Review of Earthquake (1974) by Jason J — 14 Dec 2009

Ah, the 1970s. "Disaster Movies" were box-office gold. Basically you get together an "all-star" cast and put them all in incredible danger such as being in a capsized luxury liner, or in a burning super-skyscraper, or in LA in the midst of a major earthquake.

After starring in a series of low-budget dystopian Sci-Fi films in which he played the last "middle American," Chuck Heston starred in this very cheesy film. Ava Gardner was miscast as Heston's wife and Lorne Greene was really miscast as Gardner's father.

Victoria Principal was just three years away from being cast in DALLAS; check out her ridiculous Afro-style perm. Marjoe Gortner plays a somewhat unhinged National Guardsman; it had only been five years since Kent State.

Its a pretty dumb film. The earthquake FX are sometimes pretty laughable and Heston (along with LAPD cop George Kennedy) seem to drive through the same Universal backlot streets filled with rubble over and over again.

This is an unbelievably dumb film from an unbelievably dumb genre. It is a slice of major 1970s nostalgia, however.