Volcano

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, Gaby Hoffmann, Don Cheadle, Keith David
Directed by: Mick Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Thriller, Drama
1997

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: Los Angeles is hit with a number of problems: gas leaks, earthquakes, and power outages. Everyone thinks its just another day in the City of Angels, including Chief of the O.E.M. (Office of Emergency Management), Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones). The only one to think something might be up is a geologist (Anne Heche). Soon, everyone's worst fears come true as lava begins flowing from the La Brea Tar Pits, and as the ad says, "The Coast is Toast."

Review:

Tim: When you think of this film, the first two words you automatically think of are, Dante's Peak the competing volcano movie that came out two months before this one. Everyone wants to know, which one is better? We will see.

First, let's look at this film. It's a volcano movie taking place in downtown Los Angeles, starring Tommy Lee Jones. Now that last sentence either gave you no desire to see this incredibly unrealistic movie, or caused a shiver to run up your spine from anticipation and excitement, no matter how silly the movie may be. If you are the latter, then you are my kind of movie-goer, and we're got a great ride for you. If you're the former, go see something else.

So of course a volcano won't appear overnight in L.A. Who cares. I want to see what would happen if it did. I want to see lava flowing down streets and people diving to get out of the way, disaster destruction, things getting blown up, people being melted by lava- and this movie has all that, and a lot more. True, it doesn't really have much of a volcano so to say, but the basaltic lava flowing out of the La Brea Tar Pits is pretty much all I need to see.

Perhaps even better than the destruction is seeing Tommy Lee Jones as the star of this film. It's great to see him- instead of some young, muscle-laden "action" star. It gives the film a professional quality to it, and you know with TLJ, everything will be ok... sort of.

Volcano is incredibly unrealistic, a silly excuse for a disaster movie... and I love it. It is intense, and quite exciting and thrilling to see death-defying attempts involving hot ash and not so viscous lava. There's a scene where Jones and Heche are hanging from a fire truck laddar directly over the lava- damn good stuff. Speaking of Heche- I am so not a fan of her, yet she's irresistable in this film. Sure, at times her acting ability is questionable, but all in all, I must say I really liked her in this role. She and Jones worked well together.

And, now the moment you've all been waiting for: which is the better volcano movie? Dante's Peak or Volcano? Tough choice. On the one side, Dante's Peak has better graphics, a better storyline, and a real volcano. On Volcano's side, it has Tommy Lee Jones, lava flowing through Los Angeles, and is a tad bit more intense and suspenseful. Volcano is incredibly unbelievable. Although Dante's Peak is more realistic, it also uses every volcano movie cliche known to man.

You could go on and on between these two films forever. I guess what it comes down to is whether you want volcanoes and a storyline, or volcanoes and disaster. You want a storyline, pick Dante's Peak. You want carnage, disaster, and mayhem, stick with Volcano. I leave the final choice up to you.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Dante's Peak, Men in Black, Ocean's Eleven, Six Days, Seven Nights, U.S. Marshalls