In the 1970s, Irwin Allen made a niche for himself in Hollywood by producing some big budget disaster films, such as "The Poseidon Adventure", "The Towering Inferno" and "The Swarm". In addition to folks dying and being destroyed, the films all had HUGE star-studded casts as well as a lot of soap opera-like plots. Well, you see all this in "Earthquake", though Allen was not involved in the production...but clearly they copied his formula for success, as the film has the same style AND made a mint at the box office.

The first half of the movie introduces several plots, such as the brilliant architect (Charlton Heston) who is married to an incredibly screwed up and addicted woman (Ava Gardner),the disenchanted no-nonsense cop (George Kennedy),the accident at a local dam and much more. None of these plots are especially deep and are designed to get the audience to care for some of the folks who will be tossed into this epic disaster.

Halfway through the film the Earthquake hits the Los Angeles area and the remainder of the story follows folks trying to make their way to safety. I was actually surprised that the special effects for all this were done very well for 1974...and they actually hold up well today.

So is it any good? Well, it's reasonably well made but not deep in the least...so it would make a great film to watch if you aren't in the mood for something artsy or with an involved plot. Mostly it's just folks trying not to die...and some of them doing very poorly in this department. Overall, modestly entertaining but a film that must have been MUCH better on the big screen and in Sensurround, a sound system with a heavy bass that made theaters rumble.

Remy (Ava Gardner) and Stuart Graff (Charlton Heston)'s marriage is falling apart. She ODs once again after another fight. During a small earthquake, she jumps up and reveals that she's faking. He's a construction engineer working for his father-in-law Sam Royce (Lorne Greene). He starts an affair with the widow of his friend and single mom Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold). There is a mysterious drowning at a local dam and other disturbing signs. LAPD cop Lou Slade (George Kennedy) gets suspended for punching a clueless county cop. Miles (Richard Roundtree) is a motorcycle rider perfecting a new stunt. Grad student Russell predicts the big one in 48 hours.

Walter Matthau's getup is hilarious. That bar is a weird place and that T-shirt is super fine. I like that group of characters. They're a little off-beat and slightly fun. I care a lot less about the affair and the jealousy within the Graff marriage. They could drop into the earth for all I care. The earthquake action is as much as can be expected with shaking cameras, miniatures, falling styrofoam and other stuntwork. This is good special effects for its times and satisfies the need for destruction. It's nowhere near as visually compelling as CGI but it feeds the same animal instincts. There is a good 15 minutes of continuous destruction. The aftermath is a mix of good rescue scenarios and bad melodrama.

I've always found '70s disaster movies a treat to watch, and EARTHQUAKE is no exception. Following in the footsteps of Irwin Allen, the producers of this would-be epic tie together a number of plot strands involving different characters, all of whom are about to be thrown into chaos as a massive earthquake hits Los Angeles. The running time is long and the cast list huge, but the focus is always on the natural disaster and the film never forgets that. I found it thrilling in the best old-fashioned sense; the first half has a gradual build-up of foreboding as we approach the impending disaster, and then the second half lets rip with numerous scenarios. There's a collapsing skyscraper similar to THE TOWERING INFERNO, a dam about to burst and looting amidst the ruined shop fronts.

The special effects are dated, yes, but still surprisingly realistic. Footage of collapsing roads and the ground splitting apart never fails to take my breath away, and there's no reliance on rubbishy miniatures as in the later SUPERMAN. The human cast is also effective, with a good mix of old and young. Heavyweights like Ava Gardner and Lorne Greene fill out supporting roles while Charlton Heston excels as his usual square-jawed leading man type. We get George Kennedy as a mixed-up cop and Marjoe Gortner as a creepy soldier; Victoria Principal as a sexy young dame and Richard Roundtree as a motorbike stuntman. Heck, there's even Walter Matthau as a drunk; what's not to like? If you're a cinema fan like me, then the list of those names alone is enough to get you watching, and I wasn't disappointed. Sure, EARTHQUAKE can be cheesy, and it's the type of film looked down upon by highbrow critics. That doesn't stop it being a blast.