Erdbeben

Originaltitel: Earthquake

1974
16
2 Std. 2 Min.

IMDb-BEWERTUNG

5,9/10

18.358

IHRE BEWERTUNG

BELIEBTHEIT

3.757

2.191

Charlton Heston, Victoria Principal, Geneviève Bujold, Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, George Kennedy, Marjoe Gortner, Lloyd Nolan, Richard Roundtree, and Barry Sullivan in Erdbeben (1974)

trailer wiedergeben1:03

1 Video

99+ Fotos

Dark Comedy Disaster Action Drama Thriller

Verschiedene miteinander verbundene Menschen kämpfen ums Überleben, als ein Erdbeben unvorstellbaren Ausmaßes Los Angeles, Kalifornien, trifft.Verschiedene miteinander verbundene Menschen kämpfen ums Überleben, als ein Erdbeben unvorstellbaren Ausmaßes Los Angeles, Kalifornien, trifft.Verschiedene miteinander verbundene Menschen kämpfen ums Überleben, als ein Erdbeben unvorstellbaren Ausmaßes Los Angeles, Kalifornien, trifft.

Siehe Produktionsinformationen bei IMDbPro

IMDb-BEWERTUNG

5,9/10

18.358

IHRE BEWERTUNG

BELIEBTHEIT

3.757

2.191

Siehe Produktionsinformationen bei IMDbPro

1 Oscar gewonnen
- 3 Gewinne & 7 Nominierungen insgesamt

Wissenswertes
The producer, Jennings Lang, offered a cameo role to his friend Walter Matthau. Matthau accepted, without compensation, on the condition that he be billed under the name "Walter Matuschanskayasky," the last name being a long-standing "inside joke" that he had used for decades. The role was originally scripted as "a drunk sits at the end of the bar", which was expanded by writer George Fox, giving the character lines of dialogue (involving toasts to celebrities). When the film was completed - as agreed to by Lang and Matthau - "The Drunk" was credited as "Walter Matuschanskayasky." This led to a long-standing (and false) rumor that "Matuschanskayasky" was Matthau's real last name.

Patzer
When Miles (Richard Roundtree) drives in and out of the loop on his motorcycle, the stuntman is a White stuntman wearing dark makeup.

Zitate
Sam Royce: Barbara, take off your pantyhose, damnit! You too, c'mon, take off your pantyhose!

Alternative Versionen
For the initial network television showing broadcast on NBC in September 1976, additional footage was shot to lengthen the film in order to show it over two nights. The most extensive segment of new footage is a subplot of a newlywed couple (Debralee Scott and Sam Chew Jr.) on a flight to Los Angleles so the husband can interview for a job with Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston). The plane tries to land as the earthquake hits, but the pilots are able to regain control and fly away before the runway breaks up. Other significant segments are new scenes with Jody (Marjoe Gortner) and Rosa (Victoria Principal), which establish Jody's obsession with Rosa, as well as one short scene in a pawn shop with Buck (Jesse Vint) and Hank (Michael Richardson), who play Marjoe's roommates in the theatrical version. Contrary to popular belief, these additional scenes were *not* "leftover" footage from the original 1974 theatrical release. Rather, the footage was filmed almost two years later by NBC to expand the film. These additional scenes were shot without the original director Mark Robson, who opted out, (in fact, he loathed the additional scenes), but they were shot with Universal's approval. In addition, two deleted scenes originally shot for the theatrical release were re-inserted into the television version, including a narrative opening about the San Andreas Fault, as well as a scene of Rosa brushing off a guy (Reb Brown) trying to give her a ride on his motorcycle.

Verbindungen
Edited from Der zerrissene Vorhang (1966)

Soundtracks
C'est si bon
(uncredited)
Music by Henri Betti
Played by a guitarist

Benutzerrezensionen208

Rezension

Ausgewählte Rezension

7/10

This used to be one hell of a town, officer.

Earthquake is directed by Mark Robson and written by Mario Puzo and George Fox. It stars Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Ava Gardner, Geneviève Bujold, Lorne Greene, Richard Roundtree & Marjoe Gortner.

A catastrophic earthquake hits Southern California and begins to level Los Angeles...

"It's not a negative to have heart in the disaster genre of film"

Take yourself to 1974, are you there? Good, now maybe you can appreciate this film a little more? Maybe? Earthquake does suffer from old age, it's a statement we see and hear a lot, but it's a fact that some film's stand the test of time whilst others do not. In this desensitised computer age, it is easy to forget that not all the tools available in film making today were available back when film's like this were being made. So as is my want, I firmly judge this as a 1974 offering, to which it delivers enough entertainment to fully satisfy my genre leanings and entertainment persuasions.

The main complaint of many is the long build up of the characters, cries of boring can be read across internet forums and critics blogs. I just don't see it that way, yes we want the quake and the mayhem destruction that will follow it, because really this is a disaster film after all, but is it so bad that the film has heart to go with the crash bang wallop? After the build up of characters, where relationships and character traits are formed, the disaster strikes and it doesn't disappoint, utter destruction as effects and noise fill the eyes and ears, where those with a good home cinema system finding it literally does rock the house. We are then treated to a series of sequences that hold and engage our attention, upsetting passages of human sadness, punctured by heroic surges as Heston and the fabulous Kennedy set about saving life, hell! saving the town even. Then it's the film's fitting finale, where there are no cop outs, the makers choosing to go out with a darker edge than the detractors give it credit for.

Some can scoff at a blood splat effect, or rant about some of the acting on show, but Earthquake achieves two important things. One is that it entertains as a visual experience, the other is that it doesn't soft soap the devastating effects of an earthquake. As the camera pulls away from a ravaged L.A. the impact is sombre, where reflection is needed and most assuredly surely gotten. 7/10