DVD

Goodtimes, widescreen 2.35:1, languages: English Dolby Surround [CC], subtitles: Spanish, French, single side-single layer, 18 chapters, rated PG, 123 min., $19.98, street date 9/2/98.

Studio Line

Directed by Mark Robson. Starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Genevieve Bujold, Richard Roundtree.

When the most catastrophic earthquake of all time rips through Southern California, it levels Los Angeles and sends shockwaves through the lives of all who live there. Charlton Heston heads the all-star cast as Stewart Graff, a rugged construction engineer who lives with his spoiled and wealthy wife, Remy. George Kennedy plays Lew Slade, a tough cop in a city of devastation. Lorne Greene is Sam Royce, a construction company owner trapped in his own building. "Earthquake" also features Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan and Victoria Principal, plus some of the most chilling special effects ever filmed.

Picture/Sound/Extras (C+/C-/D-)

When I wrote my recent review of The Towering Inferno, I reflected on the historical significance that film and the disaster movie genre as a whole held for me as a child. Man, I was nuts about those movies! TTI was always number one, but I loved most of them and eagerly flocked to see them.

I remember viewing Earthquake especially vividly because of the amazing technological innovation that accompanied it: something called "Sensurround." While I now know it just uses a bunch of subwoofers spaced around the auditorium to achieve its "earthshaking" effect, I was seven when Earthquake arrived; I didn't know any of that techo-jumble, so it was just something new and amazingly cool.

I liked the movie, too. I'm not sure what this says about me, but I just couldn't get enough of mass destruction! Smashing, crashing, blowing up - you name it, I loved it!

I was somewhat afraid to rewatch Towering Inferno because I feared the movie would bite and my childhood memories would be shattered. However, I actually liked it quite a bit, and that enjoyment emboldened me to try out some other disaster classics on DVD.

First up is Earthquake. Would it pass muster as well? In a word - well, in two words: God, no! This movie is almost completely terrible. I'd say that it really is thoroughly horrible except that seems extreme; while I can't think of anything good about it, I don't want to go to extremes!

Despite its nearly three hour length, TTI managed to build a great sense of tension and suspense, largely because of the imminent menace; the fire just kept going and going. Since it offered a massive cast, its characters were sketchy at best, but they still evoked interest in the audience.

Neither factor is true for Earthquake. It follows the same disaster movie formula with its star-studded cast of thousands, but it's a much less interesting story. Interestingly, Earthquake uses much more time for exposition than did TTI, despite the fact it has a smaller cast and is 45 minutes shorter. The action heated up within about 25 minutes for Earthquake, but the quake doesn't hit here until the movie's nearly half finished.

You'd think that scene would liven things up, but it's really pretty dull, too. It goes on for about ten minutes; there's lots of shaking and crashing, blah blah blah. The effects are decent, with only a few notable exceptions - at one point, blood is supposed to fly at the camera, but it's obviously been drawn in by hand and looks ridiculous - but the segment lacks any life or excitement.

The remainder of Earthquake shows the rescue efforts, and though these should be quite exciting as well, they're actually pretty dull. The characters are simply so flat and cartoony that no interest is ever evoked. I didn't care what happened to them, and the action tended to be so cheesy that it didn't move me either. Earthquake occasionally provides some campy fun - dig Victoria Principal with that funky afro! - but that's about it. Overall, the movie's a silly stinker.

Earthquake appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Overall, the picture looks decent but sports a fair number of problems. Sharpness usually looks fine but seems inconsistent; some scenes appear slightly soft for no apparent reason. Excessive edge enhancement occurs with great regularity; virtually every scene of Earthquake displays shimmering, moire effects, and/or seriously jagged edges. The print used display some flaws - mainly in the form of occasional white or black speckles - but these aren't pervasive or hugely distracting.

Colors seem decent but vaguely blah; they appear adequately saturated but they lack much life. The same goes for black levels, which occasionally look pretty strong - such as in the dark police uniforms or in Miles' leather outfit - but which don't work as well during the night scenes. Shadow detail looks somewhat weak and appears a bit opaque at times. This is especially problematic during the few scenes that were filmed "day for night," but I don't fault the DVD for that; those kinds of shots always look excessively dark. Ultimately, Earthquake offers a pretty average visual experience.

The Dolby Surround 2.0 audio mix is also pretty mediocre, though it doesn't succeed as well as the picture. The quality of the sound is very flat and dull; there's absolutely no life to it. Dialogue is fairly intelligible, though it's somewhat muddy. Effects and music both seem drab at all times. Anyone hoping to hear the sweet, sweet rumble of Sensurround will be sorely disappointed; this soundtrack almost completely lacks a low end.

For the most part, the audio presents a monaural mix. The soundstage broadens somewhat after the first earthquake, but it remains pretty strongly tethered to that center channel. Effects spread slightly to the front right and left speakers and we occasionally hear some signs of life from the rears when the various disasters hit, but the quality remains so thin that this audio doesn't add much to the experience. John Williams' overwrought score tends to veer into the front side channels, but in a very odd way; it rarely uses all three speakers at the same time. Instead, you'll hear it from the center and the right, or from the center and the left. It creates an odd imbalance of sound. While the audio for Earthquake isn't bad for its era, it's nonetheless a fairly weak mix.

As far as supplements go, we get one from this bargain effort. The DVD lists them as "production notes," but they're actually some exceedingly basic cast biographies. Seven actors are profiled, but only Heston receives any detailed text; his entry fills one screen, although it mainly simply lists a number of films in which he appeared. The other six actors are crammed into one screen, which means we read about two or three movies they've been in and that's it. These "notes" are pretty useless.

Ultimately, I can't recommend Earthquake. The DVD isn't bad, but it's supremely mediocre at best in all areas. The movie itself is quite terrible; even nostalgia couldn't make me interested in it. It may be tempting with its MSRP of only $19.95, but you'd be better off leaving it on the shelf.