Movie Review - Volcano (1997)

 A volcano appears in Los Angeles. Okay, lets suspend disbelief here and embrace the concept of ‘What If?’. Now was that so difficult? Well it’s not difficult for me the fan of the disaster movie. LA takes a beating in this movie. Damage in the billions of dollars but not a lot on the body count with only about 100 dead. Yes, I’m a ghoul. Lets hear it for mayhem.

What’s not to love about Tommy Lee Jones? He can play almost anything with a straight face. You have to give the man credit for finishing a project. He plays the local manager for LA’s disaster services. Disaster is his life. He takes it very seriously. And he follows his gut which may seem foolish, but serves him well in the end. The hero of the day and aging or not he’s still eye candy with a sexy drawl.

We all know that California is on a fault line and prone to earthquakes. It is believed at some point California is going to fall into the ocean so now is the time to buy future beachfront property in Nevada. Or not. Volcano is a good disaster movie. Lava is not particular about what it eats. Prada tastes just like the store brand to its taste buds. What better place to start than Wilshire Blvd? Personally I would have picked Rodeo drive but that’s just me. The La Brea tar pits burst into flame spewing lava balls in all directions. Ya gotta love the effects.

Mr. Jones has to deal with a disaster he had little knowledge of. Anne Heche plays the role of the geologist that finds him answers he has to try to work with. She was okay in the role of Amy Barnes the geologist speaking with authority on her subject but there was a complete lack of chemistry between the two main characters. I think it would have given the movie more dimension with some sort of connection.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the movie every time I watch it. Lots of action and destruction. It is a very good movie for stress. All that destruction is a great distraction from causing mayhem locally. The neighbors kind of frown on that. And my favorite scene? That would be the fountain of lava spewing up next to the hospital followed by the precision drop of a building to act as a damn against the lava flow to save all those injured people. We will of course ignore the fact that a precision drop (as stated in the movie) takes weeks to plan. We will also ignore the mystery of how Kelly and the little boy ended up so far down the street and right into the path of danger.

Great movie and in my opinion worth watching more than once. Like many of my reviews, it’s a movie I own and watch.