This movie couldn't have been made better if they tried. Regular civilians in the face of a natural disaster helping fellow civilians trapped in rubble. How can a actor act like a regular civilian when at the end of the day they go home just like that a civilian. Even Yaphet Kotto was good in his given role. Yeah it wasn't big budget, no one was toting gun's and no one was over acting. If it was a movie about regular people helping regular people and really nothing more. I agree that I'm not big on hand held camcorder movies but this one worked by putting us right next to the person.
The baby scene I think was the toughest and the face the actor made made the scene more powerful. The guy (actual victim/surviver) trapped in his car was comic relief. The lady trapped in her bathroom was intense and that little girl trapped in a car with her mother crushed in the front seat was heartbreaking. Still we got what can actually happen and zero Hollywood effects. The mix of bigger names like Yaphet Kotto, Rue McClanahan and Scott Valentine with some up and coming was balanced and the again acting was good.
If you're looking for explosions, shootouts, CGI throughout or edge of your seat action then this movie isn't for you. I love the rawness that this movie offered and the strength that some had to show not to mention the fact of how the police tried to block people from entering buildings or other nearly destroyed places as to not add more injuries or fatalities to already overwhelmed hospitals and the fire department using people to hold hose's on our of control fire's. In all this is one of the best earthquake movies I've seen. It's tightly written, direction was good, the pace was great and the overall was great. Each plotline ended on a positive note leaving nothing open.
The baby scene I think was the toughest and the face the actor made made the scene more powerful. The guy (actual victim/surviver) trapped in his car was comic relief. The lady trapped in her bathroom was intense and that little girl trapped in a car with her mother crushed in the front seat was heartbreaking. Still we got what can actually happen and zero Hollywood effects. The mix of bigger names like Yaphet Kotto, Rue McClanahan and Scott Valentine with some up and coming was balanced and the again acting was good.
If you're looking for explosions, shootouts, CGI throughout or edge of your seat action then this movie isn't for you. I love the rawness that this movie offered and the strength that some had to show not to mention the fact of how the police tried to block people from entering buildings or other nearly destroyed places as to not add more injuries or fatalities to already overwhelmed hospitals and the fire department using people to hold hose's on our of control fire's. In all this is one of the best earthquake movies I've seen. It's tightly written, direction was good, the pace was great and the overall was great. Each plotline ended on a positive note leaving nothing open.