Earthquake [HD]

PRISTINE TRANSFER, BUT WHA'HOPPIN? NO EXTRAS?
For one of their most successful 70s films, I am so surprised that Universal did not get on the bandwagon and do a Special Edition of some kind, similar to the new Fox issues of Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno. Universal has treated this film like a throwaway, and if they took that attitude, they should have left the bad-print Good Times issue stand. Even the Region 2 UK version is better than this. It's in 5.1 and at least gives you one trailer!

The upgrades to this edition of EQ include a 3.1 Sensurround track, besides a 5.1 track, plus 2.0 Spanish track. You set your language and play the film. There isn't even a Select The Scenes menu. There are more chapter markers than the previous issue, but some are in weird places. The print of the film is fabulous. Looks like it was color-corrected and plays almost like HD. My only reason for 3 stars, or it would be less.

Still, Universal dropped the ball. Commentaries should have been included,...

Poor Sensurround Soundtrack
While the picture is beautiful, the new DVD of "Earthquake" completely misses the boat on the Sensurround track and special features. First of all, the so-called "3.1" Sensurround track is nothing but the same, mono, audio fed to the 3 front channels with the 25/35 Hz control tones on the .1 LFE channel - no rumble is there at all. Nothing of the sort was ever heard in theaters, so I don't know why Universal bothered. It's obvious that the Universal tech's in charge of the DVD audio transfer didn't know that the control tones are NOT the earthquake rumble and are NOT meant to be heard! The 5.1-channel remix is problimatical too. Earthquake was the first feature to use the Sensurround Special Effects System (US Patent #3, 973,839). Because, at the time, audio in theaters and on film was in such a primitive state, MCA/Universal engineers designed a sound system to run along side the theaters existing system. Two control tones, at 25 and 35 Hz, were recorded either on the main...

Shaken, not stirred
From the time that what is left of Ava Gardner roars onto the screen bellowing "60ddammit" as if she were auditioning for a dinner theater version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe" to the end where half the cast is literally (rather than figuratively) mucking about in the sewer, this cheesy 70's disaster flick throws everything it can think of at you. Fires! Adultery! Floods! Duplicity! Electricity! Motorcycle stunts! Earthquakes! Marjoe (aieeee!)! The special effects range from great (Capitol Records building, Wilshire Collonade) to the pits (the elevator, the cows), the script is at the level of a movie-of-the-week, and the acting? Velveeta city. Charlton Heston runs all over the place looking as if he wants to part something, Ava runs around screeching her dialogue as if she were trying to read it over the sound of a departing jumbo jet, Lorne Greene looks as if he can't quite get why he was cast as Ava's father (they were the same age), Genevieve Bujold gives...

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