Why I liked this movie

-I watched it on Christmas Day so it gave me good excuse to get away from the odious relatives.

-It didn't need the cliches of most disaster movies: looters, over zealous foot soldiers, the failure of 'the first attempt'.

-It took a novel approach to the rational of the focus on San Francisco and there was no last minute hang up about getting the Russians on board.

-It managed (despite itself) to convey tension and drama. The graphics (apart from broad shorts of the city and the building collapse) worked well, especially the bridge collapse (although I don't know why it need a Tacoma Narrows approach). The personal injuries were nicely understated: better to have a hole in the head than a head smashed ina zillion bits. Interestingly it also managed to convey a fair bit by using everyday places and events.

Offputting: too much of The Greatest American Hero with the bike-riding guy. The repeat of the kids actions was a spat too far as was the antics of the reporter. The General was mostly a cliche.

I gave it a 6 and I'd recommend it for what it is: escapist entertainment. But, as kid who stood in for Leonard Nimoy suggested in the Simpsions: I'll keep watching the skies.

Why aren't all professors and retired servicemen as hot as those two?