Nope, not a single extra, and in my opinion the film deserved a special edition, when it came out it was BIG news and made alot of money for Universal. I even saw a 10 to 15-minute short about sensurround in 1974, where is that? When I saw Airport 1975, Earthquake was still playing in the theater next door in sensurround. They showed the short before the Airport film. It went behind the scenes at Universal for a "breakthrough" in motion picture presentation: sensurround. Then there is the extra tv footage which would have been nice as an extra. I am sure Universal has other promotional materials on the film (how about the Academy Award that the sound system won, I remember they gave the audience a demonstration of sensurround right at the awards before it was awarded best technical achievement)....it would have been nice to see that again. And, finally, I suppose they left off the sensurround warning (masybe not but hope seems grim).
Most people who will buy this movie have fond memories of some kind. Why doesn't Universal realize this? Is there even a trailer included? There was a special sensurround trailer for the film as well as a regular one.
Looks like the second link only goes to a search page - but typing in Sensurround will show the webpage at the top of a list. I thought the articles were fascinating. I seem to remember a friend who was quite into electronics mentioning back then that Cerwin Vega supplied the drivers.
I love this one as well. Will make an excellent triple bill with Inferno and Poseidon Adventure. If reviews from purchasers are good regarding the transfer, I will consider picking it up.
Just finished watching Earthquake - couldn't wait until Friday when I will check it out on a 2:35 screen ( 108" ) so for the moment my impressions are from watching it on a 26" tv. It does look to be a pretty decent transfer - seems nice and sharp with very good colors - but again, the true test comes Friday. The 5.1 soundtrack ( the default setting ) certainly had good presence and the rumble from the subs at least helped give the visual experience some added excitment - although I doubt it will crack your walls or ceiling I did not really try to crank the volume but it was a welcome addition. They also list Sensurround 3.1 as well. I just bought a Sony DVP NS75H player which is a replacement for my somewhat unreliable Bravo - it is a definite improvement on the audio side ( very close to the Bravo in video performance ) , so hopefully I will get a bit more out of the soundtrack with it as well.
It is unfortunate that Universal opted to release it without any extras but it could have been worse - at least they gave us a much improved soundtrack.
I’m still suffering from (((Sensurround))) syndrome from 1974, or reliving it, I must have seen that film three times, I have owned the new pressing on Laserdisc which does lack the (((Sensurround))) track which was a signal generator triggered by a pulse on the film for the 35mm version, the 70mm six-track stereo mag was a different ball game.
Now the DVD is spot on hear, that .1 effect really rumbles the hell out of the home cinema, the window in the kitchen buzzes like it’s on the point of dropping out, or worse cracking! Yeah the big ole mighty “JBL 4645” professional with a newer sub bass driver in it, belts out dynamics that can reach as high as 120dbc weighting!
Thou, I would prefer to keep to my senses, and play it back at, 105dbc weighting, as I’m worried it will curse structural damage!
Hears some (((Sensurround))) links hope you enjoy them as I have, read the article about (((Sensurround))) horror stories!
Just about everyone that’s on this thread is one the same wavelength, and still buzzing off the (((Sensurround))), so there’s a 3.1 version, interesting, the region 2 DVD UK, states Dolby 4.1 on the back of the cover, however the film is presented in Dolby 5.1 (((Sensurround))) on the “Kenwood KRF-X9050D THX select receiver” and does all hell brake lose on this one, yeah I remember feeling the punch from “Slade” “Gorge Kennedy” as him knocks county cop out!
I'm happy to report that Earthquake looks great through my front pj - I watched the Poseidon Adventure first and it looked ok but a bit soft at times and the stereo soundtrack was not that great either - had to crank up the volume just to get it to a reasonable listening level - if I was playing Earthquake at that setting it would have been a blast to put it mildly. Quite impressed with what Univeral has given us - fans should be very pleased - it really looks as good as any older film I have watched so far.
I was dreaming last night about looking at some of the heavy end films, with huge dynamics in soundtrack, of course I would have to play them back at a lower fader level on the “Kenwood KRF-X9050D THX select” the internal amplification on the Kenwood is not used, instead I use separate amplification, with EQ, and active X-over, still the fader setting is set to “0db” for most of the 800 plus films I have.
Most of the time I would make a db level change, but if I where to recall films like, “The Fast and the Furious” or “The Loud and the Ridiculous” “Fight Club” where there’s a midair collision KABOOM! damn that is Bl**dly loud, in fact way too loud, but that’s just how it would be in real life.
But it’s still impossible to create real explosions, without destroying the cinema!? And the audience as well, still the acoustic approximation is the closest well ever get to real life!?
I agree that Earthquake does indeed look great however the 3.01 Sensurround channel is a HUGE disappointment. It's recorded at a very low volume and the sensurround lfe effex is basically just one long hum. Terrible.
The 5.1 track is very good though. I also though The Poseidon Adventure looked better and sounded as good as the 5.1 channel on Earthquake, even with it's 2.0 channel.
during the first small tremor 5 minutes in my svs did not even register a lfe. little red light stayed on, both using 5.1 And 3.1.
the sensurround on the 3.1 didnt sound like lfe it sounded like a sound effect right in the soundtrack, like a foley effect added,same as a door tap being added for that sound.
the lfe didnt come on right away even during the big quake, took about 3 seconds, i know thats not a big deal. still here again just seems like an added sound effect.
the 5.1 sounded fake, almost like the forced/matrixed stereo on my denon the low sounded great on the 5.1 a natural rumble not overcooked, just right. felt more like what sensurround was like to my memory of it.
adding to the disapointment is the *cough* "menu". you have language and PLAY. no menu chioce for chapters. they're there though.
universal should be ashamed for releasing this on the same day as the superb dvds for poseiden and towering inferno.
UNIVERSAL dropped the ball on this one. Granted it is the Best EARTHQUAKE has ever looked on any video format, the 2 Fox titles are exceptional and really put 'QUAKE' to shame.
I just picked up The Hindenburg on DVD because it was cheap. It is truly the worst looking DVD I have ever seen. The transfer is awful, grainy most of the time. The QC department was asleep during the production of this DVD, Universal should be ashamed of themselves for releasing it with such poor quality. I have 99cent store DVD's that look better.
Bradley I totally agree. This may not be a great film but it was a BIG movie at the time of it's release, and deserves much better than it got with this DVD. What is it with Universal? If it's more than a decade old they throw it onto a DVD with the same care people give to their day old garbage. We're lucky it's even widescreen (though it's NOT anamorphic).
It does look better but I think it sounds a lot thinner and with less bass. I would really have liked the new picture with the old sound. But it is worth getting because of the better picture and audio commentary and all the extras, no question about that.