10.5
NBC, never shy about boosting viewership during sweeps, has produced a sequel to the earthquake drama 10.5 from 2004. Last night they showed the original, to warm us up for the new 10.5: Apocalypse.
When it original aired, I was amused by the extremely silly disaster effects, including the toppling of the Space Needle, and an opening chasm that chased a passenger train for miles along its track. The entire plot depended on an utter lack of any seismological, no, any scientific knowledge whatsoever, as well as a fervent devotion to overwrought melodramatic soliloquies. In other words, it was a laugh riot.
But last night, as I caught a couple scenes in passing, I realized that there was something even more absurdly fictional in the movie that I'd missed the first time. One main storyline involves a team of competent, fast-acting federal disaster managers, and a President who responds passionately and decisively to contend with a national disaster of unprecedented proportion. A massive evacuation is conducted, refugee camps with medical assistance are organized, and the military conducts a complex engineering effort to try and prevent even greater damage. The head of the disaster team goes personally into the field, using his expertise, his brains and his own two hands to save the lives of millions. (Of course, he does die nobly after an overwrought melodramatic soliloquy.)
And here I had thought the most ridiculous part of the film was that a huge chain of earthquakes destroyed the West Coast, toppled the Space Needle, shattered the Golden Gate Bridge, and left a remnant of California as an island in the Pacific.
When it original aired, I was amused by the extremely silly disaster effects, including the toppling of the Space Needle, and an opening chasm that chased a passenger train for miles along its track. The entire plot depended on an utter lack of any seismological, no, any scientific knowledge whatsoever, as well as a fervent devotion to overwrought melodramatic soliloquies. In other words, it was a laugh riot.
But last night, as I caught a couple scenes in passing, I realized that there was something even more absurdly fictional in the movie that I'd missed the first time. One main storyline involves a team of competent, fast-acting federal disaster managers, and a President who responds passionately and decisively to contend with a national disaster of unprecedented proportion. A massive evacuation is conducted, refugee camps with medical assistance are organized, and the military conducts a complex engineering effort to try and prevent even greater damage. The head of the disaster team goes personally into the field, using his expertise, his brains and his own two hands to save the lives of millions. (Of course, he does die nobly after an overwrought melodramatic soliloquy.)
And here I had thought the most ridiculous part of the film was that a huge chain of earthquakes destroyed the West Coast, toppled the Space Needle, shattered the Golden Gate Bridge, and left a remnant of California as an island in the Pacific.
posted by Paul at 9:55 AM |
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