When I wrote my review of The Towering Inferno, I reflected on the historical significance that particular film and the disaster movie genre as a whole held for me as a child. Man, did I adore those movies back then!

Inferno always remained number one for me. Nonetheless, I loved most of those flicks 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 felt somewhat afraid to rewatch Towering Inferno as an adult because I feared the movie would stink 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.

Would Earthquake pass muster as well? In a word - well, in two words: God, no!

This movie is pretty terrible. I'd say that it really is totally horrible except that seems like an awfully strong statement. While I can't think of anything good about it, I don't want to go to extremes.

As the citizens of Los Angeles go through their daily lives, ominous signs point to a potential natural disaster. Eventually a massive earthquake hits and forces the locals to scramble to survive.

Despite its nearly three-hour length, Inferno 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. Nonetheless, they still evoked audience interest.

Neither factor becomes true for Earthquake. It follows the same disaster movie formula with its star-studded cast but it brings a much less interesting story.

Interestingly, Earthquake uses much more time for exposition than did Inferno, despite the fact it boasts a smaller cast and runs 45 minutes shorter. The action heats up about 25 minutes into Inferno, but the quake doesn't hit here until the close to the film’s halfway point.

You'd think that mayhem would liven things up, but the titular quake really feels pretty dull, too. It goes on for about ten minutes so we get lots of shaking and crashing without much real punch.

The effects seem decent for 1974, with only a few notable exceptions. For instance, at one point, blood is supposed to fly at the camera, but it's obviously been drawn in by hand and looks ridiculous.

Some bluescreen shots don’t hold up either. Still, the miniatures look solid and the movie largely executes the quake well.

Unfortunately, the main disaster segment lacks any life or excitement. It just meanders.

The remainder of Earthquake shows the rescue efforts, and though these should become exciting as well, they feel forgettable. The characters simply seem so flat and cartoony that we never invest in them.

I don't care what happens to them, and the action tends to become so cheesy that it doesn'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 an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not without issues, the image largely satisfied.

For the most part, the movie boasted good sharpness. Some wider shots and those that used opticals became a bit tentative but the majority of the film seemed well-defined.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural and outside of a handful of specks, I saw no print flaws.

Colors largely looked good, though the film came with oddly ruddy skin tones at times. Most of the palette satisfied but those strangely red faces became a distraction.

Blacks appeared dark and dense, while shadows usually worked well enough. Some “day for night” shots inevitably felt a bit murky, but those didn’t become a substantial concern. While the picture came with issues, it generated mostly positive quality.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it provided an inconsistent soundscape. Much of the material felt monaural, and for the movie’s initial 52 minutes or so, it rarely broadened other than to display fairly good stereo music. A few environmental effects used the side/rear channels, but the front center dominated.

Once the earthquake hit, matters opened up, as the violent action used the five channels pretty well. After that, the mix showed superior spread and speaker usage compared to the first 52 minutes, so expect a reasonably involving soundfield the rest of the way.

Audio quality felt dated but fine. Speech came across as a little rough at times, but the lines remained intelligible and acceptably natural.

Music showed nice range and impact, while effects boasted pretty decent punch. Bass response felt warm and full, and other effects appeared acceptably accurate, though a little distortion crept in at times. Still, this was a much better than average mix for a film from 1974.

How did the 2019 Shout Blu-ray compare to the Universal BD from 2013? Both seemed to deliver identical 5.1 audio.

On the other hand, the Shout Blu-ray brought obvious improvements over the tired and dated Universal BD’s visuals. Even with some inconsistencies, this turned into a significant picture upgrade.

Although the old Universal Blu-ray included zero extras, this Shout release packs a bunch. On Disc One, we find three audio interviews.

These involve actors Charlton Heston (3:48), Lorne Greene (5:08) and Richard Roundtree (4:02) as they talk about their roles, the movie shoot, their lives and careers. Not much substance appears in these promo chats.

Some ads appear. We get a trailer, a TV spot and seven radio spots.

Disc One ends with five still galleries. These cover “Production and Publicity” (96 frames), “Behind the Scenes” (33), “Matte Paintings and Miniatures” (34), “Deleted Scenes” (6), and “Posters and Lobby Cards” (100). All offer value but the close-up views of the miniatures fare best.

On Disc Two, the primary attraction comes from the film’s Extended TV Version. Whereas the theatrical cut spans 2:02:38, this edition lasts 2:32:24.

What does that extra half an hour bring the viewer? It comes with a new opening that explains the fragile nature of the San Andreas Fault.

In addition, we get interactions between Jody and Rosa that make him seem even more overtly creepy. We also find an extended subplot about a couple on their honeymoon whose plane nearly becomes a victim of the earthquake.

All of these added scenes feel like padding, probably because they are padding. They exist to give the TV network enough content to extend the broadcast to two nights and that’s it.

Okay, the scenes with the plane as it tries to land offer a little excitement. Nonetheless, these don’t feel necessary so the TV cut largely makes an already tedious movie even less interesting.

It doesn’t help that Principal and Gortner wear obvious – and bad – wigs. Oddly, Gortner looks like he aged a decade even though he shot the TV scenes a mere two years later.

As for the quality of this version, it looked decent but not great. Compared to the theatrical edition, the extended presentation demonstrated more print flaws and looked softer. It did lose those oddly ruddy skin tones of the main flick, though.

Audio came via a DTS-HD MA monaural mix that seemed serviceable. It lacked much range and didn’t deliver the bass rumble we expect from the disaster scenes, but it felt competent.

If you find yourself curious to view the added material but you don’t want to sit through the entire 2 hours, 32 minutes of the longer cut, the disc provides the TV Scenes on their own. This compilation spans 23 minutes, 43 seconds.

The full TV version runs more than six minutes longer than these sequences on their own because of the credits and recap I mentioned above. The extended film does not include 30 minutes of new footage because TV cut repeats credits and adds recap at the start of part 2 and also includes end credits for part 1

We also locate two Additional TV Scenes. The first goes for seven minutes, 14 seconds, while the second spans one minute, 15 seconds.

The set’s producers felt these clips suffered from quality too poor to go back into the extended feature, the initial sequence shows Jody’s tormentors as they ransack a pawn shop. The second gives us more footage of the aircraft as it attempts to avoid disaster upon landing.

The latter scene could’ve added some much needed thrills. The sequence with Jody’s apartmentmates feels wholly unnecessary and tedious, though.

Three featurettes ensue, and Scoring Disaster lasts 16 minutes, 42 seconds. It brings remarks from film music historian John Burlingame.

As expected, Burlingame examines the movie’s music and additional notes about composer John Williams.

Painting Disaster runs 10 minutes, 36 seconds. This one involves cinematographer Bill Taylor.

The matte art of Albert Whitlock becomes the subject here. Taylor offers a solid overview of the format as well as its use in Earthquake.

Finally, The Sound of Disaster goes for 11 minutes, 19 seconds. It gives us info from sound designer Ben Burtt.

He discusses Sensurround and connected elements related to movie audio. Burtt didn’t work on the film but he provides a quality look at the topics nonetheless.

My seven-year-old self loved Earthquake, but my 58-year-old self disagrees. Slow, clunky and campy, the movie only appeals to my nostalgic side. The Blu-ray comes with erratic visuals, very good audio and zero bonus materials. Though not the worst of the 1970s disaster flicks, Earthquake lacks thrills.