Volcano (1997)

Average rating

(59%)

Starring:	Tommy Lee Jones \| Anne Heche \| Gabby Hoffman \| Don Cheadle \| Keith David \| John Corbett \| Linda Timmerman
Director:	Mick Jackson
Studio:	20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time:	100 mins
Genres:	Action/Adventure \| Thriller
Languages:	English
Subtitles:	Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
Released:	August 25, 2003
Also available on:

When an earthquake triggers a giant burst of lava from the La Brea Tar Pits, sending great spews of lava all over various Los Angeles neighborhoods and causing all manner of flaming magma mayhem, dedicated Emergency Management director Mike Roark rushes to the rescue, with help from a plucky seismologist. A no-holds-barred cataclysmic extravaganza, replete with lava bombs bursting in air, a toned-down flirtatiousness between the city's saviors, and the straight-faced how-will-we-stop-it

Rating of 3 stars out of 5

Emergency chief Tommy Lee Jones has to save Los Angeles from being covered by molten lava in this taut 1990s redefinition of the disaster movie. Director Mick Jackson uses the simple suspense device of cross-cutting, as the cast members go about their daily activities with magma bubbling menacingly just under LA's threatened streets. The digital special effects come into their own when the city is awash with rivers of fire and the urban destruction goes into overdrive. A gripping and spectacular action fantasy in which MacArthur Park does indeed melt in the dark.

Rating of 1 stars out of 5
Halliwell's Film Guide

Hectic disaster flick, played with a straight face by its cast; it's silly enough to be enjoyable.

Highest rated reviews

6 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:

superb.......................

williamsgwynfa from , 4th June, 2008

My family loved this film starring Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche. It was filmed on location in Los Angeles and Torrance in California. Mike Roark (played by Tommy Lee Jones), is a divorced Los Angeles emergency official who takes charge when a volcano grows out of the La Brea Tar Pits. A river of lava flows down Wilshire Boulevard, through the Metro Red Line subway tunnel, and creates a fountain of lava next to the Beverly Centre shopping mall in Beverly Hills. The lava destroys one subway train in the Red Line, kills the Metro chairman by melting him, burns cars, firemen, homes, and fire trucks, and burns down the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It really is an action movie, full of suspense. In spite of placing himself and his teenage daughter in danger, Mike decides to save the city by diverting the river of lava (with the help of demolition teams) into the concrete channel of Ballona Creek, which allows the lava to flow safely into the Pacific Ocean. There is however a catch.... Amy (played by Anne Heche) reminds him that San Vicente Boulevard, does not slope in the direction which Mike thinks it does. It will instead flow the opposite direction -- right into the path of thousands of patients at Cedars Sinai Hospital. So, Mike orders the demolition team to plant charges in both the street and the Beverly Centre. But as they do so, the lava hits a block on the Red Line subway and a massive geyser of lava erupts out of San Vicente Boulevard threatening the Beverly Center and its occupants. Speed is of the essence, once the charges are planted, they are fired one by one, and the new 22-story Beverly Heights apartment building just across from the Beverly Center comes crashing down. Does MIke save the hospital.....watch the film to find out.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

I'll just go warm my hands on a piece of lava

skeadugenga from Berks, 27th June, 2005

I saw this at the cinema and I wasn't the only one in the audience laughing. The two principal actors are put into situations where they'd have been toast many times over, but are miraculously unscathed and unruffled. If you want to watch one of the silliest disaster movies ever and have a laugh, then rent this. You'll particularly like the bit where they hold back a pyroclastic flow with a couple of bulldozers and some cement blocks and then stand on the barrier admiring the view. Could possibly become a cult movie.

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