Volcano

The 1990s in Hollywood was an era of, among other things, stupid disaster "blockbusters" that worked as naturally in the cinema as Marvel movies do today. Volcano in particular is one of those cute blockbusters with a narration that wouldn’t be taken seriously today, but in its time and with its financial possibilities, it's probably the most entertainingly made bunch of clichés ever. Enormous nostalgia... (03.03.2012)

Volcano is one of those disaster films that completely abandon any attempt to frame their "drama" within even a minimally credible context. The creators assume that viewers have never seen volcanic activity and primarily know nothing about it, or they don't care as long as they receive the usual dose of genre clichés along with a few star actors. The direction is technically skilled, but that doesn't compensate for the crystalline stupidity of the script. I occasionally give similar cheap B-movie projects a second star for unintended humor, but, for heaven's sake, a blockbuster with a budget nearing 100 million dollars, with such a crew and cast, should look different... Overall impression: 25%. (20.01.2008)

Volcano is one of those films I vividly remember from my days of frequenting the video rental store, where I watched pretty much everything. I’m not sure what exactly drew me in, but I know I rented it more than once. Despite the typical disaster movie plot, it has some likable characters, a decent flow, and even the effects weren’t too bad for the time. That said, it’s still a pretty average disaster flick—one of many from that era. (24.11.2010)