Volcano
Published 2025-03-15
Film info
- Title Volcano
- Director Mick Jackson
- Year 1997
- Run time 1hr 44m
- Genres Science Fiction, Drama, Action, Thriller
- Tagline The coast is toast
- Cast Tommy Lee Jones
An earthquake shatters a peaceful Los Angeles morning and opens a fissure deep into the earth, causing lava to start bubbling up. As a volcano begins forming in the La Brea Tar Pits, the director of the city’s emergency management service, working with a geologist, must then use every resource in the city to try and stop the volcano from consuming LA.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 2:03 | The guy doing one legged rollerblading has impressed me already. |
| 7:46 | He picked the wrong week to quit smoking. |
| 14:33 | That tunnel is too creepy. |
| 21:58 | How do you find out what's beneath a park? |
| 24:02 | "I'm a scientist, certainty is a big word." |
| 29:36 | Definitely learning lessons here - no pictures with glass in, no chandeliers above the bed. |
| 34:06 | Seeing lake water boiling would be so weird. |
| 37:06 | Ugh, looting. |
| 41:39 | This is literal 'floor is lava'. |
| 44:54 | "Because it's my responsibility." "So am I." Totally fair point, kid. |
| 53:16 | Escaping lava via fireman ladder was so tense! |
| 1:01:13 | The melting shoes really freaks me out. |
| 1:16:30 | Jerry is NOT a good man, it took an apocalypse to make him give up his racism. |
| 1:21:52 | "I want to be like Mike." Me too, having maps in your head like that is epic. |
| 1:32:55 | Slightly annoyed that they sent Anne Heche off on a stupid mission and she didn't even get to do anything heroic. |
| 1:35:57 | "Look at their faces, they all look the same." |
Thoughts
I had never particularly heard of this movie before but was browsing for 90s night movies, and this came up in a list of those films that are released simultaneously with another of almost the same plot (Dante's Peak in this case). So figured it was worth a watch and... it was a revelation! It's proper disaster movie stuff, and there are some slightly implausible moments, but it's also really good and draws to a moving conclusion where humanity comes together to fight for survival. Good stuff.
Rating: 5 / 5