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:

la brea tar pits | lava bomb | firefighter | fire truck | 1990s | 

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Taglines:

L.A. Erupts in 1997

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

An elaborate miniaturized portion of the doomed city, which was destroyed as the lava flowed, was constructed inside hangar number one at the San Bernardino International Airport.

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Goofs

Roark passes under the burning traffic light twice.

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Quotes

Amy: [calling Roark on his phone] How fast can you get to the corner of Wilshire and Western, we have a problem.
Roark: No, no. Not anymore. We have it stopped.
Amy: The volume of ash is too high to think that we're out of danger.
Roark: So, why did it just stop?
Amy: Well, maybe it didn't, maybe it went someplace else.
Roark: So, how do you know it didn't stop?
Amy: I don't. But what I do know is when Mount Saint Helens blew, the force was twenty seven thousand times greater then that of the Hiroshima bomb. Do you think that the vent ...
[...]

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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 Vintage Video: When Time Ran Out... (1980) (2020)

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Soundtracks

Buck Your Head
Written by Dillinger and Juvenile
Performed by Juster
Courtesy of TVT Records

User Reviews

A good 'just sit down and watch' film

I'm not going to pretend that this movie is realistic. It isn't. But if you want to just sit down and watch a film with action, drama and entertaining characters, then this is the film for you.

Most disaster films are unrealistic, have no science behind them and if you think about them too much just get worse and worse. This movie is no exception. However, it is still a brilliant film if you want to sit down and not think too hard, or if you want to put a movie on without having to give it your full concentration. Personally, I think this film is great. There are better films out there, including better disaster films, but there are so many films that are ten times worse yet get better reviews. That's probably because they have better actors or are more realistic - but the job of a movie is to entertain, and this film does that brilliantly.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish German

Release Date:

25 April 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Volcano

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

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