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Now, I must be weird, but I saw this film on the big screen on its first release. I went with my brother and parents, and we all thought it was brilliant! One of the best movie experiences ever! Then I went out and bought the soundtrack, and it was the greatest thing ever! Loved all that eclectic mix of smoochy romance, jangly action, groovy Shaft stuff, majestic but pensive wrap-up, suspense noodlings and rumbling effects.
EARTHQUAKE was one of the best films ever made, and the John Willliams album was also sheer brilliance.
P.S. - I recently caught some of the movie on the telly and it seemed to have shrunk a bit in brilliance.
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Timmer, I remember that too (or those two) from way back, when my hormones existed. I suppose we had Sensurround, but a bit of 3D wouldn't have gone amiss.
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Does anyone know approximately how much music is in the film
that was not included on the LP and Varese cd?
Den
I would say probably somewhere around 15 minutes more so...and that's being generous. The film is scored quite modestly. The only cues I'd love to hear clear of dialog and effects are the ones that underscore the end sequences in the basement and storm drain. The musical performances in the film are definitely different from the album versions. The orchestrations on the album are much fuller. I also got to see this in SENSURROUND when I was very young and remember how thrilling it was.
The Varese CD is a good representation of the score, though I like the film version of the main title better.
Cheers!
Harry
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P.S. - I recently caught some of the movie on the telly and it seemed to have shrunk a bit in brilliance.
Always a treat to LOL at something I could have read five months ago but somehow missed.
I also wouldn't mind a re-release of "Earthquake" to go with my new "Family Plot," now that Universal's vault is open for business. Maybe "Midway" too.
I was lucky to see "Earthquake" on the big screen at Lincoln Center in NY, during their memorial retrospective series of Heston films, and found it quite enjoyable on two different levels. There was the nostalgia of seeing what used to qualify for harrowing action sequences and state of the art special effects, but the Mario Puzo script was also a campy delight. I remember Ava Gardner's first profane bitter-alcoholic-housewifely outburst was met with laughter and applause, and the fun didn't stop after that.
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Posted: |
Dec 12, 2010 - 1:27 PM
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By: |
spartacus47
(Member)
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As mentioned it seems more like a TV movie of the week than a true cinematic epic taking advantage of the medium.
Watching it on TV, it really looks like any Universal TV production from the 70s: Columbo, et al. They *mastered* the art of flat, featureless lighting for both their TV shows and feature films.
Towering Inferno is the same, as well as a lot of Disney movies from that period too. The tired old remains of the old studio system.
I agree that Mark Robson was no John Guillerman.
Albert Whitlock's matte paintings from Earthquake are spectacular (shame that the miniatures supervised by Clifford Stine etc were amateurish in quality), as is William's score. Shame that every thing else (Genevive Bujold aside) is Z rate, IMHO. Let's not even mention the animated blood.
It's a shame that this film is in Mark Robson's filmography. He was getting older and the producers probably had more control of this silly schlockfest than he did. (He had made "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", one of the best war films of the fifties) and "Champion" with Kirk Douglas. John Guillermin was a hack as far as I'm concerned. (1976's "King Kong" anyone?)
Having said that, this is certainly not one of Williams best, but he really puts it together over the "End Titles."
And your right...........this was so unprofessionally produced that I expected to see the famous Universal Tourist Tram Bus appear on one of the so called devastated street sets.
The sound won the Academy Award and "Sensurround" got a Special Technical Award. That's OK unless you happened to be sitting in the next theater in the multiplex and a quiet love scene in another movie gets interrupted by the vibrating walls of the newly installed "Earthquake" soundtrack.
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I'm not such a big fan. The film is awful and the score doesn't really do that much for me. I do have fond memoriesof buying the LP and having to add weight to the turntable arm to stop the sound effect opening kicking my stylus!
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Posted: |
Nov 10, 2011 - 4:22 AM
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By: |
fleming
(Member)
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As mentioned it seems more like a TV movie of the week than a true cinematic epic taking advantage of the medium.
Watching it on TV, it really looks like any Universal TV production from the 70s: Columbo, et al. They *mastered* the art of flat, featureless lighting for both their TV shows and feature films.
Towering Inferno is the same, as well as a lot of Disney movies from that period too. The tired old remains of the old studio system.
I agree that Mark Robson was no John Guillerman.
Albert Whitlock's matte paintings from Earthquake are spectacular (shame that the miniatures supervised by Clifford Stine etc were amateurish in quality), as is William's score. Shame that every thing else (Genevive Bujold aside) is Z rate, IMHO. Let's not even mention the animated blood.
It's a shame that this film is in Mark Robson's filmography. He was getting older and the producers probably had more control of this silly schlockfest than he did. (He had made "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", one of the best war films of the fifties) and "Champion" with Kirk Douglas. John Guillermin was a hack as far as I'm concerned. (1976's "King Kong" anyone?)
Having said that, this is certainly not one of Williams best, but he really puts it together over the "End Titles."
And your right...........this was so unprofessionally produced that I expected to see the famous Universal Tourist Tram Bus appear on one of the so called devastated street sets.
The sound won the Academy Award and "Sensurround" got a Special Technical Award. That's OK unless you happened to be sitting in the next theater in the multiplex and a quiet love scene in another movie gets interrupted by the vibrating walls of the newly installed "Earthquake" soundtrack.
John Guillermin also directed "The Blue Max", one of the best war films of the sixties, with one of the best war scores of any decade by Jerry Goldsmith.
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