Worst special effect I've ever seen in a movie…
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aussiebears — 12 years ago(July 31, 2013 03:51 AM)
Apart from the blood splattered elevator there is a scene early in quake when Chuck and Ava are under the car and a building just bends, it is a pathetic special effect and the trivia section here[or somewhere] mentions it was done by warping a mirror.
That said I always like seeing the Capitol Records building collapse and the shot that pans over the city just after the quake finishes with the eerie John Williams score is very effective, that scene was done well. -
Waiting2BShocked — 12 years ago(August 12, 2013 10:53 AM)
The blood splat was a post-production 'money shot' substituting for an originally more graphic aftermath to the scene, which would have shown the detail of the bloodied, entangled heap of the travellers' bodies. However, the MPAA deemed it 'R'-worthy and so a compromise had to be made. There's been some debate over the years as to whether or not it was deliberately done so awfully as a kind of 'forget you' gesture.
There's no excusing the 'warping building' shot though, no. The very first one is just about passable, as there's not so much 'movement' to the building, more a bulging, and it's fleeting enough for you to let it by without dwelling on it, but then they cut back to a much longer shot with laughably apparent optical distortion. They really should have dropped the repetition. -
Avenger69 — 12 years ago(October 19, 2013 12:58 AM)
The warping shot was originally done as a camera test prior to production. The reason the shot is in the film (as awful as it is) is as an inside joke to the Universal executives the tower is the "Black Tower" on the lot at Universal, which houses the executive offices.
"It's people" -
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aussiebears — 12 years ago(November 06, 2013 03:46 AM)
Maybe Universal should have done what Irwin Allen did and find another studio to help finance Earthquake like he did with Inferno,with extra backing Mario Puzo's original script might have been able to be done justice and the destruction of Los Angeles could have been done on grand scale.
Even today The Towering Inferno looks like a class act that was well thought out, Earthquake just looks like a bad lego set thrown together which was rushed out to beat the release of Inferno. -
scarlettsdad — 10 years ago(May 15, 2015 07:05 PM)
I was 14 when this came out in the theater, along with Sensurround. The vibrating chairs brought out giggles, but the animated blood splat caused several minutes of laughter and even well into the movie, a person behind me started snickering and said, "I can't get over that elevator thing," or something to that effect. I just saw it again on TCM and had another good laugh. Just awful!
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MaeBeaBaeBea — 10 years ago(May 15, 2015 09:00 PM)
The blood splatter is the only thing worth remembering in the movie. We saw it in the theater and after the first 1/4 second of "eeewww", everyone started laughing. It was dreadfully funny!
Birdbrains Teaser Trailer: -
GlennME — 10 years ago(May 31, 2015 03:13 PM)
The big selling point for Earthquake was the "Sensurround" gimmick, which was really just a bunch of subwoofers.
They must've run out of money, and couldn't afford some fake blood.
What!!! No Gravy???
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!!!deleted!!! (49761343) — 10 years ago(March 26, 2016 09:13 AM)
I just don't understand why the animation was left in there. The movie didn't have to actually show blood splattering to convey the horror of the elevator crashing. Hell, it could've cut to black or something as soon as the elevator hit the bottom, followed by a loud crunching noise.
Emojis=
Emoticons= -
Woodyanders — 6 years ago(May 28, 2019 05:06 PM)
That's one of the single most unintentionally uproarious moments in the film. I always bust a gut when that particular moment happens.
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything. -
ToastedCheese — 4 years ago(October 13, 2021 11:20 AM)
Late to the party here.
That was the CGI blood of the era….
I remember that effect as an 8yr old kid and I thought it was effective to depict them getting crushed and squished. I was distressed by much of the mayhem in this film.
I don't think the deaths were that exploitative in the film and neither in
The Poseidon Adventure
. They all worked in well with the narrative, the possibility for depiction in a similar disaster and for emotional impact.
The Towering Inferno
had more of a mean-streak to it I find.
Norman! What did you put in my tea?