Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

John Patrick Shanley

Writer (WGA):

John Patrick Shanley (written by)

Release Date:

9 March 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

An Average Joe. An Adventurous Comedy.

Plot:

When a hypochondriac learns that he is dying, he accepts an offer to throw himself in a volcano at a tropical island, and along the way there, learns to truly live.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Volcano | Love | Tropical | Yacht

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Joe Banks
Meg Ryan	...	DeDe / Angelica Graynamore / Patricia Graynamore
Lloyd Bridges	...	Samuel Harvey Graynamore
Robert Stack	...	Kenneth Hindmick / Dr. Ellison
Abe Vigoda	...	Waponi Chief
Dan Hedaya	...	Mr. Frank Waturi
Barry McGovern	...	Luggage Salesman
Amanda Plummer	...	Dagmar
Ossie Davis	...	Marshall
Jayne Haynes	...	Nurse
David Burton	...	Mike
Carol Kane	...	Cassandra the Hairdresser (as Lisa Le Blanc)
Jim Hudson	...	Fred the Guard
Antoni Gatti	...	Italian Tailor
Darrell Zwerling	...	Underwear Salesman
Jim Ryan	...	Bellman
Karl Rumburg	...	Ralph
Brian Esteban	...	Emi, Waponi Lookout
Nathan Lane	...	Ben, Waponi Advance Man
Wally Ruiz	...	Spanish Singer
Guillermo Guzmán	...	Spanish singer
Tom Franco	...	Spanish Singer (as Tommy Franco)
Tony Salome	...	Rectal Probe Company Clerk
Courtney Gibbs	...	Hammacher Schlemmer Saleswoman
Lala Sloatman	...	Waitress (as Lala)
Jennifer Stewart	...	Statue of Liberty
William Ward	...	Hammacher Schlemmer Salesman
Paul Michael Thorpe	...	Woo, Waponi God
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jon Conrad Pochron	...	Tony (as Jon Pochran)
Jack E. Herman	...	Waponi Warrior (uncredited)
Sidney S. Liufau	...	Waponi (uncredited)
Beverly Overstreet	...	Female Waponi at feast (uncredited)

Directed by
John Patrick Shanley

Writing credits (WGA)
John Patrick Shanley		(written by)

Produced by
Kathleen Kennedy	....	executive producer
Frank Marshall	....	executive producer
Roxanne Rogers	....	associate producer
Teri Schwartz	....	producer
Steven Spielberg	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Georges Delerue		(original music score)
Peter Gordon

Cinematography by
Stephen Goldblatt		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Richard Halsey
Kenneth Wannberg

Casting by
Marion Dougherty

Production Design by
Bo Welch

Art Direction by
Tom Duffield

Set Decoration by
Cheryl Carasik

Costume Design by
Colleen Atwood
Robert Chase
Sue Moore

Makeup Department
Lon Bentley	....	makeup artist: Hawaii
Lyle Carter	....	hair stylist: Hawaii
Paulette Crammond	....	makeup artist: Hawaii
Leonard Engelman	....	makeup artist
Susan Germaine	....	hair stylist
Albert Jeyte	....	makeup artist: Hawaii
Sheri Lee	....	makeup artist: Hawaii
Ellis Lierow	....	hair stylist: Hawaii
Barbara Lorenz	....	hair stylist
Maya Pruett	....	makeup artist: Hawaii
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup artist: Tom Hanks
Nancy Wilder	....	makeup artist: Hawaii
David Yerks	....	hair stylist: Hawaii
Allegra Curtis	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Ian Bryce	....	unit production manager
Edward K. Dodds	....	unit production manager: Hawaii
Lee Haas	....	unit production manager: New York

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yvonne Davis	....	second assistant director: Hawaii
Ed Dessisso	....	second assistant director: New York
Alan Edmisten	....	second assistant director
William M. Elvin	....	first assistant director
Jerry Leeds	....	first assistant director: New York
Lucille Ouyang	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Carl Aldana	....	production illustrator
Paul J. Campanella	....	stand-by painter
William D. Derham	....	assistant property master (as Bill Derham)
Scott Doran	....	swing gang
Richard Drake	....	set dresser: Hawaii
Ann Harmon	....	art department researcher
Rick Heinrichs	....	set designer
Jack Johnson	....	production illustrator (as John 'Jack' Johnson)
Fred Lucky	....	production illustrator
David Manhan	....	swing gang
Richard F. Mays	....	set designer
Frank McEldowney	....	greensman
Chuck McSorley	....	lead man
David Moon	....	scenic artist: New York (as Dave Moon)
Nick Navarro	....	set designer
Tom Shaw Jr.	....	property master
Stosh Stern	....	set dresser: New York
John Villarino	....	construction coordinator
Wallace Wong	....	greensman
Irwin 'Eppy' Epstein	....	greens (uncredited)
Craig K. Lewis	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Mike Villarino	....	construction foreman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gordon Davidson	....	dialogue editor
Greg Dillon	....	dialogue editor
Joaquin Elizalde	....	assistant sound editor
John Elizalde	....	sound effects editor (as Jon Elizalde)
Mark C. Grech	....	cable person
Jeff Haas	....	boom operator: New York
Carl Mahakian	....	foley editor
Dennis Maitland	....	production sound mixer: New York
Donald O. Mitchell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dan O'Connell	....	foley artist
Lauren Palmer	....	adr editor
Gary Parker	....	sound recordist: New York
Tally Paulos	....	adr editor
Jerry Pirozzi	....	assistant sound editor
Troy Porter	....	adr mixer
Greg P. Russell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Timothy P. Salmon	....	boom operator
Kirk Schuler	....	sound effects editor
Gary Shepherd	....	sound effects editor
Alicia Stevenson	....	foley artist
William L. Stevenson	....	supervising sound editor
Elliot Tyson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Keith A. Wester	....	production sound mixer
Douglas Vaughan	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
David Amborn	....	special effects
Stanley Amborn	....	special effects foreman (as Stan Amborn)
James Fredburg	....	special effects (as Jim Fredburg)
Greg C. Jensen	....	special effects
David Kirk	....	special effects
Richard Lopez	....	special effects
Jeffrey Machit	....	special effects (as Jeffrey C. Machit)
Richard Ratliff	....	special effects
Paul Tremaine	....	special effects: Hawaii
Joseph A. Unsinn	....	special effects supervisor
Roland Blancaflor	....	special effects technician: Robert Short Productions (uncredited)
Michael Meier	....	pyrotechnician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Carl Assmus	....	stage crew
Tom Bertino	....	animation supervisor
Anne Calanchini	....	visual effects coordinator
Dave Carson	....	visual effects supervisor (as David I. Carson)
Jo Carson	....	matte photography
Lanny Cermak	....	camera engineer
Terry Chostner	....	visual effects cameraman
Charlie Clavadetscher	....	special effects camera operator
Elise Couvillion	....	visual effects camera assistant
Bernie Demolski	....	stage crew
Dick Dova	....	visual effects key grip
Bob Finley III	....	visual effects gaffer
Rolf Fleischmann	....	optical effects assistant
Bill George	....	model shop supervisor
Brian Gernand	....	model maker
Ray Gilberti	....	visual effects cameraman
John Goodson	....	model maker
Ned Gorman	....	visual effects coordinator
Joanne Hafner	....	rotoscope artist
Janet Healy	....	visual effects producer
David Heron	....	visual effects rigger
Phil Heron	....	stage crew
Edward Hirsh	....	project manager
Tony Hudson	....	chief model maker
Tony Hudson	....	project supervisor: ILM
Peg Hunter	....	optical line-up
Rod M. Janusch	....	stage crew
Harley Jessup	....	visual effects art director (as Harly Jessup)
Brad Kuehn	....	optical photography supervisor
James Lim	....	optical camera operator
Keith London	....	model maker
Kim Marks	....	visual effects cameraman
Patrick McArdle	....	visual effects camera assistant
Patrick T. Myers	....	special effects camera operator
Lori J. Nelson	....	optical line-up
Buck O'Hare	....	stage crew
Michael Ohta	....	stage crew (as Mike Ohta)
Michael Olague	....	stage crew (as Mike Olague)
Alan Peterson	....	model maker
Thomas Rosseter	....	optical line-up
Mark Siegel	....	chief model maker
Thomas J. Smith	....	optical camera operator (as Tom Smith)
Mitch Suskin	....	optical effects supervisor
Kathleen Swain	....	concept illustrator
Tom Sylla	....	assistant visual effects editor
Larry Tan	....	chief model maker
Yusei Uesugi	....	matte artist
Bruce Walters	....	special effects camera supervisor
Judith Weaver	....	animation coordinator
Debra Wolff	....	visual effects editor (as Debra Wolfe)

Stunts
John Ashby	....	stunts
Ted Barba	....	stunts
Jeff Bornstein	....	stunts
John Cade	....	stunts
Ralph D. Carpenter	....	stunts
Eric Chambers	....	stunts (as Erik Chambers)
Phil Chong	....	stunts
Clarke Coleman	....	stunts
Tom Davidson	....	stunts
Brian Davis	....	stunts
Christopher Doyle	....	stunts
Bill Erickson	....	stunt coordinator (as William Erickson)
Sandra Lee Gimpel	....	stunts
Mark Ginther	....	stunts
Jeff Jensen	....	stunts
Brett A. Jones	....	stunts
Gary Littlejohn	....	stunts
Solly Marx	....	stunts (as Solly Mark)
James C. Morange	....	stunts
J. Suzanne Rampe	....	stunts
Lynn Salvatori	....	stunts
Paul E. Short	....	stunts
Gunter Simon	....	stunts
James Rod Stone	....	stunts
Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jamie Anderson	....	additional camera operator
Red Burke	....	chief lighting technician: New York
Andrew Casey	....	second assistant camera: New York
Ray De La Motte	....	camera operator
Angelo Di Giacomo	....	first assistant camera: New York
Danny Falkengren	....	dolly grip (as Dan Axel Falkengren)
Tim Griffith	....	chief lighting technician (as Timothy J. Griffith)
Emil Hampton	....	second assistant camera
Robert Ikeda	....	electrician
Michael Kelem	....	aerial camera operator
Patrick Marshall	....	rigging gaffer
Geary McLeod	....	first assistant camera
Hal Nelson	....	best boy grip
Walter Nichols	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Jane O'Neal	....	still photographer
Richard Rose	....	key grip: New York
Charles Saldana	....	key grip
Chris Silano	....	second assistant camera: New York (as Chris Salano)
Steven H. Smith	....	additional camera operator (as Steve Smith)
Robert L. Blatman	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Vincent Contarino	....	rigging gaffer (uncredited)
Robert Zullo	....	rigging grip (uncredited)

Animation Department
Sean Turner	....	animator

Casting Department
Owens Hill	....	casting assistant
Franklyn Warren	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Win Anderson	....	costumer: Hawaii
Robert Chase	....	costume supervisor: men
Allegra Curtis	....	costumer: Hawaii
Patricia Eiben	....	costumer: New York (as Patty Eiben)
Sue Moore	....	costume supervisor: women
Hartsell Taylor	....	costumer: New York (as Hartzell Taylor)
Melissa Antablin	....	costumer (uncredited)
Kelly Porter	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Catherine Best	....	second assistant editor
Ron Fode	....	negative cutter
Colleen Halsey	....	first assistant editor
Ron Lambert	....	color timer

Music Department
Kenneth Wannberg	....	music editor
Robert Fernandez	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)
David Van Tieghem	....	musician (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Stan Burden	....	transportation supervisor: Hawaii
Steve Collins	....	transportation coordinator
Daniel Quick	....	transportation captain (as Daniel C. Quick)
Charles Renfroe	....	transportation co-captain
John Rodrigues	....	transportation captain: Hawaii
Ben Salomone	....	transportation captain: New York
Bobby Marsh	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Donovan Ahuna	....	craft service: Hawaii
Sarah James Arbeid	....	assistant production secretary
Summer Banner	....	script supervisor: Hawaii
Stanley Bogest	....	production accountant: New York
Stanley Brossette	....	unit publicist
Catherine Cederquist	....	assistant production secretary
Robert Dunn	....	animal handler
Chris Silver Finigan	....	production accountant
Jack Gallagher	....	production aide
Roberto Gonzales-Rubio	....	production aide
Angela Heald	....	production secretary
Kurt Hessler	....	production aide
Nancy Hopton	....	script supervisor
David James	....	production assistant
Jamie Kehoe	....	craft service
Grace Kerr	....	production secretary: Hawaii
Oliver Konia	....	first aid: Hawaii
Lynn Kuwahara	....	location manager
Adeline Leonard Seakwood	....	production secretary: New York
Molly M. Mayeux	....	production aide
George McDowell Agnew	....	location manager
Isamu Oshiro	....	first aid: Hawaii
Ellen Pasternack	....	unit publicist
Jason Roberts	....	production aide
Mike Sampson	....	location manager: New York
Richard W. Scarpone	....	craft service
Robert Short	....	mechanical hammerhead shark designer
Michelle Skoby	....	assistant: Ms. Schwartz
Tom Summers	....	location supervisor: Hawaii
Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc	....	aerial coordinator
Laurie Arnow-Epstein	....	construction accountant (uncredited)
Jack E. Herman	....	extras set coordinator (uncredited)
Shauna L. Kroen	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)
Terry Odem	....	assistant: Tom Hanks (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents) (as Warner Bros.)
• Amblin Entertainment

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1990) (USA) (theatrical) (a Time Warner company)
• Warner Bros. (1990) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1990) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1990) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1990) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1990) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1993) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS) (re-issue) (Warner Bros. Hits)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)

Other Companies

• Movie Movers  cast trailers
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1994) | Spain:13 | Iceland:L | Germany:6 (re-rating) | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | France:U | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The mask worn by the Waponi who is representing the evil spirit resembles the factory where Joe used to work.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the morning when the daisy gets stepped on, everyone's shadows are to their right. Later that afternoon, when Joe fixes the daisy, his shadow is also to his right, and from the same camera angle. In the afternoon Joe's shadow would have been of a different angle.

Quotes:

Joe Banks: And Frank, the coffee. It stinks. It tastes like arsenic. These lights give me a headache; if they don't give you a headache, you must be dead, so let's arrange the funeral!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Psy vs. Psy (#2.3)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Blue Moon

An Under-appreciated Delight

For many people, the fact that I love this movie will throw the integrity of everything else I write about into doubt. "Joe" has unfairly become an industry joke, shorthand for the depths to which Tom Hanks sank before redeeming himself with Academy Awards. This fate is horribly undeserved. "Joe" is an imaginative and gloriously life-affirming movie, a hysterically funny fantasy nearly on a par with the best of Terry Gilliam with a "carpe diem" moral that comes across with a lot more honesty and a lot less preachiness than some other movies I could mention. Every Tom Hanks performance is virtually flawless and this one ranks near the top. Meg Ryan's performances are warm and hilarious. Usually it's men who play more than one role in a movie and then it's more often for ego's sake than art's. Ryan pulls off her multiple characters with remarkable grace. More amazingly, it makes perfect sense for her to play three characters. For the sake of argument, I am willing to concede that there are those who just aren't going to enjoy this movie's unique mixture of whimsy and genuine emotion. But for me, it's a classic, easily one of my favorite movies of the decade.