Dante’s Peak (1997)

Directed by Roger Donaldson. Starring Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, Charles Hallahan, Elizabeth Hoffman, Grant Heslov, Kirk Trutner, Tzi Ma, Arabella Field, Brian Reddy, Carol Androsky, Jeremy Foley, Jamie Renée Smith. [PG-13]

Vulcanologist Brosnan descends upon a small town built on the side of a dormant volcano that’s exhibiting seismic activity. Nobody heeds his urgent warnings to evacuate, the peak erupts, lots of stuff gets annihilated, the dog survives. Typically crummy disaster movie delivers the destruction with satisfying scale and uneven effects along with a handful of shameless laughs (don’t try claiming that Granny willingly jumping into an acidic lake isn’t a riot). The build-up and down-time between the bursts of lava and ash will test anyone’s patience, though the film does serve as a nice commercial for the automobile industry since it shows one vehicle driving while submerged several feet in water, and another one with tires that can power through fiery volcanic residue. Still better than the other volcano movie of 1997 (Volcano), if that matters.

32/100