Megafault

Last updated
Megafault
MegaFault.jpg
Official DVD Cover
Genre Disaster
Written by Paul Bales
Directed by David Michael Latt
Starring Brittany Murphy
Eriq Lasalle
Justin Hartley
Bruce Davison
Tamala Jones
Paul Logan
Jack Goldenberg
Narrated by Steven Parker
Theme music composerAdam Knapp
Ralph Rieckermann
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producer David Michael Latt
CinematographyAdam Silver
EditorKristen Quintrall
Running time90 minutes
Production company The Asylum
Budget$1.2 million
Original release
Network Syfy
ReleaseNovember 24, 2009 (2009-11-24)

MegaFault is a 2009 television disaster film by The Asylum, directed by David Michael Latt, starring Brittany Murphy, Justin Hartley, Eriq Lasalle, Tamala Jones, Paul Logan and Bruce Davison. [1] It is one of the last films to feature Brittany Murphy, as she died a few weeks after its premiere. [2]

Contents

Plot

In West Virginia, Charles "Boomer" Baxter is setting mountain-top depletion explosives. He detonates the TNT, and an unprecedented earthquake devastates the area. A few hours later government seismologist Dr. Amy Lane arrives at the quake's epicenter.

She realizes that the quake has opened a deep fault running through the center of North America, ending at the San Andreas Fault. Any further instability will cause massive earthquakes and tsunamis, devastating Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities all around the Pacific Ocean, leading to the deaths of millions.

Dr. Lane and Boomer chase just behind the expanding crack in the Earth's crust, developing a plan to stop the next quake. They decide to use a satellite orbiting above the continent which can trigger earthquakes. They fire it off when they reach the Grand Canyon, thinking that when the new fault hits the canyon it will be forced to turn south into the Gulf of Mexico. When the fault crosses with the canyon, they fire the satellite at the canyon but plan goes wrong. Instead of heading south, the fault travels north, towards the Yellowstone Caldera.

They realize that if the fault crosses the caldera it will explode, expelling several thousand tons of ash into the atmosphere, killing millions and causing a Volcanic winter. They decide to set explosives to block the fault's path. Later, when it reaches the park, Boomer detonates the explosives, causing the fault to stop just short of the volcano, but costing Boomer his life. In the end, an orbiting shot of the United States shows a giant canyon that stretches miles-wide across most of the continent.

Cast

Production

The film is a Sci Fi original film and is Brittany Murphy's final TV role as she died unexpectedly on December 20, 2009. [2] It was all shot in the Quad Cities' Davenport, Iowa, with Davenport mayor Bill Gluba making a cameo appearance.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack featured Victoria Mazze, Chris Ridenhour, and The Divine Madness. [3]

Release

It premiered on October 10, 2009 on the Syfy channel [4] and was released on DVD on November 24, 2009. [5] It premiered on December 10, 2010 in the UK on Sky Movies Premiere.

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A caldera is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the structural integrity of such a chamber, greatly diminishing its capacity to support its own roof, and any substrate or rock resting above. The ground surface then collapses into the emptied or partially emptied magma chamber, leaving a large depression at the surface. Although sometimes described as a crater, the feature is actually a type of sinkhole, as it is formed through subsidence and collapse rather than an explosion or impact. Compared to the thousands of volcanic eruptions that occur over the course of a century, the formation of a caldera is a rare event, occurring only a few times within a given window of 100 years. Only eight caldera-forming collapses are known to have occurred between 1911 and 2018, with a caldera collapse at Kīlauea, Hawaii in 2018. Volcanoes that have formed a caldera are sometimes described as "caldera volcanoes".

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References

  1. Barton, Steve (2009-09-24). "MegaFault Trailer Debuts Online". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  2. 1 2 Dillon, Nancy; Kolodner, Meredith (December 20, 2009). "Clueless actress Brittany Murphy dies after collapsing in shower; death 'appears to be natural'". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on December 23, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  3. mtv (September 24, 2009). "From The Makers Of 'Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus' Comes...'MegaFault'! Watch The Exclusive Trailer!". Moviesblog.mtv.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  4. "Trailer: MegaFault From the Makers of Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus". Worstpreviews.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  5. Brian Gallagher. "Exclusive Video: New Megafault DVD Special Feature Clip". Movieweb.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2017-04-17.