A vulcanologist arrives at a countryside town recently named the second most desirable place to live in America, and discovers that the long dormant volcano, Dante's Peak, may wake up at any moment.
Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.
On New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner Poseidon capsizes after being swamped by a rogue wave. The survivors are left to fight for their lives as they attempt to escape the sinking ship.
Director:
Wolfgang Petersen
Stars:
Richard Dreyfuss,
Kurt Russell,
Emmy Rossum
A giant, reptilian monster surfaces, leaving destruction in its wake as it strides into New York City. To stop it, an earthworm scientist, his reporter ex-girlfriend, and other unlikely heroes team up to save their city.
Director:
Roland Emmerich
Stars:
Matthew Broderick,
Jean Reno,
Maria Pitillo
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.Written by
Rune Dahl Fitjar <rfitjar@online.no>
This movie draws several interesting parallels to Titanic (1997): Those in authority did not heed warnings, which resulted in preventable deaths. Average people were kept ignorant of the fact they were at great peril, while some insiders knew what was going to happen. Wealthy individuals used their money to try and buy their way to safety (helicopter evacuation versus life boats). In both movies, people gave up their places in a boat and died, to save the lives of others. While the main disaster unfolds, the focus is on smaller subplots of survival by individuals in even worse predicaments. Technology is shown to be prone to failure, resulting in death or injury. The jeopardy of the main characters is made worse by the purposeful actions of others. The main characters survive beyond all hope in a manner different than the other survivors. Linda Hamilton was married to Titanic (1997) Writer and Director James Cameron at the time, and starred in his previous hit movies: The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). See more »
Goofs
When Harry and Terry are measuring the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the caldera, the instrument probe is protruding out the open cabin door into the helicopter down wash. Sulfur dioxide is more than twice as dense as air; it may seem highly unlikely that this technique would provide any meaningful results, but the instrument that Harry and Terry are using is a Barrington Correlation Spectrometer (COSPEC), which measures SO2 concentration by comparing the difference in UV spectrum seen by the instrument to a known value. Therefore, the depicted use of the instrument is correct, and is in fact the same way volcanologists measured SO2 levels prior to the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991. See more »
Quotes
Harry Dalton:
Ever been deep sea fishing?
[the Children nod no]
Harry Dalton:
Neither have I. Listen, when we get out of here, we'll go to Florida, and we'll get us a boat, and gather all of the yummy bait that we can possibly get our hands on, then we'll catch us a big, old fat fish.
See more »
This "disaster film" had some of the best special effects of its day (almost 10 years ago). I have to say "of its day" because technology has made CGI become dated quickly these days.
This film is all about a volcano, a la Mt. St. Helen's, erupting and killing people and destroying a small town below it. Some of the scenes were just jaw- dropping and, at least for the first-time viewer, a lot of suspense over whether the main characters of the story will survive it.
Of course, there are some credibility gaps in here, things that just could not happen such as little boy drive van up a mountain (when his feet wouldn't reach the foot pedals!) but you just go along for the ride and enjoy the tension and special effects even if the story gets a little hokey.
It might not be the most intelligent film, but it's very entertaining 109 minutes, and that's the name of the business. It's good escapist fare, and that's all. It's worth two looks.
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This "disaster film" had some of the best special effects of its day (almost 10 years ago). I have to say "of its day" because technology has made CGI become dated quickly these days.
This film is all about a volcano, a la Mt. St. Helen's, erupting and killing people and destroying a small town below it. Some of the scenes were just jaw- dropping and, at least for the first-time viewer, a lot of suspense over whether the main characters of the story will survive it.
Of course, there are some credibility gaps in here, things that just could not happen such as little boy drive van up a mountain (when his feet wouldn't reach the foot pedals!) but you just go along for the ride and enjoy the tension and special effects even if the story gets a little hokey.
It might not be the most intelligent film, but it's very entertaining 109 minutes, and that's the name of the business. It's good escapist fare, and that's all. It's worth two looks.