The Great Los Angeles Earthquake

Original title: The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake

TV Movie
1990
TV-PG
3h

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

After a series of small tremors in Los Angeles, Dr. Clare Winslow, a local seismologist, pinpoints the exact location and time of when the long awaited earthquake--"The Big One"--will strike... Read allAfter a series of small tremors in Los Angeles, Dr. Clare Winslow, a local seismologist, pinpoints the exact location and time of when the long awaited earthquake--"The Big One"--will strike southern California. With this information, she must battle city officials to release thi... Read allAfter a series of small tremors in Los Angeles, Dr. Clare Winslow, a local seismologist, pinpoints the exact location and time of when the long awaited earthquake--"The Big One"--will strike southern California. With this information, she must battle city officials to release this information to the general public. Also, she hopes that her family is out of harms way w... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.9/10

727

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Trivia
Following the final scene, a list of US cities threatened by earthquakes is shown. "According to the US Geological Survey, at least 39 states other than California are expected to experience major earthquakes in the future" Some of the cities that will be hardest hit include: Anchorage 9.2 Boston 6.5 Charleston 8.0 Memphis 8.0 New York City 6.5 Portland 9.0 Reno 7.0 St Louis 8.0 Salt Lake City 7.0 Seattle 9.0 "No city is currently as prepared as the city of Los Angeles."

Goofs
South African Trade Minister David Motubu, a black man, could not have held any political office in South Africa during the apartheid era, which did not end until four years after the movie was made.

Quotes
Dr. Clare Winslow: [check listing earthquake kit] $500 cash.
Heather Winslow: Why so much money?
Dr. Clare Winslow: Computers will be down, the banks could be closed for days.

Alternate versions
When the NBC-TV network premiered this film over two nights in November 1990, NBC News added earthquake safety tips and news information at the end of each night of the miniseries. The information was provided because of the potential for deadly quakes at other fault lines in the USA and in particular reference to the New Madrid Earthquake Zone in the central USA which was predicted to quake on December 3, 1990.

Connections
Edited from Emergency! (1972)

Soundtracks
Love Can
Lyrics by Jeff Barry
Music by Fred Karlin
Performed by Lindsey Frost

User reviews18

Review

Featured review

6/10

Cheesy but good

For a made for TV movie this really isn't half bad. I was 8 years old when I first saw this and I remember loving it because of all of the destruction and overall it's still a decent cheesy made for TV movie. At the time there were a lot of movies on TV playing into all of the disasters waiting to happen and this was one of the better ones. The first 2 hours of the movie try's to sound as scientific as possible while slowly building to what we all know is coming and nicely builds suspense. The movie does a good job of showing the daily lives of people in L.A. and what happens to them afterwards. Of course some story lines are nothing more than filler, some stories are cheesy and some are quite good. Overall the acting is believable except for a few bad actors here and there. Most people should recognize the mother from growing pains, the father from the wonder years, Ed Bagley Jr and tons more from the 80s and 90s.

For a made for TV movie I am pleased by how the movie stays away from overt corniness and try's to tell a good story, but there is problems. The movie is 3 hours long, with 2 of those hours leading up the earthquake and 1 hour dealing with the earthquake and after, then it abruptly ends. The movies does a good job of showing the disaster, but there could have been at least another hour dealing with what happens after the quake. It takes 2 hours to get to the quake and then it speeds along and ends.

What can one really expect from a made for TV movie anyways? As long as it entertains that's really the important key to a successful movie. I will say it is a cut above some of the Hollywood disaster movies of the 90's which usually were cheesy and dumb. I wouldn't watch this movie and expect to be blown away, but if you are looking to entertain yourself for awhile then I recommend this movie.