Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.
Practical Effects
Miniature skyscrapers getting obliterated — pre-CGI destruction porn.
Sound
Sensurround bass cannons physically rattled 1974 audiences.
Production
Universal built a hydraulic floor that shook an entire soundstage.
Director
Mark Robson
Charlton Heston
Stewart Graff
Ava Gardner
Remy Royce-Graff
George Kennedy
Sgt. Lew Slade
Lorne Greene
Sam Royce
Geneviève Bujold
Denise Marshall
Richard Roundtree
Miles Quade
Marjoe Gortner
Jody
Barry Sullivan
Dr. Willis Stockle
Lloyd Nolan
Dr. James Vance
Victoria Principal
Rosa Amici
Walter Matthau
Drunk
Monica Lewis
Barbara
Gabriel Dell
Sal
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.
Chavez
Lloyd Gough
Bill Cameron
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Sensurround required special heavy speakers in theaters; the system was later used for Midway and Rollercoaster before dying out.
This film essentially created the 70s disaster movie template that Airport and The Towering Inferno would perfect — ensemble cast, multiple soap opera subplots, then catastrophic payoff.
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