Sadly Over-hyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This has the most brain-dead script of all time ever. The effects are mostly a little tacky but pretty cool. Not as good effects as Dante's Peak (1997) or The Day After Tomorrow (2004). The biggest fault is the fact that the whole movie is based on the most stupid premise ever. There are moments with dogs, children and even trains that are so painfully beyond belief that you just want to stick a volcano up your own bottom. Having said that there is fun to be had knowing that this is more ridiculous than Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings combined. Not knowingly campy, this is a shame.

Volcano is one of those rare 90s disaster movies. It could have been better, but it is what it is. The acting is well-done, the ash raining down looks realistic, however some volcano eruption scenes are clearly taken from documentary footage and simply added into this flick, special effects in the 90s wasn't as advanced as it is today so it makes sense why some of the scenes look so cheap.It's a good thing that Volcano isn't a CGI-fest, because they would not be able to pull that off, the story's main focus is more on the characters.Volcano has a positive trait, it shows teamwork / a city working together in the midst of danger.The directing and dialogue is great. Volcano is better than a lot of disaster movies of today.

Australian Free-to-air TV is in such a poor state that this movie was the best thing I could find tonight. This cliché-ridden piece seemed to have been written by 'my film student nephew' who 'has Final Draft on his computer' with the visual effects done by his mate who owns a pirated copy of After Effects. That's not to say that this film doesn't have its virtues. With a little extra modern day post-production this could be an excellent comedy instead of just an accidental one. Just have Mel Brooks tweak the script (not too much!), then CGI replace Tommy Lee Jones with Rick Moranis, give Anne Heche the voice of Joan Rivers and call it 'Lava Balls'.

Hollywood really knows who to exploit every nook and cranny of something don't they? After the success of Twister, Hollywood saw the profitability of this idea of natural disasters and exploited everything about until it was gone. While Volcano is a disaster film, it seems to keep itself from being a total disaster. The one upside to this is Tommy Lee Jones, the man can make any badly written character and make him durable. But where there is a good, there is a bad as well. What the heck was up with his daughter? Talk about an annoyingly badly written character. She was as pointless and good-for-nothing as you can get. She was whiny, needy, selfish, bratty, she held a teddy bear even though she's apparently 13 years old. Kid! Grow up! Or get a better writer! Because she alone made this barely unwatchable especially when she's in the film. I'm sure Gaby Hoffmann is a good actress but after seeing this there is no way she would be in any else. Next, the special effects are just what you would expect from a disaster film, not total garbage, but eh. Mick Jackson the director wasn't the right choice for this, if they got Jan de Bont maybe we'd have something. But then again, the premise is hard to pull off. It's easier to believe tornadoes tearing through houses and fields. In the end, this film is not worth your time and money. The big positive is Tommy Lee Jones, while the big negative is Gaby Hoffmann's character, and the CGI. Now to grade. Story: C- Characters: D Special Effects: C+ Music: B- Acting: C Directing: C Overall: C-