What a waste of my time!!!

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

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Now, this seemed to me like an interesting and worthwhile viewing experiment! Giant, preposterous and heavily flamboyant disaster movies are a guilty pleasure of mine. They are not always the most qualitative or intelligent movies but they surely provide great entertainment and several "wow-did-you-see-that?" moments. My favorite disaster epics naturally emerged in the 1970s, like the "Airport"-series, "The Towering Inferno", "Earthquake", "Avalanche", "Rollercoaster" and many, many others. At the same time, however, I'm also a great admirer of made-for-TV drama/thriller movies from that same 70s decade – and more specifically the ABC Movie of the Week collection – just because they are completely opposite to disaster movies. The shoestring budget didn't allow for hi-tech special effects, spectacular stunts or exotic locations and thus TV- movies must rely on their solid screenplays, atmosphere, sense of realism and performances. Like the title implies, "The Day the Earth Moved" is an amalgam of both extremes: a disaster movie on a shoestring TV-budget! How do you possibly stage something as devastating as an earthquake when there isn't a lot of money to build scale models or sets? You find this answer in this tame but nevertheless slick and often ingenious overlooked little film. 95% of the film is talking and seemingly irrelevant information about a cast of characters you don't really feel connected with, and then when the earth does finally start moving, they just land at an already half-demolished ghost town and destroy whatever ramshackle cabin was still standing. I have to admit, however, that the plot of "The Day the Earth Moved" is original, creative and oddly compelling; - even though it requires quite a large portion of suspension of disbelief. Two struggling aerial photographers coincidentally discover that a defective match of their film material accurately predicts where earthquakes will occur within a time frame of 24 hours. It takes a while for them to figure that out and don't expect a proper explanation, but they have to take action as their photos indicate that the small and nearly forsaken town of Bates – in the middle of Nevada – is going to get struck. Particularly pilot Steve is desperate to rescue Bates, since he spent a few days of community service there and became fond of a young local girl. "The Day the Earth Moved" benefices most from the character development and the curious story behind the little town of Bates. Similar to the fictional Perfection in "Tremors", Bates is a town with only a handful of residents that remained stuck in isolation. The town used to be visited by people heading in or out of Las Vegas and lived off a local tourist attraction called "Santa's Summer Village", but since the construction of a new and modern highway there haven't been any tourists for several years. This would be an uninteresting side aspect if this was a major studio disaster blockbuster, but seeing it's a TV-movie it gives the film more depth and character. Of course the few remaining residents still don't believe the alarming news about the earthquake and are reluctant to leave, so when the ground starts trembling there are still a few intense and adrenaline-rushing moments to enjoy. Don't go into "The Day the Earth Moved" expecting a wild and exhilarating action movie, otherwise you'll be sorely disappointed. If you watch the film with an open mind, though, there's a fair chance you'll be increasingly charmed by the odd plot, the absorbing atmosphere, the likable characters and the grand finale.

Well, it took about 40 minutes to get to them figuring out there something odd with the film that was developed... before that it's about the scientist that flew the plane who was caught speeding in his car in a tiny, tiny town and only had 2 tens on him for the fine so he was arrested and made to do community service to pay off the fine (that was about 1/2 of the movie). The last 15 to 20 minutes is the 2 in plane (photographer and scientist pilot) going back to the tiny, tiny town to rescue the people who already knew the area was prone to earthquake but had no idea that a large earthquake was going to hit them. They didn't argue with the 2 from the plane long before the earth started quaking. Then the people ran around trying to gather stupid things to bring with them before it gets to bad - minus the little girl trying to get the dog.That about sums up this film. It's OK enough for a one time watch.4/10

A sleeper film that was ignored unfairly, "The Day the Earth Moved" has some good entertainment value. Jackie Cooper stars as the pilot of an aerial photography plane who--along with his photographer--discovers an amazing characteristic about their film. When they realize what they have, they are forced to take drastic measures to save some folks in a small town from harm. The film is definitely television fare, but it does possess an underlying charm which makes it tolerable, and even exciting at some point. Jackie Cooper has been an underrated actor in Hollywood. He has always performed his roles well, and he invariably creates the aura of a jovial personality for his characters.

Jackie Cooper and Cleavon Little are pilots engaged in aerial photography, who accidentally discover a method of predicting earthquakes. High stresses in the Earth's crust give off a heat which shows up on specially treated photographic paper. Looking at some recently exposed film, Cooper and his ex-wife Stella Stevens realize that the small desert town of Bates, where he recently spent time, is at the centre of a high stress area and will likely be destroyed.I hadn't seen this 'made for TV' movie since I was a kid, until I recently purchased it on videotape. There was a bit of nostalgia associated with this film, as my older brother and I used to watch it on TV during the 1970's as an afternoon matinée. It was a perfect rainy day film. As kids we were naturally fascinated by the idea of predicting an event as complex as an earthquake... made more interesting because the photographic film stock was a fluke, never to be repeated nor could any more be obtained. From this standpoint alone, it makes for an absorbing storyline. Stella Stevens was well known from her role in Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor a decade earlier, and Jackie Cooper was still to take on the role of Perry White in the movie Superman. The special effects showing the various earthquake scenes were remarkably decent considering this was a made for TV movie with a limited budget. As a whole, the film's also an interesting snap-shot of 1970's era film-making. Sometimes it's hard to believe those actors are no longer young. Well worth taking a look if you can locate a tape. Please feel free to email with any inquiries.