History Film / Earthquake

The film's success inspired a scene on the Studio Tour at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios Hollywood]], simulating an earthquake hitting a subway tunnel, along with a (now-defunct) attraction at Universal Studios Florida known as ''Ride/EarthquakeTheBigOne''.

The film ended up inspiring a scene on the Studio Tour at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios Hollywood]], simulating an earthquake hitting a subway tunnel, along with a (now-defunct) attraction at Universal Studios Florida known as ''Ride/EarthquakeTheBigOne''.

The screenplay was originally written by Mario Puzo of ''Film/TheGodfather'' fame, who dropped out from production due to contractual obligations to work on ''The Godfather: Part II''. The script collected dust for a time until Creator/{{Universal}} thought they could make a buck off of it following the success of ''Film/{{Airport}}'' and ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure''. To help draw audiences in, select screenings used a new process called "Sensurround", in which loud speakers simulated an earthquake within the cinema. Despite earning lukewarm reviews at best, the film bore out Universal's predictions and proved a rollicking financial success, grossing $79 million while its budget had been a mere $7 million. (Adjusted for inflation in 2021, the budget amounts to $38 million and the gross $431 million.)

The success of the movie ended up inspiring a scene on the Studio Tour at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios Hollywood]], that simulates an earthquake hitting a subway tunnel. This in turn inspired a now-defunct attraction at Universal Studios Florida, known as ''Ride/EarthquakeTheBigOne''.

* ContrivedCoincidence: ''Of course'' the secret of predicting Earthquakes is figured out right in time to know a huge Earthquake is due NOW. This wasn't the last time this has been done, either - 41 years later ''Film/SanAndreas'' (2015) did the ''same thing''.

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Stewart Graff (Heston) is a construction engineer stuck in a forlorn marriage to Remy Royce-Graff (Gardner). Denise Marshall (Bujold) is the widow of a friend of Stewart's whom he has an affair with. Sgt. Lew Slade (Kennedy) is a disgruntled cop. Miles Quade (Roundtree) is a daredevil motorcyclist who's preparing for the biggest stunt of his life along with his partner Sal Amici (Gabriel Dell) and his sister Rosa (Principal). Jody Joad (Gortner) is a National Guardsman with a day job as a store clerk who is on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. Amidst all these characters and all of this drama, the California Seismological Institute has calculated that Los Angeles is going to be hit by a massive earthquake, the worst ever recorded, in the next day or two. Walter Russell (Kip Niven), the amateur staffer of the Institute who discerned this, proposes that the city be evacuated, but his superior insists that the cost of evacuation could be even greater than the damages from the earthquake itself. Can you perhaps guess where this is all heading?

Stewart Graff (Heston) is a construction engineer stuck in a forlorn marriage to Remy Royce-Graff (Gardner). Denise Marshall (Bujold) is the widow of a friend of Stewart's whom he has an affair with. Sgt. Lew Slade (Kennedy) is a disgruntled cop. Miles Quade (Roundtree) is a daredevil motorcyclist who's preparing for the biggest stunt of his life along with his partner Sal Amici (Gabriel Dell) and his sister Rosa (Principal). Jody Joad (Gortner) is a National Guardsman with a day job as a store clerk who is on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. Amidst all these characters and all this drama, the California Seismological Institute has calculated that Los Angeles is going to be hit by a massive earthquake, the worst ever recorded, in the next day or two. Walter Russell (Kip Niven), the amateur staffer of the Institute who discerned this, proposes that the city be evacuated, but his superior insists that the cost of evacuation could be even greater than the damages from the earthquake itself. Can you perhaps guess where this is all heading?

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/earthquake_movie2_8402.jpg]]

Released in [[TheSeventies 1974]], this is one of the quintessential entries from the outbreak of the DisasterMovie genre in the decade, alongside ''Film/{{Airport}}'', ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'' and ''Film/TheToweringInferno''. Directed by Creator/MarkRobson, it features the requisite AllStarCast including Creator/CharltonHeston, Creator/AvaGardner, Creator/GeorgeKennedy, Creator/LorneGreene, Creator/GenevieveBujold, Creator/RichardRoundtree, Creator/MarjoeGortner, Creator/BarrySullivan, Creator/LloydNolan, Creator/VictoriaPrincipal, Creator/MonicaLewis and Creator/WalterMatthau.

Stewart Graff (Heston) is a construction engineer stuck in a forlorn marriage to Remy Royce-Graff (Gardner). Denise Marshall (Bujold) is the widow of a friend of Stewart's whom he has an affair with. Sgt. Lew Slade (Kennedy) is a disgruntled cop. Miles Quade (Roundtree) is a motorcycle stuntman who is preparing for the biggest stunt of his life with his partner Sal Amici (Gabriel Dell). Rosa Amici (Principal) is Sal's sister. Jody Joad (Gortner) is a National Guardsman with a day job as a store clerk who is on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. Amidst all these characters and all this drama, however, the California Seismological Institute has calculated that Los Angeles is going to be hit by a massive earthquake, the worst ever recorded, in the next day or two. Walter Russell (Kip Niven), the amateur staffer of the Institute who discerned this, proposes that the city be evacuated, but his superior insists that the cost of evacuation could be even greater than that of the earthquake itself. Can you guess where this is all heading?

The film was originally written by Mario Puzo, of ''Film/TheGodfather'' fame. He dropped out from production due to contractual obligations to work on ''The Godfather: Part II''. The script collected dust for a time until Universal Studios thought they could make a buck off of it due to the success of ''Film/{{Airport}}'' and ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure''. In order to draw audiences in, screenings of the film used a technique called "Sensurround", in which loud speakers simulated an earthquake within the cinema. Despite lukewarm reviews at best, Universal Studios's predictions were correct and the film was a rollicking financial success, grossing $79 million whereas its budget had been a mere $7 million. (Adjusted for inflation in 2021, the budget amounts to $38 million and the gross $431 million.)

The quintessential DisasterMovie from the outbreak of that genre in the [[TheSeventies 70s]], alongside ''Film/{{Airport}}'', ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'' and ''Film/TheToweringInferno''. Directed by Creator/MarkRobson, and starring Creator/CharltonHeston, Creator/AvaGardner, Creator/GeorgeKennedy, Creator/LorneGreene, Creator/GenevieveBujold, Creator/RichardRoundtree, Creator/MarjoeGortner, Creator/BarrySullivan, Creator/LloydNolan, Creator/VictoriaPrincipal, Creator/MonicaLewis and Creator/WalterMatthau.

* {{Retcon}}: ''The Book of Fours'' claims that Zabuto is childless and his only relative is a gay cousin who will probably never pass down the family name unless he adopts, but several other Zabutos appear in the ''Slayer'' duology (which is written by a different author). Which, if either, version is accurate in the main canon is unclear.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Miles reappears briefly and pointlessly in the flood scene, but essentially vanishes from the story as soon as he leaves the group.

* AxCrazy: Jody Joad.

** Royce claims that promoting Graff to President has nothing whatsoever to do with his being his son-in-law.

* TheNeidermeyer: Jody, especially when his men tries to look for an officer to have him face court martial out of fear.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Averted for the most part (thanks in part to LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters), but in the end, they have to portray some hapless first responders as a group of [[DirtyCoward dirty cowards]] so that Graff and Slade can be the ones to save the folks trapped in the parking garage.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: And many of them drop like flies from the halfway mark onwards.

* AdultFear: Denise is beside herself when she can't find Corry, then has to figure out how to rescue him.

* VillainousBreakdown: Jody's reaction to his object of lust Rosa for rejecting him out of fear of his AxCrazy side can count, which prompts him to commit an AttemptedRape, in turn leading George Kennedy to pull a BigDamnHeroes moment in time and saving Rosa from the madman.

* CowboyCop: George Kennedy's character Lew Slade. His EstablishingCharacterMoment is flying into a rage after DaChief gives him a talk because he wrecked a hedge while chasing a man through Beverly Hills... a chase he was doing because the man did a hit-and-run on a young woman that Slade describes "splattered her blood all over the sidewalk like a fresh coat of paint" and killed her on the spot.

The film was originally written by Mario Puzo, of ''Film/TheGodfather'' fame. He dropped out from production due to contractual obligations to work on ''The Godfather: Part II''. The script collected dust for a time until Universal Studios thought they could make a buck off of it due to the success of ''Film/{{Airport}}'' and ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure''. In order to draw audiences in, screenings of the film used a technique called "Sensurround", in which loud speakers simulated an earthquake within the cinema. Despite lukewarm reviews at best, Universal Studios's predictions were correct and the film was a rollicking financial success, grossing $79 million whereas its budget had been a mere $7 million. (Adjusted for inflation, the budget amounts to $36 million and the gross $379 million.)

* InfantImmortality: Played straight. It looks like Corry's going to be fine.

* BullyingADragon: Jody's housemates bullies him to a point he took his revenge by gunning them down after catching them looting.

The quintessential DisasterMovie from the outbreak of that genre in the [[TheSeventies 70s]], alongside ''Film/{{Airport}}'', ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'' and ''Film/TheToweringInferno''. Directed by Mark Robson, and starring Creator/CharltonHeston, Creator/AvaGardner, Creator/GeorgeKennedy, Creator/LorneGreene, Creator/GenevieveBujold, Creator/RichardRoundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Creator/BarrySullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, Monica Lewis and Walter Matthau.

The quintessential DisasterMovie from the outbreak of that genre in the [[TheSeventies 70s]], alongside ''Film/{{Airport}}'', ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'' and ''Film/TheToweringInferno''. Directed by Mark Robson, and starring Creator/CharltonHeston, Creator/AvaGardner, Creator/GeorgeKennedy, Creator/LorneGreene, Geneviève Bujold, Creator/RichardRoundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Creator/BarrySullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, Monica Lewis and Walter Matthau.

* ElevatorFailure: "Yeah, people drown in elevators every damn day of the week!"

** Rosa tries to scare Jody off by telling him she has another brother, who is in the [[BiggerBad Mafia]].

** Rosa tries to scare Jody off by telling him she has another brother, who is in the ''Mafia''.

* BlatantLies: Rosa tries to scare Jody off by telling him she has another brother, who is in the ''Mafia''.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Averted for the most part (thanks in part to LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters), but in the end, they have to portray some hapless first responders as a group of [[DirtyCoward dirty cowards]] so that Lew and Graff can be the ones to save the folks trapped in the parking garage.