10.5 (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

John Lafia

Writers (WGA):

Christopher Canaan (written by) and
John Lafia (written by) ...

Release Date:

2 May 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror

Tagline:

The Greatest Quake in Human History threatens to Rock The World!

Plot:

An earthquake reaching a 10.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, strikes the west coast of the U.S. and Canada. A large portion of land falls into the ocean, and the situation is worsened by aftershocks and tsunami. |

Plot Keywords:

Earthquake | Digit In Title | Period In Title | Federal Works Agency | Golden Gate Bridge

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Kim Delaney	...	Dr. Samantha Hill
Fred Ward	...	Roy Nolan, FEMA Director
Ivan Sergei	...	Dr. Zack Nolan
Dulé Hill	...	Dr. Owen Hunter
Beau Bridges	...	President Paul Hollister
John Schneider	...	Clark Williams
Kaley Cuoco	...	Amanda Williams
Rebecca Jenkins	...	Governor Carla Williams
David Cubitt	...	Dr. Jordan Fisher
Brian Markinson	...	Daniel, Hollister's Advisor
John Cassini	...	Sean Morris, Hollister's Aide
Kimberly Hawthorne	...	Jill Hunter (as Kim Hawthorne)
Jill Krop	...	Anchor #1
Marrett Green	...	Anchor #2
Dagmar Midcap	...	Anchor #3

Also Known As:

Earthquake 10.5 (UK)

Runtime:

240 min (including commercials) | USA:165 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Netherlands:12 | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | USA:Unrated (video rating) | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Sign, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Argosy Productions Limited

Trivia:

The filmmakers never received permission to use the trademarked name "Space Needle." In order to circumvent this, it is spelled "Spaceneedle" when it appears in the film.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Barstow, California is about 110 miles inland from the Pacific. It is not in the San Fernando Valley as depicted.

Quotes:

President Paul Hollister: When the left hand finally realizes what the right hand is doing, it's exploded in all of our faces.

Movie Connections:

References Armageddon (1998/I)

Soundtrack:

Tired of Being Played

Truly stunning in its intelligence-insulting ability...

This isn't really worthy of a serious review, being just the worst kind of TV movie dreck that it is possible to conjure. Anybody that rated this higher than a 5 needs professional help at once. Instead, here's what this movie will teach really dumb people (the ones who rated it 5+)...

1. The best way to avoid a collapsing building in an earthquake is to ride a BMX bike directly away from, but in the fall line of, the said building. You should also resist the temptation to avoid being crushed to a pulp by the simple expedient of turning down a side street as that would imply rational thought on your part (and we all know BMX'ers have no brains).

2. Earthquakes will form cracks in the ground that will chase a train exactly along the route of its tracks, even going around corners in order to follow the track exactly. Or maybe the track actually held the faultline together....

3. The above-mentioned cracks are so smart that, once they have succeeded in catching and engulfing the train, they will immediately stop opening up at once, literally the moment the engine goes down into the abyss.

4. Everyone in an earthquake will have to overcome some kind of personal /familial/professional problem.

5. An entire town can be swallowed without the slightest trace remaining.

6. A full-grown man will succumb to poisonous fumes far more quickly than a woman half (or less) his body mass.

7. The answer to stopping earthquakes is to detonate multiple nuclear warheads beneath the surface of the earth in the conceit that it will fuse a faultline together.

8. Disaster control centres have map displays that depict nuclear explosions as tiny, superimposed balls of fire. I kid you not...

9. The careers of Beau Bridges and Fred Ward are at an end. No! Wait! This bit is actually a fact. I wonder how galling it is to poor old Beau that his father and brother are/were much more successful than he is/was/will ever be.

10. After the big quake is over, people will shuffle mindlessly forward in an unintentional parody of Day of the Dead.

In fact, there really is only one thing to redeem this movie (at least in some tiny way) and that is the miniature and CGI effects of destruction. They are pretty obviously what they are - mini or CGI - but they are by far the most interesting thing in this otherwise diabolically awful excuse of a film.

Elsewise all the film contains (Apart from the already mentioned points above) is awful shaky-cam footage (it makes it look more realistic you know!), ironing-board acting, ludicrous science-abuse, characters so stereotypical and clichéd that you wonder if they were available "off-the-shelf", terribly over-the-top melodramatic music which is actually laughably awful in most scenes and let's not forget the Hulk-like split-imaging which at times makes the whole thing look like the opening credits of Dallas!

Oh my! This is a real stinker! Avoid this like it was a real earthquake! Unless you want a huge, huge laugh at the dumbness of it all.