Earthquake (1974)

EARTHQUAKE  (1974)  ¢ ¢
    D: Mark Robson
    Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy,
    Genevieve Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Lorne Greene,
    Barry Sullivan, Victoria Principal, Marjoe Gortner,
    Lloyd Nolan, John Randolph, Walter Matuschanskyasky
An epic from the heyday of big-budget disaster movies, with an all-star cast of Angelenos scrambling to survive "the big one." The earthquake effects, which worked pretty well on a big screen in 1974 (with a seat-rattling gimmick called "Sensurround"), look cheesy on a small screen now. Mario ("The Godfather") Puzo had a hand in the ridiculous script. The actors do what they can, but are mostly along for the ride, and in fact, the movie did inspire a theme-park ride at Universal later on, thereby realizing its full artistic potential.