Dante's Peak (1997)

A vulcanologist arrives at a countryside named Dante's Peak after a long dormant volcano, which has recently been named the second most desirable place to live in America, and discovers that Dante's Peak, may wake up at any moment.

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Writer:

Leslie Bohem

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, Jamie Renée Smith

4 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pierce Brosnan	...	Harry Dalton
Linda Hamilton	...	Rachel Wando
Jamie Renée Smith	...	Lauren Wando
Jeremy Foley	...	Graham Wando
Elizabeth Hoffman	...	Ruth
Charles Hallahan	...	Paul Dreyfus
Grant Heslov	...	Greg
Kirk Trutner	...	Terry Furlong
Arabella Field	...	Nancy
Tzi Ma	...	Stan
Brian Reddy	...	Les Worrell
Lee Garlington	...	Dr. Jane Fox
Bill Bolender	...	Sheriff Turner
Carole Androsky	...	Mary Kelly (as Carol Androsky)
Peter Jason	...	Norman Gates

Storyline

Volcanologist Harry Dalton and mayor Rachel Wando of Dante's Peak try to convince the city council and the other volcanologists that the volcano right above Dante's peak is indeed dangerous. People's safety is being set against economical interests.

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Plot Keywords:

volcano | lava | mayor | lake | small town | 

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Taglines:

The pressure is building...

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disaster related peril and gore

Details

Official Sites:

Montase Magazine [Febrian Andhika] (Indonesian) Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Danteov vrh

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$116,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 1,021,700,000 (Italy) (11 April 1997)

Gross:

$67,155,742 (USA) (6 June 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Pacific Western

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS DTS-Stereo Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Douglas was originally set to play the lead.

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Goofs

After the eruption (following the meeting in the school) we see many broken cables flowing around. In reality, that would have short circuited the town's electrical system and the whole town would have gone dark.

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Quotes

Paul Dreyfus: [during the meeting] Ladies and Gentlemen, I can assure you that there is no immediate danger, I believe that this is not the time to put this town on alert. this type of thing happened with mammoth mountain in 1980. The good thing is, that the mountain didn't go up, but the damage was already done, tourists stopped going to the mountain, real estate values plummeted, and the town nearly went bankrupt. My team and I are going to stay as long as we can, and we are going to monitor every little ...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofed in South Park: Volcano (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Blue Moon Revisited"
Written by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Margo Timmins, Michael Timmins
Performed by Cowboy Junkies
Courtesy of the RCA Records Label of BMG Entertainment

User Reviews

Not a bad disaster movie

The first time I saw this movie I thought it quite good, especially the roller coaster ride of the last hour or so. I saw it again and thought it not very good at all and now having seen it recently, I not bad, but not great either. It's a well done disaster movie with one challenge after another to survive being thrown at the main characters. This roller coaster ride really pulled me in and even reminded me of the very well done remake of The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford. I'll admit some of the situations are a little hard to believe, but at least they keep the film from being boring.

The chemistry between Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, while not incredible, is still there. Also enjoyable was how the film makes use of its small town setting, including in the casting characters you'd expect to find in a small town: the female gossip, the gruff, but dedicated sheriff, and the more business-minded don't-rock-the-boat councilman. Finally, Harry (Brosnan) and Paul Dreyfus's band of colleagues also prevent the movie from being flat, but are a little too reminiscent of the characters from Twister to really leave their own mark.

Also what impressed me was some of the camera work, which I think isn't given enough credit. There are a number of composite shots of the erupting volcano with the reflection (probably understood to be from a truck's window) of Rachel (Hamilton) looking back in horror that are quite well done. And the digital editing in of the volcano is also well done as well as some of the panoramas.

A smaller problem I had with the movie is the development of Harry and Rachel's relationship. Initially their flirtations and the initial "getting to know each other" are quite cute. But I can't help but think why Rachel, who has been a small-town girl her whole life would be interested in someone like Harry who clearly states a that his job isn't exactly conducive to settling down. Sure Harry is everything her ex-husband isn't and it's obvious that the both of them are lonely to a degree, but it doesn't seem to me that a woman as sensible and who feels as great a responsibility as Rachel (to her kids, to the town, to her business) would find that to be enough. Also, Harry seems to get over the touchy subject of his dear departed Marianne to start making passes at Rachel in her kitchen quite quickly.

My biggest problem with the movie is the writing, which is so bad in some places that it really brings down the parts in the movie where it is good. Harry's line about sex being like riding a bicycle because once you learn you never forget is laughable. Some of the Wando children's lines I found to be lacking in substance too and almost condescending to the viewer. But, as I said, not all the writing is bad: an example is the excellent delivery of a reference to Pompei by one of Harry and Paul's colleagues and another's excitement over Rachel's regular coffee deliveries.

In the end, when this movie is bad, it's bad, but in general it's good.