Volcano (1997)

A volcano erupts in downtown Los Angeles, threatening to destroy the city.

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writers:

Jerome Armstrong (story), Jerome Armstrong (screenplay)

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, Gaby Hoffmann

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Mike Roark
Anne Heche	...	Dr. Amy Barnes
Gaby Hoffmann	...	Kelly Roark
Don Cheadle	...	Emmit Reese
Jacqueline Kim	...	Dr. Jaye Calder
Keith David	...	Police Lieutenant Ed Fox
John Corbett	...	Norman Calder
Michael Rispoli	...	Gator Harris
John Carroll Lynch	...	Stan Olber
Marcello Thedford	...	Kevin
Laurie Lathem	...	Rachel
Bert Kramer	...	L.A. Fire Chief
Bo Eason	...	Bud McVie
James MacDonald	...	Terry Jasper (as James G. MacDonald)
Dayton Callie	...	Roger Lapher

Storyline

Something unspeakably chilling is ultimately starting to heat up at The City of Los Angeles! Beneath the famed La Brea Tar Pits, a raging volcano has formed, raining a storm of deadly fire bombs and an endless tide of white-hot lava upon the stunned city!

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Plot Keywords:

self sacrifice | boyfriend girlfriend relationship | child in peril | sea | teenager | 

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Taglines:

It's Hotter than Hell!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense depiction of urban disaster and related injuries

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish German

Release Date:

25 April 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vulkan

Filming Locations:

190th Street & Western Avenue, Torrance, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,581,740, 27 April 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$49,323,468

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$122,823,468

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions, Moritz Original

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ash of the film was bought from Regal Inc. from Crothersville, Indiana and consisted of as stated before, ground up newspaper.

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Goofs

The quake started at 5:14am. At 5:17, we see Roark headed east in the car on Wilshire Blvd. The family dog Max is not with them. It is revealed at the end of the movie that Roark left the dog with Emmett to keep him safe. But there's no way that Roark could've dropped off the dog at the office in that short amount of time. He was see in the doorway with Kelly when the quake started. The times between the events happening and the volcano happening at those points are confused.

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Quotes

Kelly Roark: Please, please. You can't just leave me here.
Roark: Kelly, you can not be here and I have to.
Kelly Roark: Why?
Roark: Because it's my responsibility.
Kelly Roark: Well, so am I. Please I promise I won't get in the way.

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Alternate Versions

To attract more viewers the German theatrical version was cut to receive a "Not under 12" rating. The German video release contains the complete version and is rated "Not under 16".

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Girls: Episode #6.4 (2004)

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Soundtracks

Colas, Colas
Traditional composition arranged by Carlos Periguez
Courtesy of Associated Production Music

User Reviews

Another superfluous disaster movie

There's been a movie made about almost every other type of natural disaster, so why not volcano's? Actually, why not make two movies? This big budget trash went up against that other big budget trash, Dante's Peak, back in 1997; and even though this one obviously had more to work with; it still managed to come off even shorter than Pierce Brosnan's dreary vehicle. Featuring all manner of "great" special effects and autopilot performances from all concerned; Volcano subscribes to the classic 'disaster movie' profile, and shows this further by ensuring that the plot makes about as much sense as blowing up your house to keep it from being robbed. Tommy Lee Jones struts his stuff as some bloke who works for the government, and Anne Heche gets down and dirty as someone who knows about volcanoes. When a volcano erupts in Los Angeles (where'd that come from?), it's up to these two (and a load of firemen etc) to stop the lava in its tracks before Tommy Lee Jones' daughter is killed! Oh...and the rest of LA. The story is set up in the usual way; someone notices something, blah blah, he's ignored, blah blah, disaster happens, blah blah, the day is saved. Blah. Blah.

This film is completely pointless, and is obviously only there for entertainment value. Still, even as entertainment, this falls flat on it's face. Obviously, in a film like this; you've got to expect some over the top sequences and silly goings on (such as a sequence that sees a train worker save one of his friends...), but the film continually throws stupid ideas into the plot, and before long it just gets so silly that it's impossible to care about it. Quite how Tommy Lee Jones has managed to maintain a semi-respectable reputation after all these years is astounding. To me, his name has become synonymous with 'stupid load of rubbish'. He might have the ability to portray a rugged action character, but he's unbelievably corny and doesn't make a good lead. Anne Heche stars opposite him and just does what you'd expect the 'female with brains' to do. Don Cheadle, who met with high acclaim after his performance in the massively overrated Hotel Rwanda, gives a very mundane performance, but I'd still rather watch him than either of the two leads. On the whole, if you're going into this expecting some brainless fun; you'll be pleased to know that it is brainless, but unfortunately it's about as much fun as an actual volcanic eruption. Definitely NOT recommended.