The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990)

After a series of small tremors in Los Angeles, Dr. Clare Winslow, a local seismologist, pinpoints the exact location and time of when the long awaited earthquake--"The Big One"--will ... See full summary »

Director:

Larry Elikann

Writers:

William Bast (story), Paul Huson (story)

Stars:

Joanna Kerns, Dan Lauria, Bonnie Bartlett

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joanna Kerns	...	Dr. Clare Winslow
Dan Lauria	...	Steve Winslow
Bonnie Bartlett	...	Anita Parker
Lindsay Frost	...	Laurie Parker
Alan Autry	...	Matt
Joe Spano	...	Chad Spaulding
Holly Fields	...	Heather Winslow
Brock Peters	...	David Motubu
Stephen Elliott	...	Owen
Robert Ginty	...	Warren Cates
Clarence Gilyard Jr.	...	Roy Bryant
Silvana Gallardo	...	Sonia
Michael T. Weiss	...	Larry, the Mayor's City Official Aide
Charles Siebert	...	Mayor Frank Baldwin
Richard Herd	...	Ray Goodrich

Storyline

After a series of small tremors in Los Angeles, Dr. Clare Winslow, a local seismologist, pinpoints the exact location and time of when the long awaited earthquake--"The Big One"--will strike southern California. With this information, she must battle city officials to release this information to the general public. Also, she hopes that her family is out of harms way when the quake strikes. Subplots show how other families and people cope with the the tremors that strike before the impending "Big One."

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Plot Keywords:

earthquake | looting | sniper | disaster | hospital | 

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Taglines:

The BIG one....is coming!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le grand tremblement de terre de Los Angeles

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Von Zerneck Sertner Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min (video) 180 min (original) 60 min (3 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clare Winslow's house is the same one used for I Dream of Jeannie (1965).

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Goofs

When Claire opens her trunk after the quake, the "boulder" would have been too heavy for her to open it. However, she does open the trunk and when she closes the trunk, the "boulder" is still in the same position. It should have slid down when the trunk was open.

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Quotes

Kevin Conrad: [choking back sobs] The injuries are in the... hundreds of thousands! The deaths... The deaths... are in the... tens... this must be the worst national disaster since the Civil War. I'm sorry!
[he shakes his head and turns away as the screen goes to snow]

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Connections

Edited into Category 7: The End of the World (2005)

User Reviews

The Best Damn Earthquake Period!

Joanna Kerns is the sister who takes care of her family andworks hard studying earthquakes, which she predicts will happen soon. Her sister is played by Lindsey Frost whose hormones are going through the roof, symbolically like an earthquake, in this movie. Dr. Claire Winslow (Kerns) has arguments with her sister, her mother, her husband, and her daughter, all leading up to the big earthquake. More people should of died than in the movie. This movie was a year after the SF bay area earthquake and was made to take advantage of the fear that there would be another one in California soon. I'm an Earthquake freak. Oddly enough we have had several small ones in the past year and that leads me to believe there will be a bigger one in the coming months. They have been growing in size and that is a guarantee that a big one is coming. Overall the movie is good, well acted, and interesting. It's the best damn earthquake movie I've seen, period.