Volcano

I remember seeing this movie as a pre-teen and that it was an entertaining experience for me from the director of “The Bodyguard” (“Volcano” appears to be his last film). Almost 15 years later, I can now see the cheesiness in the film. One thing I will say is that the first half of “Volcano” is better than the second half. The special effects in some scenes look great while in other moments, they don’t. The best thing that this movie does is to portray its events in “real life” Los Angeles after the manner of “Speed”.

The film captured my imagination as a kid. It allowed me to imagine a volcano erupting in the middle of my hometown for example and what that would be like. In the years since the release of “Volcano”, disasters have struck many locations that weren’t prepared for those particular types of catastrophes. The mood of this film however is such that those more recent events usually don’t come to mind. I love the opening credit sequence because it establishes LA in a realistic fashion. The movie takes place over the course of two days and the first day is full of people going about their ordinary lives but there are also foreboding moments. Composer Alan Silvestri, who is one of my favorite movie musicians, creates the mood of that first day for the most part. I love his score during the foreboding moments. A powerful moment in the film is the second earthquake thanks to the script, cinematography and editing. There are uncomfortable shots just before it hits with Rachel and Amy in the storm drain. Then we cut to the middle of the desert and the ground begins to shake. I love the portrayal of the earthquake as we cut to various characters and scenes across the city. The use of the seismograph shows how this quake is much more powerful than the one the day before. The silence before the eruption of Mount Wilshire was so sudden that I thought it was a sound problem at the theater. It makes for a great moment when the eruption happens. After that moment however, the movie starts to become less entertaining. Don’t get me wrong, “Volcano” still entertains but not in the dramatic sense that the first half of the film did. I like the funny moment when Mike is being videotaped from the helicopter like he is a panicking citizen. The scene where Amy and Mike are on the fire latter feels quite fake nowadays. I liked it when I was younger but now it does seem kind of stupid. They would have burst into flames in my opinion. The character of Stan needed to die because if he had listened to Mike, the train would not been put in harms way in the first place. Stan was responsible for endangering the passengers’ lives and he redeems himself by sacrificing his life for the driver’s. I kind of like the scene when Mike has to draw out the plan for everyone concerning the barricade at the intersection of Wilshire and Fairfax. Once the plan is ready, everyone has to wait for the lava to hit the barricade and that has tension. As time passes, the cheering picks up and gradually, the plan becomes a success. The disaster may be over at the tar pits but with manmade tunnels to travel through, the volcano isn’t over yet. I like the comic timing when Mike and Amy have to use a video camera in order to see what is in the tunnel. We then get some good exposition scenes. We understand the crisis that will hit the Beverly center in 30 minutes, a possible solution and the plan to achieve that solution by extending the Holly Hills storm drain. Because of the time frame in which the patients must be evacuated and the explosives must be set, we get a good climax. The moment that shows the destruction of the apartment building can be a little eerie to watch in the post-9/11 world as people run away from a falling building. I like how Gator and officer that he is with sacrifice their lives. Randy Newman’s song is fun but kind of an odd choice for the conclusion of a film like this.

Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones did just fine in “Volcano”. He played his character quite convincingly. This movie introduced me to future Oscar nominee Don Cheadle and Keith David. Cheadle’s performance was the best one in this movie. The way some shots were handled in the editing room were distracting and the special effects in some shots were not all that great. The start of the movie is what makes the film great. Another thing I like about the movie is that real life Los Angeles is depicted convincingly.

3.5 Stars