Il vulcano: in fuga da Whakaari

How much risk is acceptable risk? How well informed are you before you take your family on an adventure excursion? Risk cannot be avoided otherwise you will have no experiences worth living for but where is the tipping point? In retrospect it seems that these excursions should not have been allowed but hindsight is 20/20. As a person who studies risk for a living, my only advice is to take risks that are known but avoid the unknown. I recommend watching this documentary for this reason; to give you food for thought. Considering it was only 3 years ago I commend the participants for their conteributions and the makers for their discretion.

I appreciate these victims willing to go on camera and share their story. It would be incredibly difficult to recount their experience.

To those who have left a review saying there isnt enough camera footage and what footage we do have is blurry - what is wrong with you? This is not a Hollywood film with perfect scenes for your enjoyment.

I personally found the footage and the audio to be terrifying.

The helicopter pilots who went out of their way and did everything they did to help, are absolute hero's.

Whist hard to watch, I highly recommend watching it so you understand what happened that day. And come away appreciating your own life and the force of nature.

As "The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari" (2022 release; 98 min) opens, we are introduced to a small community on the North Island of New Zealand. Thirty miles off the coast lies Whakaari, or "White Island", one of the most active volcanoes in the world, and a popular tourist attraction. It is "December 9, 2019" as tourists arrive on the island... At this point we are less than 10 min into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from director Rory Kennedy, who just earlier this year made the excellent "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing". Here she reflects on that fateful day in December, 2019, when a group of tourists visiting Whakaari find themselves trapped when the volcano erupts. Let me admit up front that I had not heard of this tragedy before seeing this. A couple of things struck: first and foremost, the beauty of that island (someone remarks "it's like landing on the moon"), resulting in absolutely stunning photography (and immediately wanting to add this island to my "bucket list" of places to visit). But also this: there is a reason why the island is called "the most active volcano in the world", as this type of eruption apparently happens with regularity (as in: also in 2016, also in 2013, etc.). It is telling that after the 2019 eruption, the island was closed permanently to visitors, Along the way, we get lots of talking heads, including tourists who survived, first responders, etc.

"The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari" had a brief US theatrical release, and started streaming on Netflix this weekend, where I caught it. In and of itself there is nothing "revolutionary" about this disaster documentary, but watching the footage of this far flung location, literally at the end of the world, makes this worthwhile. Of course don't take my word for it, so I readily encourage you to check it out and draw your own conclusion.

Honest and balanced but can't help feeling the victims deserved tough questions to be asked about the lack of early warning systems, lack of requirement for appropriate safety equipment to be carried or stored on the island. The survivors bravery for telling their stories was incredible and the creators deserve credit for sharing them so honestly. Have to hope that other similar volcano tourism operations around have taken note and adjusted safety protocols accordingly. It may be many years before people go back but I suspect it will happen eventually and no doubt be very different when it happens.

I thought this documentary was really well done for such a horrific tragedy for those involved. It was so nice to see the bravery of those who helped without hesitation. It was a bit long, but I didn't mind.

It is awful and tragic what happened. No one probably should've been on the island with the alleviated risk, but it is an active volcano. I would've expected these people to do some research on their own or ask questions before taking a trip to an active volcano to determine if they thought it was "safe". I don't think they can blame anyone for what happened. They chose to be there. There is obviously always going to be a risk when it comes to nature. Though we have amazing technology, we can't always predict when a natural disaster will happen.