Disaster

**Bob_99** · **01-08-08, 01:33 PM**

I was recently digging through the bargain bins and found a disaster movie which I figured, for $5, why not. While watching the movie, I started to think about what we have been through in the movies:

Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Core problems
Freezing
Sun problems
Floods
Monsters
Meteors
Magnetic field reversal
Black holes

The plots are usually mediocre at best and very predictable, the acting is slightly better than bad and it always ends up good in the end. Can entertainment get any better?

Bob

**Mike P.** · **01-08-08, 01:39 PM**

Don't forget the aliens! (War Of The Worlds)

**Sonnie** · **01-08-08, 01:51 PM**

And the latest... transformers.

**Bob_99** · **01-08-08, 02:01 PM**

True. I did forget visitors from afar, especially "Independence Day".

Bob

**Richard W. Haines** · **02-11-08, 10:15 AM**

Assuming that by disaster movie you're not referring to the Al Gore propoganda film "An Inconvenient Truth" (as if a partisan politician like him could tell the difference), then I would would vote for "The Towering Inferno" standard DVD special edition and "Airport" standard DVD as the best of the lot. I know that "Airport" is very dated and full of cliches but it works for what it is. The book is better and a quick read for a long novel. Irwin Allen's "The Towering Inferno" is a great flick that almost surpasses the genre it was made in. McQueen and Newman are excellent even though they have few scenes together and had a billing conflict which resulted in one name first but lower than the other. The score by John Williams (Johnny Williams for Allen's TV shows) is sensational and the
'miniature' of the tower (which cost more than most movies back then) works. While the rest
of the cast are stereotypes, they are well acted for what they are and the photography and effects
are very good for their era. And most importantly, for a long movie it really moves. It wasn't
predictable and I had no idea how they were going to get out of that building or survive.
The water tower explosion was an acual surprise in a genre that had few surprises. I saw the movie in a very strange theater. I don't recall where it was other than the screen was
tilted down slightly. Almost as if the widescreen was going to fall down on the audience. Pretty
bizarre but it worked for this movie. I'm still trying to figure out where I saw it back in 1974.
The pace was so fast that I didn't realize it was over two and a half hours long.

**nova** · **02-11-08, 11:17 AM**

I remember where I saw it in '74

. The Cinedome 70 (twin domed auditoriums each seating 795 and 70 foot curved screens) it was also presented in Sensesurround IIRC. Too bad this place has fallen on hard times, it was a great place to see the big films like Earthquake, Star Wars, Superman, Close Encounters and even Conan was great on opening night.

**tonyvdb** · **02-11-08, 11:53 AM**

The Towering Inferno, Now theres a great classic. I saw that when I was 9 years old on Television for the first time in 1978. It scared the pants off of me, I had nightmares for days after dreaming of fire and smoke filling my room coming through the crack under my door and through the air vent

I bought the DVD a couple of years ago and enjoyed it very much and agree that the quality of the movie is still up there with todays watchability.

**Bob_99** · **02-11-08, 12:33 PM**

While 'Towering Inferno' along with others like 'Titanic' are disasters and often time decent movies, the plots did not involve a global/town/city extinction. I think of them as a slightly different category (disaster with a small 'd'). One thing that they usually have that really drives me nut are the cookie cutter plots (usually a dysfunctional family of some type) and lame dialogue. I like to refer to it as 'filler' until they get to the actual disaster.

Bob

**Richard W. Haines** · **02-11-08, 01:40 PM**

Bob,

Perhaps you're right. Global disasters should be a different category of the genre
than localized disasters. Global disaster films would be titles like "Waterworld" which was
linked to the global warming hysteria. I'm old enough to recall the usual suspects warning us of 'global freezing' in the seventies which could be remedied by electing them. Check out Michael Cricton's take on the subject in his book "State of Fear".
In any event, other global disaster films would be the various versions of "I Am Legend",
the "Night of the Living Dead" series and "A.I". Other localized disaster films were both versions
of the "Poseidon Aventure" the sequels to "Airport" and "Earthquake".

Tonyvdb,

If you saw "The Towering Inferno" on television then you saw a completely
different version than was shown in theaters. Aside from the panning and
scanning of the Panavision image, there was a different title sequence, some
of the action scenes were cut (i.e. Robert Wagner's death) and there was
extensive padding with out-takes throughout the movie. The theatrical
version in widescreen and stereo was much more effective and the special
edition standard DVD is a close approximation of what I experience back in
1974.

**Prof.** · **02-11-08, 04:30 PM**

Quote:

Bob_99 wrote:

I was recently digging through the bargain bins and found a disaster movie which I figured, for $5, why not. While watching the movie, I started to think about what we have been through in the movies:

Earthquakes

Bob

Speaking of Earthquakes..Does anyone know of a fairly recent movie about an earthquake?
I did a search through the catalogue of one of our biggest DVD sellers, and found 1 movie!!
It was "Earthquake"..Produced in 1974 starring Charlton Heston...
Surely there must be a more recent film than that!?

I have movies with earthquakes in them, but not a whole film about an earthquake happening..

**tonyvdb** · **02-11-08, 04:50 PM**

The only recent movie that I can think of was the 2004 made for TV mini series called "10.5" There was also a spin off movie called 10.5 APOCALPSE in 2006.
Both were ok movies but were a little over the top even for disaster movies.
EDIT: I also found a movie released in 1999 called "Aftershock" I dont remember seeing it.

**Prof.** · **02-11-08, 04:59 PM**

Yes, I saw 10.5 on TV..but as you say, it was made for TV, not your Theatre type movie..
I don't think you can get it on a DVD either..
Surely Speilberg or Cameron or some other great Producer would have made something by now?

**tonyvdb** · **02-11-08, 04:59 PM**

Another disaster movie that I have not seen and may not be worth it was called "Absolute Zero" and is about the Sunshine coast receives a cruel blast of cold when the temperature plunges and the planet Earth enters into another ice age down to -459.67º F brrrrrrrrrrr!

**Bob_99** · **02-12-08, 06:24 AM**

Quote:

tonyvdb wrote:

Another disaster movie that I have not seen and may not be worth it was called "Absolute Zero" and is about the Sunshine coast receives a cruel blast of cold when the temperature plunges and the planet Earth enters into another ice age down to -459.67º F brrrrrrrrrrr!

I just found that one in the bin for five bucks. It was good but I felt that they spent a lot of time on a group of people trying to make it to a safe room in the building where the 'hero' worked. It was very close to "The Day After Tomorrow".

As for the earthquake movies, I believe that the whole title is "Aftershock, Earthquake in New York". That and 10.5 were correctly identified as made for TV movies but you can sometimes find those on DVD.

Bob

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