User reviews

There is a formula for disaster movies and books. An insightful scientist sees The Bad Thing is going to happen, various foils keep him from warning people (often with sillier motivation than in this film), we get to know a bunch of average Joe characters who survive or do not survive the disaster. Earthquake movies, movies about made-up natural disasters that cannot happen, asteroid movies, even some nuclear holocaust films (like The Day After, unique in how many survive). It's a hackneyed formula, but it also works, and nothing else really does work as well for disaster plots. It was followed here.

The special effects were terrific in the day, and they still hold up very very well in 2012.

For a Hollywood film, the science was pretty good. I actually cringed back at the shots of Hawaii type basalt floes (just...no), and the ashfall cleared up nicely whenever they wanted a wide shot, which anyone in Yakima could tell you it really doesn't do, and the boat and drive-over-lava scenes were silly, and if you paddle a boat (through acid or not) with one hand, it's not going to go straight, and our heroes didn't need to cover their mouths in ashfall (meaning, IRL, the ash would turn to concrete in their lungs and they'd suffocate). However, all that having been complained about, much else was very accurate: what gets tested for by volcanologists, what monitoring stations of the day looked like, what some of the warning signs of a coming eruption might be. Most Hollywood film reviews by me on science-based movies are nothing but a list of what they did wrong, with no "however" of accurate bits to follow that list, so kudos for doing it more than half right.

A pleasant diversion, very pretty to look at.

This "disaster film" had some of the best special effects of its day (almost 10 years ago). I have to say "of its day" because technology has made CGI become dated quickly these days.

This film is all about a volcano, a la Mt. St. Helen's, erupting and killing people and destroying a small town below it. Some of the scenes were just jaw- dropping and, at least for the first-time viewer, a lot of suspense over whether the main characters of the story will survive it.

Of course, there are some credibility gaps in here, things that just could not happen such as little boy drive van up a mountain (when his feet wouldn't reach the foot pedals!) but you just go along for the ride and enjoy the tension and special effects even if the story gets a little hokey.

It might not be the most intelligent film, but it's very entertaining 109 minutes, and that's the name of the business. It's good escapist fare, and that's all. It's worth two looks.

First watched Dante's Peak when it was released in 1997 and as a kid thought it was brilliant. Just watched it again and I have to say, wow. It is a great film, full of entertainment and action. Yes it is cheesy at times and bits are a bit far fetched e.g. driving over lava, but putting that a side it is a fantastic film.

Back in 1997, when I was still a carefree and stressless teenager, there suddenly came two volcano movies in one year. I enjoyed them both at the time, but all the critics and movie-going audiences unanimously claimed this "Dante's Peak" was much better than "Volcano". They were right.

Now that I re-watched them both again, shortly after one another, "Dante's Peak" is definitely the superior achievement, mainly thanks to the better and far more plausible script, but also the special effects are more splendid. What I also didn't realize in 1997, because I was too young and because I am European, is that "Dante's Peak" bears a lot resemblance with the factual events of the Mount St. Helens eruption as they occurred between end of March and mid-May 1980.

Not only does director Roger Donaldson make use of the actual Mount St. Helens craters as filming locations, but there are also many parallels with the series of events as they took place in 1980. Similar to St. Helens, Dante's Peak is the name of a quiet and peaceful little town in Washington state, located at the bottom of a beautiful volcano that has been dormant for nearly 150 years, and believed to remain like that. One geologist/volcanologist also predicts the eruption and forewarns the local authorities, but hardly anybody takes him seriously. And, last but not least, here as well the human death toll unnecessarily increases because stubborn elderly people refuse to leave their mountaintop homes when the volcano erupts. By the way, if you enjoyed "Dante's Peak", I warmly recommend seeking out the obscure 1981 disaster-movie "St. Helens" directed by Ernest Pintoff.

Disaster movies can be a fun way to spend some time idle, although most are not particularly cinematically remarkable. This movie fits that description well. The action takes place in a small rural village that has just been considered a great place to live in the US, but lives in the shadow of a sleeping volcano. What no one knows is that this volcano appears to be in full swing and threatens to explode.

The movie quickly creates tension among the audience, and it serves well to grab our attention. I am not the best person to judge the script's ability to be true to the scientific facts underlying a volcanic eruption, I just accept what I saw tacitly, but I admit the possibility the film is not very true to science. The initial half is slower and the action is concentrated on the final half, which is basically a race to escape the volcano. There are some loose ends and inconsistent details, like that scene where a girl, who doesn't even reach the car's pedals, can drive off in a 4-4 jeep.

Pierce Brosnan was convincing in his starring role, while Linda Hamilton made an effort but is always in his shadow. Either way, they are the ones who leverage the movie. The volcano, as it happens in such cases, is almost a character in its own right. Technically, the film was entitled to the best sound and special effects that existed in 1997... but the quick advances in film make it look old-fashioned to many today. Personally, I liked what I saw.

It's not an excellent movie and it's far from being the life movie of anyone involved, it has a dubious script and unbelievable scenes where (as always happens in these movies) some characters escapes from death by a hair. But it's still one of the best disaster movies of the late 1990s, it's fun and entertains the public well.

More than two decades later, this is still one of my favorite disaster films, and my all-time favorite volcano movie. The visual effects are sensational - even by today's standards.

The film grips you from the opening and never lets go. The suspense remains throughout. The characters are believable and likable, and the chemistry between Linda Hamilton and Pierce Brosnan was really good. As with all disaster movies, there are a few cliched moments, but it was still exhilarating and top notch entertainment. This is an all round excellent production and a classic in the disaster genre.

Exactly same plot, town politicos more interested in tourist money, one man believes a disaster happening, little kids in jeopardy, young couples about to have sex end up dead and so on.

That being said, I like Pierce Bronson and Linda Hamilton, even though their talents are wasted on this movie.

If nothing else on tv, work day done and want to just relax, its an ok distraction.

The 'old-fashioned' disaster movie scenario enjoyed a brief resurgence in the latter half of the 90s. After the success of Twister and ID4, films like Hard Rain, Titanic, Armageddon and Deep Impact followed in its wake. Like the two competing asteroid movies, Dante's Peak was in competition with the imaginatively named Volcano as THE Lava flow of 1997. Which one is better? Well, comparing the two is like comparing an atomic blast to a popping pimple.

Pierce Brosnan is Harry Dalton, a Vulcanologist (or James Bond in disguise if you want) who predicts a major eruption in the quaint Pacific-Northwestern town of Dante's Peak. No one wants to listen to him since the town has just been named the 2nd most desirable place to live in America and is in the early stages of a thriving economy. It's the politics from Jaws all over again. Despite being shouted down by his superiors, Harry sticks around to keep his eye on the imposing mountain and woo Mayor Wando (Linda Hamilton), who is the only one who believes the 4000-year dormant volcano might blow its top.

If you've seen one disaster movie, you've seen 'em all in terms of character importance. Yes, it's bloody obvious who is going to die, some of these people might as well have a death clock counting down stuck on their foreheads. And the panicking idiot mobs don't deserve anything less firey. When will nameless extras learn that following the crowd isn't the best way? I guess this is the weakest part of Dante's Peak, it never really distances itself from that single, eternal cliché of disaster films.

But the film is really nothing but a showcase for special effects and it does them surprisingly well. Made before the extreme popularity of CGI, Dante's Peak has a lot of real-life destruction, in-camera effects and stunt-work. Yes, there is a fair bit of CGI and for a 10-year-old film they still hold up really well. All Volano (Zzzz...) had to offer was a very, very slight lava flow and an unintentionally hilarious scene with a melting man but with Dante's Peak we get earthquakes, boiled skinny dippers, lakes of acid, ash blizzards that create a unique atmosphere, thunder and lightning, red hot boulders raining down from the sky, mudslides, lava (of course), a massive pyroclastic cloud and lots of deep, deep bass sound effects.

It's not a life-changing film by any means, but as disaster movies go it's one of the best, has an occasionally spooky score and entertains really well despite Brosnan taking it all so seriously. I would have given it a higher rating if they killed the dog (more original) and deleted the annoying Grant Heslov's utterly pointless character.

What you get from "Dante's Peak" is a pretty typical disaster movie that adds little to that broad "genre." Dante's Peak is a little town in the state of Washington that's nestled against a mountain. It's celebrating the fact that it's been named the "Second Best Place to Live In The United States With A Population Under 20,000." They'll need a huge plaque for the town hall just to get all the words on it. Well, actually they won't. Because there's not going to be a town hall - or a town - for much longer. It turns out that the mountain is a volcano that's getting ready to blow its top.

The main characters are Harry Dalton (Pierce Brosnan) - a geologist with the US Geological Survey who realizes that the mountains about to explode - and Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton) - the mayor of the town. The big question is whether to prepare the town for evacuation. There's just been a company that's made a huge investment, and evacuating because of a potential volcanic eruption won't look very good. Profits before safety, you know - kind of like "Jaws" and other movies. The movie pushes the typical buttons. Rachel has a couple of kids who do something stupid and have to be saved and an ornery mother in law who won't take advice and there's a cute dog too. I was actually more worried about poor Roughy than anyone else in this.

Special effects were OK. Performances were OK. Story was typical for a disaster film, although it seemed a little bit long. It's not better or worse than most of them. I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to watch it, but it works if you have some time to kill. (5/10)

Yes, there are some cheesy, hollywoodish moments in this movie, but the actors bring enough charisma and presence to hold the story together. Pierce Brosnan makes a convincing scientist, whose passion and desire to protect the townspeople plays off nicely with Mayor Linda Hamilton's similar concerns.

But what I most want to say is that the volcano itself was both believable and accurate. So I want to commend the filmmakers for having enough integrity to make an entertaining film within the boundaries of scientific accuracy. And face it, you don't go to a movie like Dante's Peak to see insightful drama, or peer deep into the human psyche. The people and the volcano play off each other very nicely. It's not often you get a film with both chemistry and physics.

Decided to view this picture only because Pierce Brosnan was starring in the film and greatly enjoyed his acting skills besides his appearing as James Bond. Pierce Brosnan,(Harry Dalton),"The Matador",'05, has a bad experience with the death of his wife during a volcano eruption and stayed in his profession as a geologist. Harry discovers from his charts that their could very well be another volcano problem effecting a small popular town. Linda Hamilton,(Rachel Wando),"The Kid & I ",'05 is the mayor and store owner of this town, who has a boy and a girl and is divorced. A romantic spark happens between Linda and Harry and the story develops into a monster of a tale. There is plenty of good action and it really keeps you on the edge of your seats. Pierce & Linda gave outstanding performances and the photography was great through out the entire picture. Very Entertaining

Near a picturesque little town in the American West, an inactive volcano decides to become hyper active. And, as you would expect for a disaster movie, chaos ensues.

The film's first half acquaints viewers with the two main characters, played by Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton. We also get introduced to the town, and get a tour of its main attraction, the photogenic mountain that is about to wake up. The second half is the chaos.

For people who like action films, "Dante's Peak" is a fairly good choice. The visuals, the sound, and the special effects are reasonably engaging. There's lots of exciting drama, and the film's second half is fast paced.

But, if you are looking for a credible story, go elsewhere. The formulaic screenplay is bland and unimaginative; and, it is full of cinematic clichés. Of course, that is a problem with most films in the disaster genre. The stories and plot elements are basically the same, just different disaster: tornado, burning skyscraper, sinking ship, earthquake, or (in this case) volcano. I would not say "Dante's Peak" is a film disaster. But, its screenplay is so cookie-cutter as to be a virtual clone of every disaster film that has gone before it.

Dante's Peak spends much of the opening half of the film building the characters and setting the scene for disaster, and it definitely helps you identify and care about the characters involved. The story concentrates mainly on Linda Hamilton who is the mayoress of Dante's Peak, along with her family; and of course on Pierce Brosnan who is sent to investigate the seismic activity in this quaint little town.

The events build steadily in this movie, eventually reaching a fantastic climax that is very realistic to watch. Dante's Peak is very dramatic and has a mild dose of sentimentality that fits seamlessly into the story.

Make no mistake, this movie is really well made and is very enjoyable to watch, but be warned; if you like your disaster movies done gung-ho style it may disappoint you.

7/10

The first time I saw this movie I thought it quite good, especially the roller coaster ride of the last hour or so. I saw it again and thought it not very good at all and now having seen it recently, I not bad, but not great either. It's a well done disaster movie with one challenge after another to survive being thrown at the main characters. This roller coaster ride really pulled me in and even reminded me of the very well done remake of The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford. I'll admit some of the situations are a little hard to believe, but at least they keep the film from being boring.

The chemistry between Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, while not incredible, is still there. Also enjoyable was how the film makes use of its small town setting, including in the casting characters you'd expect to find in a small town: the female gossip, the gruff, but dedicated sheriff, and the more business-minded don't-rock-the-boat councilman. Finally, Harry (Brosnan) and Paul Dreyfus's band of colleagues also prevent the movie from being flat, but are a little too reminiscent of the characters from Twister to really leave their own mark.

Also what impressed me was some of the camera work, which I think isn't given enough credit. There are a number of composite shots of the erupting volcano with the reflection (probably understood to be from a truck's window) of Rachel (Hamilton) looking back in horror that are quite well done. And the digital editing in of the volcano is also well done as well as some of the panoramas.

A smaller problem I had with the movie is the development of Harry and Rachel's relationship. Initially their flirtations and the initial "getting to know each other" are quite cute. But I can't help but think why Rachel, who has been a small-town girl her whole life would be interested in someone like Harry who clearly states a that his job isn't exactly conducive to settling down. Sure Harry is everything her ex-husband isn't and it's obvious that the both of them are lonely to a degree, but it doesn't seem to me that a woman as sensible and who feels as great a responsibility as Rachel (to her kids, to the town, to her business) would find that to be enough. Also, Harry seems to get over the touchy subject of his dear departed Marianne to start making passes at Rachel in her kitchen quite quickly.

My biggest problem with the movie is the writing, which is so bad in some places that it really brings down the parts in the movie where it is good. Harry's line about sex being like riding a bicycle because once you learn you never forget is laughable. Some of the Wando children's lines I found to be lacking in substance too and almost condescending to the viewer. But, as I said, not all the writing is bad: an example is the excellent delivery of a reference to Pompei by one of Harry and Paul's colleagues and another's excitement over Rachel's regular coffee deliveries.

In the end, when this movie is bad, it's bad, but in general it's good.

Saw this a video sale this week for a $1. Wifey was stoked as her favourite movie genre is "natural disasters".

The movie revolves around volcano expert Harry (Brosnan), who decides to go and take a look at a volcano in a small US town where there seems to be some minimal activity. He is expecting this just to be a routine check, but once he starts taking some PH tests, things don't look so good. Then he finds some dead bodies in a hot spring and things look decidedly worse. He warns the town Mayor (Hamilton) the old volcano looks like she's gonna blow and she should look at evacuating the town ASAP. Just before this is about to happen, Harry's boss rocks into town, playing the time-old boss who doesn't take heed of the advice of someone smarter than him. Will the evacuation be too late? Will Harry and the Mayor get romantically involved? Will Harry again be tormented by a volcano? Will Nanna survive? Will the end be predictable? See it and find out.

I don't know why the disaster movies some of which are even well-made get so poor ratings on IMDB. I mean do the critics or viewers expect to watch Scarface or the Godfather while watching a movie on a Hurricane or a volcanic eruption? Dante's Peak like many other good disaster movies have been rated so poorly that many will not take much interest in watching it. But take my words, it is fascinating. Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton display wonderful chemistry and that is one of the key factors you will like the movie a lot. The Volcano definitely is the protagonist here and the shots of the eruptions, magma flow, ash splashing- all are believable. The movie maintains its momentum throughout and the scientific explanations are not at all discardable. The initial shots of the picturesque town are mesmerizing while the shots of the wrath of nature are stressful. There are a few emotional scenes here and there. Overall, it is a movie not to be missed if you love this genre. Do not expect a Jaws here, you will be fooled. Expect only what it promises and it surely delivers that. 7 out of 10.

Dante's Peak is based on the magic formula that Hollywood has used already so many times before for this kind of disaster movies. Apparently the studio's in Hollywood believe that we all are nothing but simple minds who don't like to watch a movie that's at least a little bit challenging.

I have to admit that the graphics really look nice. The eruption of the volcano is really very well done. Even about the "scientific" facts and words used in the movie I will not complain, apart from some minor things like a car driving over lava without catching fire. Overall it all seems realistic and that's not always very evident in Hollywood. But the main problem that I have with the movie is that it has really nothing new to offer.

A scientist is send to a marvelous, almost perfect little village to investigate a neighboring volcano that has already been dormant for thousands of years. But of course the volcano is getting active again and our beloved scientist, who's falling in love with a local beauty (the local coffee shop owner and mayor of the village), warns the authorities that a disaster will be inevitable if they don't react immediately. Of course no-one believes him and the disaster happens.

We all know what happens, some people die, but our main characters will survive the horror. No, if you are looking for something new, you better switch to something else, because you'll not find it in this movie. I give it a 5,5/10, which isn't even too bad for a disaster movie.

I think in between those years i have watched it numerous times.

CGI has got better but to the point where it seems a little unreal, this doesn't.

Daft plot points (we still get plenty of them) but generally a really watchable disaster movie.

Dante's Peak was released a year after Independence Day which set new standards in destruction of buildings. Unfortunately, disaster films became fashionable (Twister was released in 1996) and two were released in 1997 that had exploding volcanoes.

This one regarded as the better of the two as it had James Bond in it.

The film starts brightly enough. Brosnan plays a workaholic volcanologist, Harry Dalton who has trauma issues. He is sent to a small town in Washington State. He soon discovers that a dormant volcano might be showing signs of coming to life.

Harry has a warm relationship with the town's mayor (Linda Hamilton.) The town of Dante's Peak is in danger. However some of the townsfolk who seemed to have formerly resided in Amity Island 20 years earlier before a great white shark attacked do not want to scare off the tourists.

Dalton's boss is all for keeping things quiet and not scare off people.

However the volcano does erupt putting lives at risk. Dalton and the Mayor with her family must evade the oncoming lava.

The set up is good but rather corny. Brosnan's work colleagues are a little bit too hip. The special effects were the best part of the film when the volcano erupts and damages the town with very good miniature effects and CGI. Although the CGI has aged over the years.

The film itself is a little hokey, the script rather shaky and maybe it needed another draft or two. The conclusion seemed rather rushed.