Volcano (1997)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writers (WGA):

Jerome Armstrong (story)
Jerome Armstrong (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

The Coast Is Toast

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Volcano | Lava | Earthquake | Fire | Reference To Hieronymus Bosch

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 11

8:00 PM

MyNetwork

Cast

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

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35122) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions

Trivia:

An elaborate miniaturized portion of the doomed city was constructed inside hangar #1 at the San Bernardino International Airport which was destroyed as the lava flowed.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In between Fairfax and Curson Avenues, Wilshire Boulevard curves slightly to the north however in the movie it is depicted as being straight.

Quotes:

Amy: Sometimes magma can find one of those fissures and rise up through it.
Roark: What's magma?
Rachel: Lava.
Roark: Lava? Right here in L.A?
Amy: It is one of the possibilities.
Roark: We have a history of that here in the downtown area?
Rachel: Paracutin... 1943, a Mexican farmer sees smoke coming out of the middle of his cornfield. A week later there's a volcano a thousand feet high. There's no history of anything until it happens. Then there is.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Team America': Miniature Pyrotechnics (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

I Love L.A.

Good, but the Underdog Wins!

I have to say this is a big blockbustery KABOOM popcorny effects extravaganza, with a solid story, and good performances. This (released in April of 1997) was 20th Century/Fox's answer to Universal's Dante's Peak (released in February of 1997), a superior movie in all ways except one...It doesn't have Tommy Lee Jones.

I have to say that Jones makes Volcano. Without him, this work would be nothing than an overblown, over-written piece of popcorn trash. As it is, this is a delightful "Mother Nature Gone Awry" flick, with totally kick butt effects.

I found it riveting, but liked Dante's Peak more.

It rates a 7.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.