hits, there is never really anything at stake other than whether or not we are convinced by the effects Rated: 2/4 Jul 27, 2022 Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies The shaker-cam and visual effects are no doubt the best part of the film. Jan 18, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Blu B Standard disaster movie fare especially for 70's one. Worst part is the editing which in the first half is outright terrible but gets better in the seond half. It's still not that good though overall. It jumps around terribly and each story really has no consequnece on the main plot at all. Stuff just happens and the earthquake happens no matter if you take one or all of these subplots out. Everything else is just alright about it. Very forgettable soundtrack and boring. Everyone is pretty one dimensional stock characters. Even Heston who were lead to believe is the main hero is forgotten about for long strectches. This does get a bit more exciting and somewhat frantic when the earhtquake happens and the destruction/rescue occurs though. But man the first 50 minutes are boring. The destruction is actually pretty good honestly and the sets look pretty cool too so it does have that going for it. It does just sort of end though. Besides that, yeah not much else to say. If you you've seen one disaster movie especially one of the better ones from this era than you've seen them all. This isn't one of them though. Skip It. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/23/24 Full Review Gabriel A It's a very good film, great visual effects considering the year (1974), and good acting characters too. I mean, it's pure entertaining, don't expect more. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/19/24 Full Review Audience Member When Earthquake first hit the movie theaters, at least on Long Island, certain movie theaters were equipped with the Sensoround sound system. When a scene popped up showing an earthquake in progress, these giant bass speakers would blast out a deep rumble as loud as jet engines for the duration of the scene. It definitely was a plus for the movie, even though it was just an average disaster flick. Believe it or not, when Midway hit the theaters, it also had Sensoround. They used it when aircraft were taking off from aircraft carriers, but it was used more as a gimmick to attract more people. It was never used again afterwards. Today, somebody would sue claiming hearing loss, but back then people weren’t so fragile. It definitely was a 70s phenomena and was a novel sensation at the time. It was a cool time for kids back then, Disaster movies ruled the day, until the Sci-Fi era exploded onto the scene. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/01/24 Full Review Jeff M My cinematic weakness is 70s disaster flicks - I'll watch them no matter how horrible. In fact, their absurdities are among their strongest of attributes. And this has some doozies, although I think it's relatively well made for this genre. I had some doubts going in as I didn't think an earthquake seemed like the most cinematic of disasters. But, you know, in spite of some antiquated special effects, I was digging it. That being said, as I mentioned earlier, the fun is in the nuttiness of it all. Here we have dreadful overacting by Ava Gardner, a pre-DALLAS Victoria Principal sporting an afro taller than Billy Barty, and the audacity of the filmmakers trying to pass off Lorne Greene as Gardner's father. In real life, they were less than 8 years apart - I couldn't help but look it up. The pre-disaster expository scenes are admittedly lame and feel like night-time soap opera. But once the earthquake and aftershocks hit, the roller coaster ride has begun. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/24 Full Review Richard C A classic 70s disaster flick. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/17/23 Full Review timmy b The Stuntwork, Practical & Special Effects were incredible considering the time. It's a good, old time, Hollywood Movie. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Earthquake

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Cast & Crew

Earthquake

Movieclips: John Williams: 11 Incredible Themes Movieclips: John Williams: 11 Incredible Themes 27:14 Earthquake: Official Clip - The Dam Bursts Earthquake: Official Clip - The Dam Bursts 2:37 Earthquake: Official Clip - Pantyhose Drop Earthquake: Official Clip - Pantyhose Drop 2:51 Earthquake: Official Clip - The Tunnel Flood Earthquake: Official Clip - The Tunnel Flood 2:15 Earthquake: Official Clip - Livewires and Rushing Water Earthquake: Official Clip - Livewires and Rushing Water 2:30 Earthquake: Official Clip - Hanging on by a Thread Earthquake: Official Clip - Hanging on by a Thread 3:11 Earthquake: Official Clip - Destroying Los Angeles Earthquake: Official Clip - Destroying Los Angeles 4:46 Earthquake: Official Clip - The Earthquake Strikes Earthquake: Official Clip - The Earthquake Strikes 3:43 Earthquake: Official Clip - Psycho Soldier Earthquake: Official Clip - Psycho Soldier 2:52 Earthquake: Official Clip - Cop vs. Soldier Earthquake: Official Clip - Cop vs. Soldier 2:47 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis When a major earthquake hits Los Angeles, the various residents of the city cope with the chaos and destruction. Successful architect Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston) argues with his demanding wife, Remy Royce-Graff (Ava Gardner), as the disaster hits. Later, when he checks in on his flirtatious friend Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold), they begin an affair. As the personal dramas continue, the city is threatened by aftershocks and possibly even greater quakes.
Director
Mark Robson
Producer
Mark Robson, Bernard Donnenfeld
Screenwriter
George Fox, Mario Puzo
Production Co
Universal Pictures, The Filmakers Group
Rating
PG
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Action, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 15, 1974, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Runtime
2h 2m
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