The Quake - Das große Beben

A movie about folks yelling "Julia!" the entire time, with a little bit of an earthquake mixed in.

This Norwegian movie is a follow up to the 2015 disaster film "The Wave". Kristoffer Joner is back as geologist Kristian Eikjord , some three years after a tsunami disaster in Geiranger, Norway claimed 248 lives and for which he was considered a hero for saving many people.

However, Kristian is suffering from severe trauma and depression, directly related to that disaster. He has even separated himself from his wife Idun (Ane Dahl Torp) and his two children.

Kristian, via a colleague's death, begins to realize there could be another disaster, a major earthquake, about to strike Oslo. As other reviewers have mentioned, the build-up to the disaster is extremely slow and is filled with lots of melodrama and overacting.

It's only in the final third of the movie that things pick up dramatically with some high tension and truly horrific scenes worthy of a disaster flick. Overall, if one can have the patience to stick with this movie I believe it's worth a watch.

The prequel of this movie was The Wave (Bolgen) and was slightly better than The Quake (Skjelvet), but I still rate it the same because there are some moments of suspense towards the end even though it were also those same moments that were annoying at some point. Annoying because of the characters having a little chat or emotional moments while the only thing they had to think about was trying to escape death and disaster. It just didn't make any sense and therefor it brings the ratings down. The actors were the same as in The Wave but again I thought they did a better job in the prequel, maybe due to the story telling this time. But if you like disaster movies it's worth watching once. To me it could have been much better if there were more disastrous moments and lesser emotional moments. When you fight for your life there is just no time for sentiments.

The Norwegian "Skjelvet", a.k.a. "The Quake", is an overrated disaster movie. The special effects are indeed stunning and worthwhile watching, but the predictable storyline and characters are disappointing. Kristian Eikjord is unpleasant and strange and most of the characters have stupid attitudes. The abrupt conclusion is weak. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

It's sad but true. The wave was amazing not just because of its suspense, but also because its characters'actions made sense. And what makes this one even worse is that they are the same characters only stupid! I didn't mind the slow build to the the actual disaster; what annoyed me the most was how everyone was lame and slow and just unbelievably wrong when it comes to their reactions! Scenes where they're supposed to be running for their lives, but instead having melodramatic moments. Human instincts don't work that way or else there would never be any survivors in any life-threatening situation ever! It was so irritating to watch them behave this way after the amazing performance of the previous film! It was a disappointment.