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From Amazon.co.uk
The first of 1997's volcano disaster movies (the second being Volcano) was arguably the better of the two but both of them made for passable entertainment with some spectacular special effects to serve as icing on the stale cake. After all, Dante's Peak doesn't pretend to be anything more than an updated variation on a whole catalogue of disaster movie clichés. Despite all that, it's reasonably enjoyable. It's an added bonus that the script is just smart enough to allow Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton to play their roles with straight faces, never condescending to the audience of the formulaic story. He's a volcano expert from the US Geological Survey, and she's the mayor of a cosy Washington State town perched beneath a volcano that's about to blow. Tell-tale signs are everywhere, so evacuation must be carried out immediately. Of course, not everybody's eager to leave and even some of Brosnan's colleagues think his alarm is premature. This sets the stage for massive ash clouds, rivers of raging mud and molten rock, flattened forests and death-defying escapes by Brosnan, Hamilton and some (but not all) of her family, friends and townsfolk. So what if it's all pretty flaky ... and can a four-wheel-drive vehicle travel over fire and molten lava without bursting its tires? Don't ask too many questions and you'll find Dante's Peak to be (if you'll pardon the pun) a total blast. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Four years after the death of his fiancée in a volcanic eruption, vulcanologist Harry Dalton (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to investigate minor tremors in the town of Dante's Peak. He is attracted to the town's mayor, Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton), meeting her family and staying to help celebrate the town's Founder's Day. Although Dalton discovers two corpses while visiting the hot springs in the wood, his seismic equipment does not indicate that anything is wrong. Only when he discovers that the town's water supply is contaminated with sulphur does he realise that a lethal volcanic eruption is on the way.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Inspector Gadget
VINE™ VOICE
Format:HD DVD
The 'old-fashioned' disaster movie scenario enjoyed a brief resurgence in the latter half of the 90s. After the success of Twister and ID4, films like Hard Rain, Titanic, Armageddon and Deep Impact followed in its wake. Like the two competing asteroid movies, Dante's Peak was in competition with the imaginatively named Volcano as THE Lava flow of 1997. Which one is better? Well, comparing the two is like comparing an atomic blast to a popping pimple.
Pierce Brosnan is Harry Dalton, a Vulcanologist (or James Bond in disguise if you want) who predicts a major eruption in the quaint Pacific-Northwestern town of Dante's Peak. No one wants to listen to him since the town has just been named the 2nd most desirable place to live in America and is in the early stages of a thriving economy. It's the politics from Jaws all over again. Despite being shouted down by his superiors, Harry sticks around to keep his eye on the imposing mountain and woo Mayor Wando (Linda Hamilton), who is the only one who believes the 4000-year dormant volcano might blow its top.
If you've seen one disaster movie, you've seen 'em all in terms of character importance. Yes, it's bloody obvious who is going to die, some of these people might as well have a death clock counting down stuck on their foreheads. And the panicking idiot mobs don't deserve anything less firey. When will nameless extras learn that following the crowd isn't the best way? I guess this is the weakest part of Dante's Peak, it never really distances itself from that single, eternal cliché of disaster films.
But the film is really nothing but a showcase for special effects and it does them surprisingly well.... Read more ›
Pierce Brosnan is Harry Dalton, a Vulcanologist (or James Bond in disguise if you want) who predicts a major eruption in the quaint Pacific-Northwestern town of Dante's Peak. No one wants to listen to him since the town has just been named the 2nd most desirable place to live in America and is in the early stages of a thriving economy. It's the politics from Jaws all over again. Despite being shouted down by his superiors, Harry sticks around to keep his eye on the imposing mountain and woo Mayor Wando (Linda Hamilton), who is the only one who believes the 4000-year dormant volcano might blow its top.
If you've seen one disaster movie, you've seen 'em all in terms of character importance. Yes, it's bloody obvious who is going to die, some of these people might as well have a death clock counting down stuck on their foreheads. And the panicking idiot mobs don't deserve anything less firey. When will nameless extras learn that following the crowd isn't the best way? I guess this is the weakest part of Dante's Peak, it never really distances itself from that single, eternal cliché of disaster films.
But the film is really nothing but a showcase for special effects and it does them surprisingly well.... Read more ›
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Dante's Peak is, first, last and foremost, a disaster movie, and consequently it has been comparatively forgotten. But it is a very good disaster movie, one that, whilst containing all the key cliches and stereotyped disaster-flick elements, still manages to be inventive, exciting and visually amazing.
Pierce Brosnan (!!) plays a volcanologist sent to monitor seismic activity on a long-dormant volcano in the Cascade mountains (Mount St Helens, anyone?). Then scary things start to happen (I won't say what they are) and he becomes convinced that the volcano is going to erupt. Of course, nobody believes him, especially not his colleagues, who seem more interested in drinking cups and cups of Linda Hamilton's character's coffee. He still persuades them to call a town meeting to discuss escape plans. And, during the meeting, guess what happens...
Nothing happens and they all go home.
No, I was kidding.
The actors are generally very good, with Brosnan and Hamilton playing the lead roles without going over the top. The film also has a terribly sinister scene where they are all in a metal boat singing to cheer the kids up and they realise that some bad, bad things are happening to their boat. It's really quite scary.
Aside from the occasional blot on the geological copybook with some things happening that are scientifically impossible, Dante's Peak is great-and the special effects are incredible.
Pierce Brosnan (!!) plays a volcanologist sent to monitor seismic activity on a long-dormant volcano in the Cascade mountains (Mount St Helens, anyone?). Then scary things start to happen (I won't say what they are) and he becomes convinced that the volcano is going to erupt. Of course, nobody believes him, especially not his colleagues, who seem more interested in drinking cups and cups of Linda Hamilton's character's coffee. He still persuades them to call a town meeting to discuss escape plans. And, during the meeting, guess what happens...
Nothing happens and they all go home.
No, I was kidding.
The actors are generally very good, with Brosnan and Hamilton playing the lead roles without going over the top. The film also has a terribly sinister scene where they are all in a metal boat singing to cheer the kids up and they realise that some bad, bad things are happening to their boat. It's really quite scary.
Aside from the occasional blot on the geological copybook with some things happening that are scientifically impossible, Dante's Peak is great-and the special effects are incredible.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
The best of the slew of 90s disaster movies that cropped up after Twister did blockbuster business, Dante's Peak may offer surprisingly little lava but it's certainly the most spectacular onscreen volcanic eruption to date and offers more than enough devastation and jeopardy for even the most hardened fan of the genre to feel they're getting their money's worth as the Second Most Desirable Place to Live in the USA (population under 20,000) goes up in smoke.
Most of the usual clichés are there, but they're played rather more credibly than is the norm in these kind of pictures. Rather than simply offering evil property developers trying to hush up the warning signs of an impending eruption at a small town's nearby volcano to protect their investment a la Irwin Allen, it gives sound and rational reasons for not putting the town on alert and equally valid human reasons for why the evacuation is delayed long after eruption becomes inevitable. Rather than pepper the cast with big-name but now-affordable actors in cameos it concentrates on a fairly small group of characters - Pierce Brosnan's volcanologist and his team and Linda Hamilton's mayor and her family - and takes its time to get to know them and the town, which prevents it from spreading itself too thin once the fireworks start. When they do, it's not the run-of-the-mill creeping lava that's the film's biggest threat but the huge pyroclastic cloud of gas, ash and burning rock, though along the way they have to brave crashing helicopters (every disaster movie must have one), acid lakes, burning roads and flooding bridges.... Read more ›
Most of the usual clichés are there, but they're played rather more credibly than is the norm in these kind of pictures. Rather than simply offering evil property developers trying to hush up the warning signs of an impending eruption at a small town's nearby volcano to protect their investment a la Irwin Allen, it gives sound and rational reasons for not putting the town on alert and equally valid human reasons for why the evacuation is delayed long after eruption becomes inevitable. Rather than pepper the cast with big-name but now-affordable actors in cameos it concentrates on a fairly small group of characters - Pierce Brosnan's volcanologist and his team and Linda Hamilton's mayor and her family - and takes its time to get to know them and the town, which prevents it from spreading itself too thin once the fireworks start. When they do, it's not the run-of-the-mill creeping lava that's the film's biggest threat but the huge pyroclastic cloud of gas, ash and burning rock, though along the way they have to brave crashing helicopters (every disaster movie must have one), acid lakes, burning roads and flooding bridges.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By bernie
VINE™ VOICE
Format:HD DVD
This movie is a good disaster movie with all the elements of a disaster movie. There are all the stereotype disaster characters form the "I'll ride it out" to the "You are scaring my customers".
Naturedly the person that knows what will happen (Pierce Brosnan) has no credibility with the authorities. Then the disaster happens and he must save the beautiful (Linda Hamilton) and family. At first indifferent soon to become enamored.
I do not want to go too much into detail as you will lose the shock value. I can tell you it involves a volcano and a budding love story.
HD was finally pushed out by Blu-ray but any way you watch a big screen adds to the viewing pleasure without adding or subtracting from the story.
Naturedly the person that knows what will happen (Pierce Brosnan) has no credibility with the authorities. Then the disaster happens and he must save the beautiful (Linda Hamilton) and family. At first indifferent soon to become enamored.
I do not want to go too much into detail as you will lose the shock value. I can tell you it involves a volcano and a budding love story.
HD was finally pushed out by Blu-ray but any way you watch a big screen adds to the viewing pleasure without adding or subtracting from the story.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dante's Peak,
It's a really good disaster movie. I used to have it on video, and decided it was about time I got the DVDversion, as I enjoyed it so much.
Published 1 month ago by Mrsecumiskey
3.0 out of 5 stars
Slight improvement over DVD but is it worth replacing DVD?
I wont review the film as this is a back catalog film and you probably are just looking to replace your old DVD version. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Gooding
3.0 out of 5 stars
for a brainless evening
More nonsence, just don't take it to serious and enjoy what it has to offer.
You can do much worse than this.
You can do much worse than this.
Published 2 months ago by Johnny
5.0 out of 5 stars
1st class disaster!
I loved this film from the first moment I saw it! My partner is alson into disaster movies. Bargain purchase and well worth a watch.
Published 3 months ago by Petcook
5.0 out of 5 stars
An addition to my all time favourites shelf
This is one of my all time favourites, I never tire of watching it and it was a real treat to watch iy in blue ray
Published 3 months ago by susan l clarke
4.0 out of 5 stars
dantes peak
Very good film. Good vlaue for money. I Love Pierce Brosnan. Think hes lovely!! bought for boyfriend for valentines day.
Published 3 months ago by Kim Drury
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dante's Peak
This is a very good film and a great edition to my dvd collection. A must see for any Pierce Brosnan fans.
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Bleddyn H. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
DVD
The DVD arrived quickly in good packaging, which was good cos it eas a last minute xmas present.very good film
Published 4 months ago by Wakles
4.0 out of 5 stars
dantes peak
One of the better disaster movies. Pierce Brosnon gives a realistic and compelling performance as the volcanologist trying to save a town from disaster.
Published 5 months ago by muriel richardson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dante's Peak [DVD] [1997]
Pierce Brosnan
Would recommend to friends n Family & other fans of Pierce he his lush & the film is brilliant
Would recommend to friends n Family & other fans of Pierce he his lush & the film is brilliant
Published 5 months ago by Ru
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