Fearing the worst, the geologist Dr Amy Barnes warns the citizens of downtown Los Angeles of an impending disaster after a tremendous earthquake takes them by surprise. With clear signs of an underground volcanic formation beneath the La Brea Tar Pits, the chief of the city's Office of Emergency Management department, Mike Roark, begins an investigation against the clock, when molten magma erupts, obliterating everything in its path. Can two mere mortals stand up against nature's wrath? A volcano erupts in downtown Los Angeles, threatening to destroy the city. As I've said in my comments before, I am not a big fan of disaster movies, but if you have to see one, you could do a whole lot worse than this movie. It does have some of the trappings, like the gratuitous dog saving, and the "message" at the end where someone says everyone's faces look the same because of the soot almost made me puke. But this is still entertaining. OK, volcanic ash erupting in LA is ridiculous, but there was enough science to make me suspend disbelief, and at the same time the movie wasn't too serious for its own good.<br/><br/>I read somewhere the writer (Jerome Armstrong) came up with the idea when he heard someone say about LA, "The OJ trials, riots, mudslides, earthquakes, fires, floods; what's next?" There is some of that, along with gallows humor (like the workers taking bets on the size of the earthquake), though I would have liked to see more of that and less cliche. And there's no "evil" force to combat (besides the volcano), we just see the everyday bureaucracy people have to combat to get things done, even in emergencies. Finally, it helps when you have a cast like Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, and Don Cheadle around to make it work (and Keith David is solid in support). Only Gaby Hoffman, who I normally like, isn't that good, but she's stuck in a thankless part. All in all, not bad for its type. I am surprised to see so many negative comments on this movie, granted it is not a great movie but it is very entertaining. I think that out of all the disaster films released in the 1990's this one is without a doubt the best. The effects in the film are very well done and they actually compliment the story. The performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche are solid, convincing performances. The film's pace doesn't give you time to think about the implausibilities in the script. This is first rate entertainment. Unfortunately, Volcano is also faithful to Hollywood's legendary lack of originality.
Walrandi replied
295 weeks ago