# Earthquake (1974). Man, does this movie suck. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877 "2017-08-27T21:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/21 "2017-08-28T00:57:18Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Nobody disses George Kennedy when I’m around. Dude was cool. He was fantastic in _Loney Are the Brave_ (1962), the Kirk Douglas movie that was Kirk Douglas’s favorite Kirk Douglas movie. The horse was good, too. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/22 "2017-08-28T02:20:48Z")
All I really remember about the movie is Marjoe Gortner’s fro and saying that a lot of guys in the national guard wore wigs to hide their long hair. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/23 "2017-08-28T02:45:18Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I remember the MAD Magazine parody… > > I remember _the Poseidon Adventure_ primarily for Carol Lynley’s hot-pants. > > [carol lynley poseidon adventure - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS620US620&hl=en-US&biw=1024&bih=653&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=VlujWeD-PIqmjwTRh6ToDQ&q=carol+lynley+poseidon+adventure&oq=carol+lynley+poseidon+adventure&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.12..0.39366.43123.0.45755.20.20.0.0.0.0.194.2418.5j14.19.0....0...1..64.mobile-gws-img..1.19.2414.rCHvZwJ5IdI#imgrc=mnztizKDVdQRoM:) Carol Lynley, man I’d forgotten her. God bless the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/24 "2017-08-28T03:02:28Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Earthquake, Towering Inferno and Meteor (1979) were all terrible movies. Earthquake suffered from the worst cast of the 3. The Airport movies at least gave us Airplane! so I’ll give them that much and while not great art, The Poseidon Adventure was probably the best of the lot. Yup. Poseidon Adventure is quite good, with a great soundtrack. Hindenburg also has a great score, and at least is shortish so its ok. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/25 "2017-08-28T03:04:20Z")
Did John Williams even take a breath during the '70s? ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/26 "2017-08-28T03:25:18Z")
I just watched Earthquake and yes the special effects don’r really hold up as well as I remembered. However, the effects in the Towering Inferno still hold up fairly well after 43 years and this was a time when there was nothing CGI and practical effects using fire are difficult Watch this scene for an example or this one [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wHsyQoJSSfI/hqdefault.jpg "The Towering Inferno - Scenic Elevator Explosion") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHsyQoJSSfI) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/27 "2017-08-28T03:25:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Nobody disses George Kennedy when I’m around. Dude was cool. I’d eat 50 eggs if he said to. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/28 "2017-08-28T04:18:17Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Did you watch my link? At the very end tell me that’s not cartoon blood. I think the way people are reacting to the earthquake is more problematic. That’s not how people usually respond in earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/29 "2017-08-28T04:43:33Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Watch this scene for an example > > or this one > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHsyQoJSSfI&t=1s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHsyQoJSSfI&t=1s) No. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/30 "2017-08-28T04:50:42Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > "You are aware this motion picture is being shown in Feel-a-Round? " > > ( “PUT DOWN THAT KNIFE!” ) Just leave before the second feature… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/31 "2017-08-28T04:58:27Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Carol Lynley, man I’d forgotten her. God bless the 70s. She’s 75 now. Can you believe that? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/32 "2017-08-28T05:44:11Z")
Saw it and the other disaster flicks in the theater when I was young. Great times! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/33 "2017-08-28T11:02:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The big draw for **Earthquake** , as I recall, was that it was presented in Sensesurround. Theaters installed banks of speakers which projected inaudible sound waves at 120 dB. These waves created a pressure effect meant to stimulate the experience of actually being in an earthquake for theater audiences. They were also attracted by the star-studded cast. Ah, yes Sensesurround. Amazing what you can do with a pair of 15" speakers and a 1000 watt amp. The subsonic wall of sound was known to vibrate loose the first row of seats in the theatre. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/34 "2017-08-28T13:43:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Nobody disses George Kennedy when I’m around. Dude was cool. Kennedy said that on the set of “Earthquake” he finally got to meet Ava Gardner after 20 years in the business (while in the army he was a technical advisor and extra on Phil Silvers/Stt Bilko tv show) and he couldn’t shake hands with her because his hands were dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/35 "2017-08-28T15:29:05Z")
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in a letter to a friend in the late 1960s about being at an Oxford faculty party which included several visiting Americans. He hit it off with a pretty American woman and they were having a fine time together. A friend of Tolkien’s, who had met the woman earlier, came up smiling and said, “Neither of you really know who the other is, do you?” Tolkien was already pretty famous for _The Lord of the Rings_, but was somewhat sheltered from pop culture, so he didn’t recognize the lady - Ava Gardner! He didn’t know anything about Hollywood, and apparently she wasn’t much of a reader. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/36 "2017-08-29T22:25:55Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I can’t believe this glob of turkey dump didn’t get thrashed by Mystery science theater 3000. It was just begging for it! Well the reboot of MST3k just did _Avalanche_, which supposedly makes this look like _The Godfather._ So who knows… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/37 "2017-08-29T23:08:08Z")
It seems to me that there was a Doper trying to put together a Sensesurround theater to show this movie, but I can’t find the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/38 "2017-08-29T23:10:19Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Watch this scene for an example Oh good grief, seeing O J Simspon in the role of a hero, that takes one back. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/39 "2017-08-29T23:19:38Z")
I just looked at the acting credits for Earthquake and discovered, to my astonishment, that the small part of Rosa was played by Victoria Principal. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877/40 "2017-08-30T01:03:47Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I just looked at the acting credits for Earthquake and discovered, to my astonishment, that the small part of Rosa was played by Victoria Principal. I remember Rosa as being [pretty big.](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ae/bb/61/aebb6137bcdd4020dc50711922ed540e--victoria-principal-afro-wigs.jpg)😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-1974-man-does-this-movie-suck/794877.md?page=3)