Volcanologist Harry Dalton (Brosnan) and Mayor Rachel Wando (Hamilton), finally convince the unbelieving populace that the mountain they live next to is about to erupt and that they need to evacuate immediately, only to discover her two children have gone up the mountain to get their grandmother. With Earth’s clock racing against them, they must rescue the kids and grandma before the volcano explodes in a fury of flame and ash a million times more powerful than an atomic bomb.
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So, in the summer of 1997, it was the summer of volcanoes in Hollywood, as Volcano went up against Dante’s Peak. So which one would win? While Volcano was flashy, it was a bit too silly. Would Dante’s Peak do better?
Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton lead the cast in Dante’s Peak. Since both have experience with action flicks (Pierce as James Bond in Goldeneye and others, Linda with The Terminator franchise), it seems like they should be a good match in this film. Thankfully, they are. Unlike Volcano, this film gives the relationship between the two time to develop, and they have good chemistry together – even if it seems more evident on Linda’s side than with Pierce. The rest of the cast get much less screen time, but do a decent job of backing up the two main characters, although how believable they are varies wildly during the big sequences.
While Volcano tried to go for the extraordinary – with a quick eruption in downtown Los Angeles, Dante’s Peak takes things much slower, and makes it that much more believable. Gone is the quick pace and furious action that takes up most of the runtime of that other film. Here, the buildup is much more gradual, as Brosnan’s geologist isn’t believed leading up to his inevitable correctness. While the other film takes place over two days or so, this one stretches on a few weeks, giving time for the tension to build (with ominous warning signs) while giving the film the chance to flesh out its characters a little bit more. They aren’t deep characters by any means – but the situation they find themselves in later on in the film seems to be more believable thanks to the buildup time.
The special effects are solid in Dante’s Peak, just like they were in Volcano. The lava isn’t quite as bright (or as destructive) as the one from the other film, but there are also other threats (raging river, acidic water) that toss the characters into several different situations. In all cases, the effects, while mostly more subdued in this film, still are top notch, and help enhance the film, rather than overtaking it.
With Brosnan and Hamilton displaying some decent chemistry, and the slow boil leading to the eruption, Dante’s Peak feels like a more realistic volcano eruption than that portrayed in Volcano. While it seems like that film portrayed Mother Nature as the enemy (with a special concentration on the lava), Dante’s Peak really has no villain – just a small town caught up in forces beyond their control.
So who’s the winner? Dante’s Peak edges out Volcano in my book. However, each film is unique enough that even though they both deal with volcanoes, viewers should enjoy watching both – even back to back.
