Earthquake

Do you remember seeing EARTHQUAKE back in 1974 in the theatre in 'Sensurround". It was basically the theatre's bass turned up so loud during quake sequences that it shook the building. (The old Bethany Home theatre in Phoenix actually got cracks in it from "Earthquake's" run according to Republic stories of the time!) Well nearly 40 years later (WOW-let that fact soak in for a minute!), even with the base turned up, Earthquake is much worse for wear. This is classic 70's disaster, which means lots of stock characters with no arc, a HORRIBLE screenplay, which is unbelievably co-written by Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather (the three minute scene between Charlton Heston and Genevieve Bujold at her house pre-quake I had to watch twice just to fathom how crappy the writing was) and some good, juicy, summer FUN! This is one of those classics from my teen years where I can just throw out all the crap and savor the great parts, which are all the quake sequences, any Richard Roundtree scene, Cory's rescue in the LA canal, great matte paintings of a devastated Los Angeles and the closing Dam failure sequences. Total disaster garbage, and still a fun, guilty pleasure! B