4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Countdown to calamity, June 22, 2008
DIRECT SOURCE's DISASTER DOUBLE FEATURE consists of two made-for-television movies in standard DVD cases bundled together with a paper slipcover that's open at both ends. Audio and video quality of these is quite good.
THE BIG ONE: THE GREAT LOS ANGELES EARTHQUAKE was originally a 2-part TV movie that aired on the NBC network in 1990. On its initial release to home video, "Earthquake" was edited down to 106 minutes. The version presented here is the original 177 minute film (four hours minus commercials and filler). The cast is flush with many familiar '80s TV series faces, like Joanna Kerns, Ed Begley Jr., Alan Autry, Clarence Gilyard Jr. and Dan Lauria. In this well-done disaster story, members of the US Geological Survey try to predict whether Los Angeles will get slammed by "The Big One." The anticipated "who lives/who dies?" results are powerful and quite moving at times.
THE SKY'S ON FIRE presents a worst-case scenario: What would happen if the Earth's ozone layer were to become totally depleted? This also-set-in L.A. TVer plays more like a fright than a disaster movie, with its flocks of crazed birds crashing through pane glass and worms and other creepy bugs invading a main character's home. The far-fetched script (that's performed by fairly unknown actors) includes a bomb designed to "eat chlorine" and close the ozone hole.
Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
(5.8) The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (TV-1990) - Joanna Kerns/Dan Lauria/Alan Autry/Joe Spano/Holly Fields/Brock Peters/Clarence Gilyard Jr./Richard Herd/Richard Masur/Ed Begley Jr.
(3.9) The Sky's on Fire (TV-1998) - John Corbett/Josie Bissett/Bradley Whitford/Ben Browder/Jo Anderson/Tom Irwin
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Greatest Earthquake hits Los Angeles., July 9, 2009
This review is from: Countdown: The Sky's on Fire / The Great Los Angeles Earthquake - DVD 2 Pack (DVD)
This DVD set contains 2 tv-movies for your viewing pleasure.
Countdown: The Sky's on Fire (1998): Running time: 89 mins.
Based on the novel, "Fatal Exposure" by Michael Tobias.
A young pilot is flying his friends to Mexico in his small craft. Suddenly, the heat becomes unbearable. His eyes become blurry and he is unable to fly. Several whales have washed up on the same beach. People are getting severely burned outside and birds are hitting windows.
Their is a hole in the ozone and the extreme UV rays of the sun are causing devastating effects on humans.
In the cast: John Corbett, Josie Bissett, Bradley Whitford, John Billingsley, Benjamin King, Tom Irwin.
Shown in Full Screen. Option of audio in English or Spanish.
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The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990)
If you liked
Earthquake (1974), you might enjoy this tv miniseries, The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake.
Originally shown on NBC in 2 parts over 2 nights.
You will be happy to know this is the 3 hour version of the movie (without commercials).
Beware of the cut version shown eleswhere at 94 minutes.
In the cast: Joanna Kerns, Dan Lauria, Ed Begley Jr., Bonnie Bartlett, Joe Spano, Brock Peters, Robert Ginty, Michael T. Weiss, Richard Herd, Richard Masur, Jacob Vargas, Alan Autry Dian Kobayashi.
Great Los Angeles and Hollywood locations.
Audio in option of English, Spanish, French.
Note: Dr. Lucy Jones (Caltech Media Relations) was one of the technical advisors for this movie.
If you want the 3 hour version of The Greatest Los Angeles Earthquake, you must buy this set on Amazon.com.
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