Did Roland Emmerich, the creator of recent disaster epics such as "Independence Day", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012" watch this movie as a child and decide to create the ultimate version of the same tale? It appears so as this movie, in just over an hour's running time, gives the same view of the possible last days of our earth, even if it doesn't have the typical "family" atmosphere surrounding it to add to the drama. The story behind the pending disaster focuses on an ambitious scientist (Kathryn Grant) who proves her ability to work in what was then a man's field and succeed, even if climbing down 90 feet into a cavernous pit did freeze her for a bit. William Leslie's young doctor uses that moment to become manipulatingly sexist, and that gets her going even if it kills her. She will risk her life, becoming trapped in this cave by herself when a huge earthquake hits and all oxygen leaves. What is causing all the worldly explosions becomes the focus of the scientific team who longs to save the world even if local politicians don't want to believe them, at first.
A tiny black rock seems to be the cause of it all, and when it is discovered, the effects look silly and artificial. But even with some over the top dialog and dated effects, the movie does get more gripping as it continues, culminating in a scene over and inside what appears to be the Hoover Dam (given a fictional name) and is fraught with tension as the remaining characters realize what they are up against and how they must deal with it. Some of the quake scenes are obviously newsreel and stock footage, but there is some realistic destruction scenes obviously made for the film as well. The scenes in the limestone cavern are very closed in and might make anybody who suffers from claustrophobia feel a little at ease. These films are never about the acting, but making their point of what is setting the earth on a path towards doomsday and how the major characters deal with it. The script certainly could have been a lot worse, and the presentation a lot sillier, but fortunately, it manages to avoid that, making this quite a memorable second half of a double bill ("The Giant Claw", which it is a massive improvement over) as those days of movie going trends were coming to an end.
A tiny black rock seems to be the cause of it all, and when it is discovered, the effects look silly and artificial. But even with some over the top dialog and dated effects, the movie does get more gripping as it continues, culminating in a scene over and inside what appears to be the Hoover Dam (given a fictional name) and is fraught with tension as the remaining characters realize what they are up against and how they must deal with it. Some of the quake scenes are obviously newsreel and stock footage, but there is some realistic destruction scenes obviously made for the film as well. The scenes in the limestone cavern are very closed in and might make anybody who suffers from claustrophobia feel a little at ease. These films are never about the acting, but making their point of what is setting the earth on a path towards doomsday and how the major characters deal with it. The script certainly could have been a lot worse, and the presentation a lot sillier, but fortunately, it manages to avoid that, making this quite a memorable second half of a double bill ("The Giant Claw", which it is a massive improvement over) as those days of movie going trends were coming to an end.