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This is about a group of underground tunnel workers in NY who come across some molten lava while digging a new sewer. There's also a mad scientist who's conducting experiments in geo-thermal power which involves digging deep into the earth and using the heat to power a generator or something. That's what causes the volcano to start erupting. The woman who comes to investigate for the government just happens to be the ex-wife of the tunnel digger, and of course we run through the usual cliché of them disliking each other and then getting back together over the course of the movie. There's also a lot of time spent as some federal bureau comes in, shuts down the work of our heroes, and blames the whole thing on terrorists. Yes, someone has to stand in the way of our heroes doing what must be done, if for no other reason than that it's in the handbook of required clichés for disaster movies.

Overall, it's just insanely cheesy and silly, with lines like "They're screwing with the pressure of the Earth's crust". Another scene involves lava erupting out of a guy's house and killing 70 people, but the authorities are apparently too stupid to notice the lava (I would think it would be painfully obvious), so they think it was a terrorist bomb. I also got a kick out of how a wood frame house could contain molten lava - until the guy opens the door! The special effects are funny throughout the whole movie, it adds a certain B movie charm I suppose. I especially liked the part where a single pistol round is all that's required to reroute the lava from one tunnel to another. The acting is pretty spotty, the evil genius guy is prone to scenery chewing, and one of the female characters manages to pull off Mexican, Italian and Czechoslovakian accents over the course of her performance. The two main characters turn in good enough performances.

I say this is not too terrible - for a disaster movie - because there's no sappy melodrama involving kids, pregnant women, sanctimonious paramedics, or inner city gang members. There's no speech by the black or female president at the end saying "we should have listened to the environmentalists". And best of all, there's no little girl looking at a bunch of people covered in volcanic ash and saying "Look mommy, they're all the same color". Oddly enough, for a disaster movie, the "special" effects actually serve as a backdrop for the story, not the other way around. But still it's just so tiresomely predictable that it's hard to make it through to the end.

It's hard to say which was more toxic: the magma or the camera work in this film.

Endless dart-in's, dart-out's, dizzying pans, rapid-fire jump-cuts, unnecessary point-of-view changes, and so on. It was like some two-year-old kid was playing with a video-cam. Irritating in nature, devoid of purpose, it has become a pandemic in made-for-TV flicks.

Once the bumbling camera movement has you popping sea-sickness pills, the movie introduces you to the same old assembly-line stereotypical characters rehashed on a hundred other made-for-TV flicks. You've got some Einstein-wanna-be scientist causing the menace, a bunch of blue collar heroes that are the only ones who want to save the city, a female scientist that discovers the problem but nobody listens, politicians who are breaking the law and not listening to reason, dimwits in an anti-terrorism unit, and a few extras whose only reason for existence is obviously to be victims. Two of the above serve as the obligatory divorced couple rekindling their romance while people get zapped by lava all around them.

Most imbecilic scenes: some magma burps a skull out, landing near some horrified witnesses, it's still (no, I'm not kidding) smoking like a piece of burnt toast. A guy opens a door, and lava pours out, like storage out of an over-filled closet. A fisherman catches a fish and says--oh never mind; you'd never believe it, anyway.

Anyone with an IQ over 30 would detect about a zillion scientific plot holes. If you want serious fare, skip this movie. If all you want is a cheesy disaster flick, with a lot of unintentional camp, then this one will fit the bill. Just be sure to have sea-sickness pills close at hand.

While the plot of the movie wasn't bad and almost plausible, the camera work was extremely distracting and a bit annoying. The camera person seemed to zoom in and out and all over the place for no apparent reason. Saw something similar to that camera work during the 1989 earthquake of Northern California while attempting to film the World Series. Enough to make one motion-sick. Too bad since the acting was okay and the general theme wasn't bad. Special effects were acceptable. The movie was entertaining as far as disaster movies go. Probably wouldn't see it again but worth a peek if you can get past the camera work.

Someone should write a book on how to make a Sci-Fi original movie. And Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York could be chapter one.

First question to the film makers: there were two fairly good Hollywood volcano movies in the 1990s. They weren't classic suspense / disaster films, but they had some ripping moments, good popcorn stuff. Did you really decide to make DZ:ViNW inferior to those films in every category? I mean, it must have been a conscious decision because that is the end product. It succeeds on not a single level.

Second question: since you have no inkling of how to build suspense, can't you admit that to yourself and give yourself an education; couldn't you at least hunker down with a dozen Hitchcock films and study how a master does it? He doesn't hit you over the head with LOTS of shouting of inanities ("It's going to blow," "We've got to get out of here," etc.) or have music hitting EVERY SINGLE MOMENT with some scene-to-scene scoring? Music is a spice, not the whole meal. DZ:ViNW's use of music is like chewing gritty pepper.

Did I mention "hitting"? My eyeballs were hit and hit and hit again with the most "look at me" use of photographic annoyances extant. Jiggle zoom in. Jiggle zoom out. Jiggle pan. Jiggle. Jiggle. Jiggle. And do it all every single second. It doesn't look like hand-held, either. It looks like the camera was attached to a rock polisher, a cake mixer, a pile driver – whatever was handy that could make the viewer queasy, annoyed, and distracted. So much for mounting tension.

And the poor actors (actually some pretty good actors). This brings me to question three: why not make it a silent picture since you have no ear for dialogue or how people actually speak and act in dramatic situations? Seriously, the best actors in the world can't make lead look like diamonds. Of course, caring about these actors in their roles is a joke. No matter how close they are to searing death, no matter how precarious their emotional circumstances, I could only chuckle.

To summarize: DZ:VINW is really no worse, no better than the other under-shoe feculence of the Sci-Fi Channel (not counting it's rather good series, Stargate and Battlestar).

I'm sure the film makers are nice people and will do good work elsewhere. But there's something about the Sci-Fi Channel that contractually forces talent to make dreck.

I've got to give Sarah Watson credit. She wrote a screenplay and somebody apparently paid good money for it. With that aside, let me say that this isn't a B-movie. It isn't even a C-movie. It may be the world's first D-movie.

Absolutely every character in this movie is an idiot. All the women act like little girls. One of the characters (a man, of course) is shot in the arm. After climbing a long ladder, he comes to a short ladder and says, "I can't climb it with my injured arm." Really? You did a pretty good job a few steps back. I've climbed ladders with a full bucket in one hand.

No use going into all the stupid, idiotic, irrational, unsafe, self-serving...did I say idiotic yet?...things the characters do.

Avoid this movie. It has no redeeming value and Ms. Watson ought to be ashamed of herself...all the way to the bank to cash her check.

This is the worst type of filming I have ever seen in my entire life. The person who filmed it kept zooming the camera in and out like they were investigative reporters. If you feel you wish to watch this movie, I would strongly suggest saving yourself the 97mins of your life and do something more productive. My personal rating for terrible acting and garbage filming: one(1) out of ten(10).

I had to sign up just to make a comment regarding this movie because I definitely wasted my money and my time on it and here I am doing what I can to save others the time and grief. Good luck! sorry if you feel in any way this is spam but I don't feel to write anymore things in relation to this crap movie. If I get banned/blacklisted, at least it will be for a good cause to warn others before hand!

Its kind of a cross between "Volcano" and "Armageddeon". A volcano erupts in a major city and the fate of millions lies in the hands of a team of ditch-diggers. This movie was just plain awful, even for a Sci-Fi movie. The special effects were pathetic and the acting was even worse. The very plot of the movie is lost on me and the movie is just impossible. I am a huge fan of B-movies and I am very entertained by some of the worst movies of all time. This movie, however, is just plain stupid. I expected more out of Michal Ironsides (Starship Troopers) and Alexandria Paul. The cast was decent, but the plot, special FX and acting were terrible.

Have I seen worse than Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York? Yes I have. Is it good? No, in fact it is really bad, at least in my opinion. The only reason why I haven't rated it any lower is that the acting is a little above average, though nothing great, especially from Michael Ironside. Everything else however was a mess, I was shocked at how bad the camera work and music were. The camera work was very distracting, almost as though it was trying to show off how many camera techniques it could do rather than compliment everything else, and I felt very dizzy watching it. The music isn't much better, very overbearing, in-your-face and completely devoid of any subtlety. The script is cheesy and forced more times than not, the story was decent enough in concept was very predictable and suspense-less in execution and the characters are no more different than the stereotypes that are here, there and everywhere in SyFy's movies. All in all, a near-disaster of a movie, where both my eyes and ears were feeling sensitive by the end. 2/10 Bethany Cox

This movie should be banned and the editors/producers blacklisted; the use of 9/11 footage to represent the volcano is both offensive and unprofessional. I love the "no animals were harmed" line at the end; apparently it's okay to show 3700 people, some of whom I knew, dying, apparently.

There are at least three scenes I saw where 9/11 footage was used; if the special effects look fake, they're made for the movie; if they look real, well, that's our friends and family members dying.

BUT that's not why it should be banned. It should be banned because it's actually **lamer** than the usual schlock Sci-Fi puts out... not quite down to the level of "the Langoliers" or "Dragon King" but darn close. Somebody clearly watched "Volcano" and "24" while writing, filming, and editing this movie, since its obviously trying to emulate them. I can forgive the bad circa-1985 special effects; everything else is so bad it's not even funny to laugh at.

and I don't mean the sulfur coming up through the vents.

The plot is as thin as the earth's crust after these dweebs drilled. Any death in this movie is deserved due to the bad acting.

The CG effects look cheap and cartoonish, the lame tie-in and obvious shot at the anti-terror task forces are ridiculous.

Other than the fact that the city of New York is facing total destruction, I found little of any redeeming value is this laugher.

Michael Ironside must really be desperate for money. The dude from Galactica needs to rethink his career choices after being pitched as an overzealous government type.

Dr Levering (Michael Ironside) is conducting underground geothermal experiments for new energy sources.

The deep underground drilling causes magma to spew beneath New York. Matt McLaughlin (Costas Mandylor) is concerned when his fellow workers die but no one takes him seriously. Levering keeps things hushed up as he has powerful backing.

However when more eruptions occur, Dr Susan Foxley (Alexandra Paul) is called into investigate. She is Matt's ex wife.

When the magma erupts, the workers are set alight but not when Levering is down there. He gets exactly half his face burned, he looks like a demented Phantom of the Opera. He seeks no medical attention for his burns and goes about with a gun in his hand.

If that is not bad enough, one man opens the door and lava spews out.

This is a cheap SyFy channel film. Lousy special effects, terrible story, bad acting. My son caught a bit of it and could not believe what he was watching.

Matt (Costas Mandylor) works in the underground pipelines of New York City, with a lot of other brave men and women. Usually, when the ground trembles, it means that the subway is passing overhead. But, one day, disaster strikes. Hot steam shoots out of some pipes and kills three of his co-workers. What is going on? Unfortunately, a misguided scientist, Dr. Levering (Michael Ironside) has been working on a geothermal experiment, at a local politician's urging. Although Levering thinks he has his bases covered, the deep drilling breaks into a magma layer, complete with fire and steam. Soon, a gentleman in Queens, who is working on his lawn, gets incinerated with a blast of flames from a sewer hole. Into the mess comes Dr. Susan (Alexandra Paul). She is a geologist and Matt's ex-wife. The mayor has asked her to look into the strange goings on beneath the earth. Natually, the two former spouses butt heads a few times, although Matt respects Susan's opinion. Will they save the city from more disaster? This film has some intriguing concepts but just a so-so delivery. Also, it has some rather violent scenes of death and destruction and may not be for everyone. However, the acting is rather good and so are the effects. But, the story is sometimes hard to follow, the lines are typical and the direction a wee bit above average. If you are a fan of disaster or science fiction films, by all means, seek this one out. Despite its weaknesses, it beats reruns every time.

Over Actors Theater can be so entertaining. Every possible cliché for a disaster movie, you would think that someone would say "But wait, that's been done." But no, they just went right ahead. I just had to finish it to see how bad it could get, Good for mocking and a good laugh. The actors tried to do the best they could, the girl scientist was very earnest and sincere. Michael Ironsides has never overacted so enthusiastically. He committed to the part and just went for it. I know he must have been rolling his eyes but it was never in the shot. That says a lot for this talented veteran actor. The special effects were low budget but one could certainly tell what it was they were going for. Watch this movie with friends and have comment contests. It will be a hoot.

Is there going to be a series of these now, like "Disaster Zone: Tidal Wave in Detroit" or "Disaster Zone: Earthquake in Indiana" or "Disaster Zone: NC State Basketball in the NCAA Tournament"?

Anyway, I hope so, because this was the best "Disaster" comedy I've seen since Volcano with Tommy Lee Jones (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120461/) and TV's 10.5 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364146/).

If you're looking for thrills and science, go rent a documentary. But if you are looking for laughs and "Science!", you've got the right movie.

Verdict: 6.0 on a rictor scale of 10 for sheer comedic value

http://spaces.msn.com/kidanubis/blog/cns!A69E4A1E1884991!234.entry

This made for sci-fi channel movie was so bad it was funny! Only watched it for Costas...and thank the Lord for Tivo allowing me to rush thru this campy B-Movie wanna be. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes had a better sub-plot than this laugh riot.

This movie used a lot of stock footage. What was disturbing was the shot of lower manhattan smoking....I am just SURE they used some 9-11 footage...and I HOPE they didn't...because that would be wrong!

The special effects were tolerable for a TV movie. Standard overacting by the extras in all the "disaster" scenes made this a watchable laugh...

Bet it's not what they intended though... (generous 3 out of 10)

Disaster Zone Volcano in NY is about a mad geologist that tries to harness geothermal power under NY to provide unlimited power. He does it under the disguise of a water tunnel and almost makes it. Instead, he unleashes the lava that starts destroying NY. Just like the original Volcano in LA, they find a way to deal with it. The acting just didn't quite make it for me, always a little too much or too little emotion. The characters just never became real to me. The effects were cheap, but adequate. Over all its not too much of a waste of time so I would watch it once just to say I did. Hopefully they will come out with one that's a little more original.

About what you expect of a TV disaster movie. Low budget effects, lots of flex hose and typical, ordinary dialog.

Best watched for killing time and mental floss. At least it is not aggressively bad so that you feel cheated if you watched it.

Characters are pretty standard, evil scientists taking short cuts, ex-lovers at odds with each other that must work together to save the world and so forth and so on.

Disaster warnings start small and build slowly so that the "man" is not aware of the problem until almost too late and then must turn to the "rebels" they have been trying to suppress because they don't want a panic or interrupt the annual picnic or whatever. Fill in the blank type plot. Only the details change like character names, actual source of the disaster, etc. but the plot is pretty much a routine formula you have seen over and over and over again.

Still for what it is, it is OK for a time filler and Paul is never hard to look at.