Charlton Heston shakes, rattles and rolls in MCA’s “Big One” of 1974, EARTHQUAKE.


portrayed as an “enlightened” type, a well-groomed thug armor­ ing his body and soul with Asian- recipe highballs distilled from his victim’s eyeballs. I’m unqualified to judge this


film as an adaptation of O’Barr’s comics creation, and can’t tell how many of its weaknesses ger­ minated therein, but THE CROW plays like a typical post-Miller comic book for adults, outfitted in post-Burton art direction and post-Cure eyeliner, with lots of post-ROBOCOP street scum en­ gaging in post-Woo, two-fisted gunplay. The film’s speed-freak editing techniques are exhilarat­ ing at times, but become down­ right incomprehensible when further accelerated by the removal of NC-17 level imagery. Example: when Top Dollar buys the farm, impaled on the horns of a gar­ goyle, the camera lowers (almost) to its stony mouth, regurgitating a torrent of blood. On disc, this shot may look ineptly letterboxed


because the torrent of gore is hidden by the lower matte; in fact, the shot is in the process of panning down on the cut, which was made early to preempt a more indulgent view of Top Dol­ lar giving change. Now that Miramax has become part with the Disney empire, perhaps the MPAA will be more lenient with their future releases. It’s disappointing that Mira­


max didn’t sanction an unrated director’s cut of this title on disc, but in terms of sound and picture quality, this THX package won’t disappoint anyone. The film is more aurally well-balanced than it is visually, with instances of lyrical beauty and mystical calm nesting amid the brooding drive of its Gothic soundtrack; the sur­ round mix is thrillingly active, and the sounds of rainfall will have you adjusting your window blinds for a look outside. The side break is somewhat abrupt, and there are too few chapter marks, but


the presentation is undeniably im­ pressive. Which is as it should be, for a film with more texture than substance.


EARTHQUAKE


1974, MCA Universal #42072, D/ S/SS/LD/CC, $39.98, 122m 52s It’s hard to believe that the


director of THE SEVENTH VIC­TIM (Mark Robson) was at the helm of this overblown disaster film, which brings to life the mythic day when Los Angeles will be rocked to its knees by “the Big One.” Aside from a moment or two when the sheer hyperbole of its apocalyptic vision takes a genuinely nightmarish turn—as when a group of office workers discover that their building’s stair­ well has collapsed into a multi­ story abyss—there isn’t much to say in favor of this bombastic absurdity. From the very first in­ terior shot, it has a fake TV look and the prevalence of post-sync


63

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