Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Mikael Salomon

Writers (WGA):

Paul Eric Myers (teleplay) and
David Stevens (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

14 November 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Terror is off the Richter scale.

Plot:

New York, the city that never sleeps, is trapped in a nightmare of horror and destruction when a massive earthquake rocks the unsuspecting city...

Plot Keywords:

Tragedy | Rock | Earthquake | New York | Urban

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Tom Skerritt	...	Thomas Ahearn
Sharon Lawrence	...	Dori Thorell
Charles S. Dutton	...	Mayor Bruce Lincoln
Lisa Nicole Carson	...	Evie Lincoln
Jennifer Garner	...	Diane Agostini
Rachel Ticotin	...	Elizabeth Perez
Fred Weller	...	Nicholai Karvovsky (as Frederick Weller)
Erika Eleniak	...	Jillian Parnell (as Erika Eleniak-Goglia)
Mitch Ryan	...	Frank Agostini (as Mitchell Ryan)
Cicely Tyson	...	Emily Lincoln
Mark Rolston	...	Bruce Summerlin, Co. 51
Ray J	...	Clayton
JR Bourne	...	Joshua Bingham (as J R Bourne)
Michal Suchánek	...	Danny Thorell (as Michael Suchanek)
Jerry Adler	...	Burt Hornstein

Also Known As:

Aftershock - Das große Beben (Germany)
Erdbeben-Inferno: Wenn die Welt untergeht (Germany) (rerun title)
New York - Der jüngste Tag (Germany) (DVD title)

Runtime:

170 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant - 102 E. Pender Street, Chinatown, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Hallmark Entertainment

Trivia:

Jennifer Garner had her ears pierced for the first time ever especially for her part in this movie, but then allowed them to heal up again once filming was completed.

If there were an award for best film made from a silly premise...

I'd avoided this movie for years. Unlike the writers, I understand the geology under NYC, so I was expecting it to be every bit as bad as "Volcano", based on a similarly silly premise. Finally, last night I needed some mindless entertainment to help me get to sleep so I tuned in.

Yes, the premise is just as silly as it sounds. However, the writers, while technically clueless, did craft one of the best disaster flick scripts I've ever seen. The acting is uniformly excellent, and the direction, after the typically slow disaster flick setup, was taut and effective. The special effects were quite decent for TV - certainly better than most SciFi channel made-for-TV films. Unlike "Volcano", the characters are sympathetic and believable. After the viewer has swallowed the basic premise, everything else goes down well. Altogether a very involving film, which is, after all, the goal of all disaster flicks.

Given a chance, I will watch it again (I missed the first 10 minutes or so). Heartily recommended for disaster flick fans, conditionally recommended for everyone else.