What makes it different from others?

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Special effects and pyrotechnics are the only virtues in this otherwise wholly forgettable little Japanese disaster flick, about a monstrous-sized earthquake occurring in Japan. First 45-minutes are little more than melodramatics between geologist and his family, and his possible, impending divorce, and the disgrace of his family's name. He believes a major earthquake will strike Japan in the very near future, but is not believed. The film eventually comes alive in a well done special effects sequence where a Japanese city is destroyed (or a miniature version of it, anyway) and buildings crumble, cars crash, cameras shake, and, in my opinion, a well-staged plane crashes while coming in for a landing, the city is thrown into chaos and panics when they realise he was unfortunately correct. These scenes are, in my mind anyway, quite well done and impressive, the only reason to search for this film, really, but it is a LONG wait for them. I'm rewatching this and writing a review of this only couple of days after the 9.0 earthquake occurred in Japan, so we're finding out, in real life, what the Japanese and he rest of the world's response would be to just such an event. Or is that what full and complete 127-minute version of the film deals with? Perhaps that improves the American 96-minute version, with more miniature effects and a more complete ending? Or was that just more soap opera baloney in the first scenes? In the America version, the ending also probably only makes sense to people who are aware of the Japanese veneration of suicide.

Earthquake 7.9 (1980) ** (out of 4) Japanese disaster film that not only rips off Earthquake but also mixes in some The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure. The film tells the story of a young scientist who believes an earthquake will hit Tokyo by the end of the month yet no one believes him. Sure enough a massive earthquake hits and levels the city to pure rubble that the city hasn't seen since it was last attacked by Godzilla. I watched the American version of this film, which is cut by nearly thirty-minutes but from what I've read the only thing edited out are dialogue scenes at the start of the film. I must admit that I'm thankful I watched this cut version as the dialogue scenes at the start of the film are just downright dreadful and I can only imagine how much worse they would have been with a half hour more. These early build up scenes are horrid in just about any disaster movie no matter if they're from America, Italy or Japan but the ones here are just downright incredible in their badness. The worst thing is the music score, which starts to thunder and pound whenever something "dramatic" happens. This is so annoying that at times I was hoping a real earthquake would hit my town so that I could stop the movie. The second half of the film is actually a lot better but in a campy fashion. The earthquake sequences are poorly done and features some bad special effects but if you've seen any of the Toho Godzilla films with their cardboard cities being destroyed then you should know what to expect. The effects are just as bad here with the worst (or most laughable) scene coming when an airplane is trying to land but ends up breaking apart. The story of our hero having to take charge of a group of people is just as silly but it makes for a few good laughs including a sequence ripped off from The Poseidon Adventure where we get an underwater swim. Fans of disaster movies might want to check this out just to see what other countries were doing but I seriously doubt too many are going to get any entertainment out of this unless they're fans of camp.

Brash and passionate young seismologist Yoichi Kawazu (well played by Hiroshi Katsuno) tries to warn folks about a massive earthquake that's going to hit Tokyo, Japan, but both the scientific community and the local politicians laugh him off as a histrionic phony until the big one hits. Director Kenjiro Omori and screenwriter Kaneto Shindro unfortunately allow the heavy-handed first half of this film to get bogged down in extremely mushy and pretty tedious soap opera nonsense about Yoichi's messed-up love life and dysfunctional family. Luckily, this picture starts seriously cooking once the earthquake occurs: glass shatters, buildings topple, planes crash, people fall out of high-rise windows to their deaths, fires break out all over the city, and a flood caused by a broken dam threatens to drown a handful of hapless individuals trapped in an underground subway tunnel. The pace and tension really kick in at this point, thereby resulting in a suitably exciting and suspenseful nail-biter. Moreover, the cast all give solid performances and the dubbing is acceptable. Rokuro Nishigaki's crisp cinematography, the grimly serious tone, and Toshiaki Tsushima's stirring full-bore orchestral score are all up to speed as well. The special effects are both nifty and impressive. So despite a flawed and ponderous first half, this movie overall still rates as a sound and enjoyable disaster feature.

How many disaster movies can there be before we get tired of them. Come on, we can see them on the Discovery channel all day long.I agree with the comment that the first part of this movie is just a soap opera. The Great Predictor's grandson makes a prediction and everybody starts moaning about how he is ruining the family name. The evil mother-in-law convinces the wife to throw him out into the arms of his mistress, whom she wants to meet. Can you believe that? The wife wants to approve the new wife! At the same time the mistress' has someone in love with her that doesn't have a wife, but she sends him packing.Now, that the soap opera is over, the earthquake appears.The special effects are really good, but the dubbing is bad. That is why I like subtitled films. The actors are all very experienced and have won many awards, so you will get to see some of Japan's best in an oft-repeated story.But, the soap-opera story returns with a kitchy ending.