Dante's Peak (1997)

Starring - Pierce Brosnan; Linda Hamilton; Jamie Renée Smith; Jeremy Foley & Elizabeth Hoffman Director - Roger Donaldson MPAA - Rated PG-13 for disaster related peril and gore. Pierce Brosnan stars as volcano expert Harry Dalton who works for the US government's geological department. He is sent into the quite town of Dante's Peak when geological readings indicate a higher than normal level of activity around the dormant volcano on which the small community is built. When Harry arrives, he also notices a variety of other factors which lead him to believe that Dante's Peak may have some very big problems on its hands in the not too distant future. Harry tries to warn the mayor (Linda Hamilton) and town council of the impending danger, but is over ruled by his boss who prefers to take a wait and see approach to the possible problem. Of course, in the end, Harry is proven right, and the volcano awakens with some of the best special effects that movie producers can buy. While the special effects are great, Dante's Peak is more about the story leading up to the impending disaster than the disaster itself. This is not to say that when the volcano eventually erupts that the producers don't milk it for all it's worth. Now at this point, there is probably some fool out there thinking "gee thanks for spoiling the movie for me by telling me that the volcano blows". To that guy I say -- "Hey moron, what did you think was going to happen in a movie about a volcano? That they were going to spend a pleasant day looking at it while eating a picnic lunch?" Although I guess that kind of is a small problem with movie like Dante's Peak -- you pretty well know from the get go that massive property damage is going to occur at some point in the film. While most of the movie takes place before the actual eruption, there is enough tension in the air to keep the audience interested. I really didn't notice that the movie isn't filled with high-end special effects. And towards the end of the film when the computer-generated lava rears its ugly head, it makes the wait well worth it. I think a good deal of credit for the tension should go to the amazing score of the movie. I don't think it would be possible to match up a score to a movie better than what was done in Dante's Peak. When we do get to the eruption, the volcanic effects are impressive and very realistic. Pierce Brosnan does a great job in the leading man role here, although this should come as no surprise to James Bond fans. An impressive supporting cast backs up Brosnan and Linda Hamilton. Most of whom are relative unknowns, but they all do a very solid job. There will be no doubt in your mind that this is what it feels like to be in the midst of a volcanic event. My hat goes off to director Roger Donaldson for the film's impressive realism. This was the first of 1997's two lava movies, the other being Volcano. Of the two, Dante's Peak has the stronger story and is just a tad bit more on the realistic side. While it might not have the dizzying number of special effects that populated Volcano, I think it is fair to say that Dante's Peak's effects budget was put to slightly better use, by concentrating on making the volcanic activity look more realistic as opposed to simply over the top. Good movie -- well worth checking out. 8/10 Reviewed February 14, 1998 by Joe Chamberlain