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I can perhaps see someone enjoying it if watching it as a kid. But I saw it for the first time as an adult and couldn't see past any of the flaws. Still like Williams' score, though -- which I enjoyed for years before I saw the film. I am in the minority of those who really enjoyed the film. We show it out here in Los Angeles perhaps once a year. It's aesthetic is genuine - these are people that you meet and know in Los Angeles: The businessman, the Rich Beverly Hills wife, the bit part actress, the aspiring entrepreneur (Miles Quade), the racist cops and the cops who are on the side of justice, plus the locations, the references, over all fear of destruction from a quake lol. It's great fun. Williams' score is the highlight for me though, as is anything film he scored. I certainly hope for a release of the film score one of these days.
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I can perhaps see someone enjoying it if watching it as a kid. But I saw it for the first time as an adult and couldn't see past any of the flaws. Still like Williams' score, though -- which I enjoyed for years before I saw the film. I am in the minority of those who really enjoyed the film. We show it out here in Los Angeles perhaps once a year. It's aesthetic is genuine - these are people that you meet and know in Los Angeles: The businessman, the Rich Beverly Hills wife, the bit part actress, the aspiring entrepreneur (Miles Quade), the racist cops and the cops who are on the side of justice, plus the locations, the references, over all fear of destruction from a quake lol. It's great fun. Williams' score is the highlight for me though, as is anything film he scored. I certainly hope for a release of the film score one of these days.
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I am in the minority of those who really enjoyed the film. We show it out here in Los Angeles perhaps once a year. It's aesthetic is genuine - these are people that you meet and know in Los Angeles: The businessman, the Rich Beverly Hills wife, the bit part actress, the aspiring entrepreneur (Miles Quade), the racist cops and the cops who are on the side of justice, plus the locations, the references, over all fear of destruction from a quake lol. It's great fun. Williams' score is the highlight for me though, as is anything film he scored. I certainly hope for a release of the film score one of these days. That's what I enjoyed about it... I mean, it's a disaster movie... it's the type of movie where you throw in a bunch of stars in an expensive setting which gets destroyed. :-) I have not seen the movie in over thirty years though... would have to see it again.
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LOL. Yes. He valiantly saves his WIFE (not Ex) instead of going off into the sunset (sunrise) with the beautiful Genevieve Bujold. SPOILER ALERT. ;-)
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LOL. Yes. He valiantly saves his WIFE (not Ex) instead of going off into the sunset (sunrise) with the beautiful Genevieve Bujold. SPOILER ALERT. ;-)
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Is this the film where Charles Heston chooses to drown trying to save his bitchy Ex-Wife, instead of choosing to live with the hot young thing he was dating? A little info here which some may find illuminating: To Heston's credit, he did NOT want to do EARTHQUAKE. When Universal made the initial submission, his takeaway from the early draft of the script on December 20, 1973 was: “...the character seems unscathed by his relationships.” On the 22nd the worries continued: “I'm brooding over possible solutions to the thin character development...I'm very uneasy about it in creative terms.” His take on the ending of the film seems pretty in-line with most of the criticisms here. “An earthquake destroys the whole city. This guy with the mean wife and the neat girlfriend escapes scot-free, wife killed, neat girl left alive for him while he rebuilds Los Angeles?” His one contribution to the film is the finale caused a HUGE furor at Universal. Heston's (pricey) contract gave him script approval and on April 25, 1974—less than a week before the film wrapped—he had to flex his muscles to prevent Universal from shooting 2 different endings. Of this Heston's said, “I never approved the original ending where my character survived the earthquake. They agreed to a change to accommodate my death in a futile, doomed effort to save my bitchy wife, which seems to me to lend some credibility to a basically implausible story.” Universal (smartly) packed the film with many things that brought people to the movies...in 1974. And brought them it did! EARTHQUAKE made a bundle at the box office. Sensurround, Disaster film—and yes, (pre-NRA) Charlton Heston. To me, that puts some of the views I'm reading here in 2017 of a mediocre movie from 1974 out of whack. BTW, in 1974, John Williams wasn't in a position to have some sort of “aesthetic principles” to pass up WORK (Williams didn't have script approvals, he was just a composer). In the early 70's Hollywood was in a budget pinch (as was the whole country) and all the Studios were doubting the value of large orchestral scores. So, composers like Williams, Goldsmith, et al took pretty much anything that came along—for much reduced salaries, compared to the 1960's. Besides, EARTHQUAKE was a big deal at Universal and Williams relationship with that Studio was similar to Goldsmith's relationship with Fox—they were extremely talented, “go-to” composers who weren't “difficult.”
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LOL. Yes. He valiantly saves his WIFE (not Ex) instead of going off into the sunset (sunrise) with the beautiful Genevieve Bujold. SPOILER ALERT. ;-) Thxs! LOL @hromaparadise - Cool background info. Thxs. No prob. Yeah, I'm a junkie for research and details! That's what made my book on Goldsmith's PLANET OF THE APES so much fun to do. ("Simians & Serialism"--sorry, shameless plug! )
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