Dante's Peak - DTS

Starring:Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, Charles Hallahan, Jamie RenÃ©e Smith, Jeremy Foley, Elizabeth Hoffman, Grant Heslov, Kirk Trutner, Arabella Field, Tzi Ma, Brian Reddy, Lee Garlington, Bill Bolender, Carole Androsky, Peter Jason, Jeffrey L. Ward, Tim Haldeman, Walker Brandt, Hansford Rowe, Susie Spear
Director: Roger Donaldson
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The first of 1997's volcano disaster movies (the second being Volcano) was arguably the better of the two, but both of them made for passable entertainment with some spectacular special effects to serve as icing on the stale cake. After all, Dante's Peak doesn't pretend to be anything more than an updated variation on a whole catalog of disaster movie clichés. Despite all that, it's reasonably enjoyable. It's an added bonus that the script is just smart enough to allow Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton to play their roles with straight faces, never condescending to the audience of the formulaic story. He's a volcano expert from the U.S. Geological Survey, and she's the mayor of a cozy Washington State town perched beneath a volcano that's about to blow. Telltale signs are everywhere, so evacuation must be carried out immediately. Of course, not everybody's eager to leave, and even some of Brosnan's colleagues think his alarm is premature. This sets the stage for massive ash clouds, rivers of raging mud and molten rock, flattened forests, and death-defying escapes by Brosnan, Hamilton, and some (but not all) of her family, friends, and townsfolk. So what if it's all pretty flaky... and can a four-wheel-drive vehicle travel over fire and molten lava without bursting its tires? Don't ask too many questions, and you'll find Dante's Peak to be (if you'll pardon the pun) a total blast. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

A Decent Volcano Movie........2007-06-14

An interesting story with its moments. The build up to the eruption was great! All the little momments like the too hot hot springs! Though once the lava starts to roll, the script gets a bit unrealistic. I guess it builds suspense. All in all, a good volcano flick.

Volcanic delight.......2007-05-08

I've always been fascinated by volcanos, and have always like Pierce Brosnan doing his thing on screen also. Linda Hamilton is pretty good, though a little lost at times. The others, I hate to say, were just filler. They were never allowed to really fly, or even be more than scenery. Effects are solid, but overdone in some spots. The lead up to the actual blast is the best half. It's an ok film.

Brosnan's Peak.......2007-05-04

This is the most absorbing film I've ever seen! You have a whole town trying to evacuate and all of them are thinking about Number 1. This is also one of Brosnan's best films - and you don't think about Bond when you're watching it. Tremendous.

Dante's Peak.......2007-01-12

This is a wonderful movie. Unfortunately it came out at a bad time and never got the recognition it should have. It had adventure, suspense, and a lot of action, along with an offbeat love story. It's a great movie for all.

Catastrophe-Action Done Right; A Whopping Great Thrill Ride With Feeling.......2007-01-11

"Dante's Peak" is one of the disaster movies that really brings the genre to a super peak, with a realistic and thrilling earth-shaking (in this case literally) catastrophe, high octane action, glorious cinematography capturing great natural beauty, and high-quality characters and relationships. It is, of course, about a volcano, one of the most powerful forces in nature, and it successfully captures the grandeur and terror of such an event. I've always found volcanoes fascinating - they're terrifically destructive, and of course tragic for the havoc they wreak, both when they're near human habitation and when they're in the 'isolated' wilderness where the other creatures are the sole recipients of their explosive force. And yet they're undeniably beautiful, like a sunset or a howling snowstorm, and they're in fact an essential part of the inner workings of the earth. Also, although there is often a lot of death associated with volcanoes as acre after acre gets burnt up or covered with ash, they're also, paradoxically, major bringers of life. Even extremely barren, infertile lands with usually burst forth with new life within a few years of a volcano, because they bring forth such rich new nutrients in their lava.

"Dante's Peak" is smart by not having the disaster hit five minutes after the opening credits have finished rolling; there have been some movies of this nature over the years that have made just that mistake. This one though is perfectly paced throughout. There is plently of tight build-up and a couple of tragic harbingers of the bigger calamity to come. The action in the latter parts of the movie is explosive and exhilirating, among the best. It's interesting that "Dante's Peak" has managed to position itself as one of the greatest action movies without any real bad guys. There are some unlikable characters - short-sighted, arrogant, condescending - but that's all. They're jerks, but they're not characters who are going to go out and kill somebody. So in this tremendous action movie there's no one shooting at each other, no swordplay, no high-impact kick battles. Don't get me wrong - I love the kind of movies represented by "Lethal Weapon", "Timebomb", "True Lies", "Out Of Time", all that; and I generally even more love the more fantastical, really grand movies like "Superman Returns", "Star Wars", "Lord Of The Rings", "Spider-Man", all that stuff. But it's neat that a movie missing so many of the great staples of action fare has also brought itself up into the cream of the crop.

The visuals of "Dante's Peak" are awesome. The volcanic effects are extremely realistic, and just the natural splendor is great. As mentioned, the cinematography is incredible, although there is admittedly one wonderful shot that was promising to be truly spectacular but gets hampered a bit by the camera being in the wrong angle to capture it all. A very minor quibble. It would also be an extremely minor quibble if one was to spend too much time focusing on the improbably high number of razor-thin escapes by some of the characters. Movie makers Are allowed some artistic licences even in realistic scenarios after all, and besides, in a case where two outcomes are possible but one quite a bit more likely, you don't have to go with the most likely one Every time. You shouldn't also go with the most unlikely every time either or it loses its believability and tension, and "Dante's Peak" doesn't do that. It stays on just the right tip of the balancing scale.

Excellent stuff; for more disaster-oriented greats I also recommend "Deep Impact" and "Titanic".

DVD:

DVD List

DVD

DVD

Dangerous Invitations

Ransom

Pigkeeper's Daughter/Sassy Sue (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Animal Yoga for Kids - African Plains Adventure Level O

Wasser für Canitoga