User Reviews

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.

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.

You have to give credit to the Norwegians, who, undeterred by the many hundreds of millions spent on Hollywood features, continue to pump out these much lower budget, but still good quality disaster films. Like its direct prequel The Wave, The Quake benefits again from both good acting from the cast and convincing sets, locations and special effects. What differentiates The Quake from its predecessor however, is that, this time around, the script doesn't seem up to the same standard.

In fact with a few minor changes, the basic narrative outline from The Wave is rejigged, to be used again in The Quake. So despite being a (PTSD affected) hero from events seen in The Wave, three years earlier, Kristtofer Joner is back playing Kristian, a Jonah like figure again whose warnings about a cataclysmic earthquake event, likely to strike Oslo, Norway's capitol, seem to be going unheeded. Things don't really seem to have changed a lot and everything looks quite predictable, apart from the central location changing from the fjord at Geiranger to downtown Oslo, where Kristian's family has moved to, after leaving him, because of his continual depression. Once again Idun, Kristian's plucky but separated wife, is notably working for the Radisson Hotel chain (It surely must be a franchise sponsor).

Many others have offered mixed commentary on the rather long events leading up to the actual quake. Like the earlier film, we have one of Kristian's friends and colleague falling foul of preliminary action. This allows the entry of Marit, his daughter into proceedings and yes, she is kind of like a younger and darker-haired plucky version of Idun.

No criticism of Kristtofer Joner's acting prowess, but I just found it hard to accept that the hero of Geiranger, seemed to be allowed to wallow in hermetic depression, supposedly blaming himself for the fate of those who died there, without any visible means of support from the well-regarded Norwegian social welfare system. One of the things that made The Wave so good, was its realism. The action took place in real places and was based on real events that had occurred in a similar fjord. The Quake tries to sell us the same story about Oslo, being the Nordic equivalent of San Francisco or Tokyo; a city sitting on the edge of a geologic precipice that could topple at any moment. But it just doesn't have the same ring of truth. Despite the pre and post credit notes, I just never recall Oslo being in the news for being continually affected by earthquakes (on a minor scale of course).

When the big split finally happens, it's again handled onscreen technically very well. But sad to see, the major narrative point hinged on the imposition again of the "naughty child syndrome", where Julia, Kristtian's and Idun's angelic daughter, bizarrely does exactly the opposite of what her father tells her to do, which is remain in the car with Marit. Again I found it totally unbelievable, that given this intelligent kid's earlier experiences, she would suddenly have this irrational yen to sightsee from the top of her mother's workplace. If it sounds stupid, it actually looked pretty dumb up there on the screen, being played out as such.

Another problem arising from having the earthquake occur so late in the piece, is that unlike The Wave where we see the tsunami affect the whole town, here we just end up focusing on 4 or 5 people. Strangely, events affecting Sondre, Julia's brother, at his university appear extremely abbreviated, so much so, that it's almost as if he and his girlfriend are forgotten about.

I have to reiterate that it's great to see smaller countries not being intimidated and giving big budget-themed movies a shot. But I have to confess that I'm a little surprised that The Quake has gained such a strong collection of well regarded reviews. I consider it it a fairly obviously inferior film to its prequel, due mainly to its lack of originality and can only give it 5.5/10.

I stumbled upon "Skjelvet" ("The Quake") by pure luck. I picked it up and saw that it looked very reminiscent of the 2015 movie "Bølgen" ("The Wave"). Then I noticed that it was the same actor in it, and since I enjoyed "Bølgen", of course I had to give "Skjelvet" a watch.

Good thing that I did, because "Skjelvet" turned out to be every bit as entertaining as the 2015 movie "Bølgen", and it turns out that "Skjelvet" is actually a continuation - a part II - to the 2015 movie. So that was quite a nice surprise thrown into the deal.

Writers John Kåre Raake and Harald Rosenløw-Eeg managed to put together a story that turned out to be as entertaining and adrenaline-filled as the predecessor movie, while Director John Andreas Andersen managed to bring the story to life visually and entertainingly.

I am very surprised with the level of fantastic CGI that they managed to capture and put into the movie, very much reminiscent of the 2015 movie "Bølgen". It all looked so realistic and downright amazing. So that is a great achievement in a Norwegian movie, because that is something you would usually associate with multi-billion dollar movies made in Hollywood.

Kristoffer Joner (playing Kristian Eikjord) in the lead really brought a lot of charm to the movie, and it was great to see him return to reprise this character. He definitely carried the movie quite well. The other actors and actresses in the movie also performed quite well, but it was Kristoffer Joner that carried the movie through and through.

If you have watched the 2015 movie "Bølgen", then you definitely should take the time and effort to sit down and watch this 2018 sequel "Skjelvet" because it is right up there alongside "Bølgen" in entertainment value and in intensity.

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.

A few years ago, the film The Wave came out and became a big success in Norway. The same people have now made this and the same actors and characters are still here. The films are both catastrophe films, but the action is now moved to the capital Oslo. The title indicates well what is going to happen here? Unlike other movies in this genre, this attempts to convey feelings and a story about a family in dissolution. Pretty successful too, the protagonists manage to get a drama out of the situation they are in and their lives. Everything is clearly building up to the event as well as what we are going to see, namely the quake. The effects are good and perfectly done. Good sequences. The movie may be a bit of a hassle before it gets any action, but I can still recommend this movie to those who like this genre.

Another good norwegian movie with great photography, tension and good acting.

First thing you notice is the wonderful natural light and cinematography. But once your eyes adjust, you realize how poorly written this is. You can't believe your eyes. The first hour crawls along with the lead character, silent and anguished, making you wonder what's he so disturbed about and why aren't we allowed into his mind, more than just a hint. After the hour is over, you watch in disbelief as characters act in irrational ways that make you sit in astonishment as believability is thrown out the window to accommodate a weak script. The final 50 minutes try to make up for the first part's inadequacies but by then, you're no longer involved. Is this merely a money-grubbing exercise or are the principles just not very good at their craft? The Wave was so much better.

Disaster movies where once big in Hollywood. And they are still being made from time to time. In this case we have a European effort. Apart from the international title you also have the beginning of the movie telling us a bit of what occured ... and then going back in time so we can see things unfold.

Being right about things that can be described as disaster is never a good thing ... maybe sometimes people would be sort of glad if they were wrong. Even if that meant that they had to face (public) scrutiny. Very good acting, really good effects too make this an interesting movie for those who like this kind of stuff.

Although the movie is quite slow it picks up after the intermission. The kid seems to be main reason for the entire finale; the director has done tremendous job providing us the tension that is required in a disaster movie which is quite missing in hollywood flicks.

Finally its the nerve ending finale which makes this movie worth watching or else it seemed going down hill. Actors have done a decent job and the picturesque cinematography is beautiful. The CGI is really good which makes it worth a watch. Please do watch the movie for its nerve breaking finale.

I was afraid that it would only be something like wave 2.0 and of course some of the plot was a bit copy-paste but still the movie can stand its own. Good acting, tense script and really good special effects.

I'm not a fan of subtitled films (the ones on my copy were very poorly translated but not rating that), but this film was an exception. For a Norwegian production, it was grand and impressive. The acting was outstanding, as were the VFX and beautiful Norwegian setting. My issue was with the writing and final cut editing; too many dragged out scenes - I mean really dragged out that the director/screenwriter should have omitted. 106 min was way too long, and with the slow pacing and dragged out scenes, the film felt like 3 hours long. The first half could have had many scenes omitted or shaved, but the last half really needed to cut down on the overly and unnecessarily dragged out elevator and top building scenes and had the pace picked up more. This film should have been no more than 75-80 mins long. That simple mistake cost this film at least 2 stars from me. Nevertheless, still a very good film, especially considering it's a Norwegian production. 7/10 from me

If you're going to watch this expecting to see something similar to 'San Andreas', then this is probably not for you. This is not Hollywood schmultz all about visuals and nothing else. This film goes much deeper and is more about family bonding during a natural disaster. Yes, they tried that in 'San Andreas' as well, but that was sentimental and cheesy. This is far more realistic.

This sequel to 'The Wave' is equally good, and thoroughly enjoyable. One tends to forget the wave in 'The Wave' was actually caused by an earthquake, so it makes sense to have an earthquake sequel. The cinematography is stunning! This film looks simply beautiful on screen.

So, the original cast is back for another disaster adventure. The film pretty much follows the same pattern as 'The Wave'. The suspense builds slowly but ever so effectively. It was a bit over-dramatized at times, but it adds to the suspense and its a hell of a lot of fun!

The visual effects during the third act is incredible! As they say, save the best for last!

Holy Crap!!!! Just finished watching this, and I am still hardly able to walk due to all the cramps and knotted muscles I suffered watching it unfold to its nerve shattering climax. This is a foreign film so, please, don't go into it expecting any kind of typical US tidily wrapped feel good fuzzy ending. I briefly glanced at some of the other reviews and was appalled at how negative some of them are. Yes, it takes its time building things up, that's not a detractor, it's a panic accelerator because we ALL know where this thing is headed and laying out the detailed background of the main players only makes the beautifully crafted arrival of the Quake all the more gripping. I literally had a tough time sitting through a couple of the real nail biting scenes cuz, man, it was that horrific. I did not know there was a prequel, and do not believe that it's proper to judge one film based on anything but its own merits. Though if it really was as good as some reviewers claim, I can understand the temptation to bemoan the fact that they thought this film was not a worthy continuation of the story. BUT, anyone who claims they were bored or that character development was a detriment? I gotta question their socio-environmental-childhood experiences that could create such disdain for what I thought was a terrifying whiplash elevator to Hell. And yes, there is a particularly hellish elevator scene that was brilliant in its ghastly consequences.

Beautiful to look at, good acting, story and plots to thin...

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

Just watched the movie "The Quake" and I thought to drop some lines for the better understanding of the viewer's to get fair idea how it goes. The face expressions of the entire was cast was emotionless as they were acting and not in a real situation which felt very fake especially the main character Mr. Kristen, he was emotionless and has a flat face throughout the entire movie. During the movie, it was shown that government was, covering up for the earthquake and placing the blame on faulty construction and using of weak and substandard material for buildings and large structures, which was not, understood why it was like this? The background music was out of synchronization and it was random and not according to the situation the movie as leading. In the event of an earthquake, it never flows like a river underneath the terrain rather it is takes place at the same time at every place and it was shown wrongly in the film. No human or a machine or system has ever been developed that can predict that an earthquake is about to happen and that an early warning can be provided to the people to evacuate prior to the moment it is about to begin and it as also shown wrongly in the movie. However, the earthquake amination and aftershocks were shown in detail and was very impressive. Overall its worth a try

I'll grant that there's nothing particularly original to be found here. It's a fairly typical disaster movie - most notable, to me, for being a Norwegian movie with English subtitles. It follows the same basic storyline as any other disaster movie. It starts with a very long exploration of characters and it attempts to build some tension. So we become aware of the earlier quake that struck a small town in northern Norway and that left geologist Kristian scarred. There's then the disaster itself - the earthquake, which (as always) is only briefly portrayed. Then there's the aftermath, which largely revoles around Kristian trying to save his family. Standard. But I'll agree that it's a well done movie, with some great special effects and pretty decent performances all around.

Norwegian actor Kristoffer Joner was good as Kristian, who struggles to be believed when he starts to become convinced that a major quake is about to strike Oslo. I was a little uncertain about why every new scene seemed to have to begin with a note about how far from Downtown Oslo the scene was taking place. Why was that considered important? And I did appreciate that it was not an entirely happy ending - without giving anything away, not everyone survives who you expect to survive.

Still, it's a disaster movie. But I do appreciate a movie that teaches me something I didn't know before watching it. I wasn't aware that earthquakes (small ones) happen fairly frequently in Oslo and area, and this movie introduced me to the 1904 Oslo earthquake. The end of the movie plays on those things and makes note of the possibility of another major earthquake striking. All things considered I thought that - while a fairly standard entry on to the list of disater movies - this was well done and watchable. (7/10)