Dante's Peak (1997) Retrospective / Review

if this thing blows if she doesn't M St Helens the blast will get here within a minute I appreciate that sorry so what's going on in the Cascades I am sorry I had to drag you in like this Harry but we are picking up some activity around Dante's Peak now what do you think the odds are against an eruption up there thousand one more like 10,000 to one what's the depth 10 to 20 [Music] km mayor wandoo it gives me great pleasure to present to you a Money Magazine award Dante's Peak the second most desirable place to live in the United States population under 20,000 congratulations i d with the US Geological Survey I'm sorry you are har do oh from Portland yes your boss called and said that you were coming and then I should show you around is that right Dr Dalton's a geologist volcanologist actually it's okay if you want to drop the kids off with your mothers I don't mind she's not my mother she was my mother-in-law or my ex-mother-in-law just up here to check on your Mountain that's all few people came up here right after Mount St Helens went nuts there's nothing going on then there's nothing going on here now hey Grandma somebody left their clothes here sometimes couples sneak up here for a hot dip no no no no no no stop stop look Paul I think we should monitor the entire area get the whole shooting match in here you sent me up here to check I'm doing that I think attention should be paid I thought this was supposed to be an extinct volcano uh not extinct just dormant I sent you up here to have a look around not to scare the hell out of the city council yeah I know Paul but two people are dead recommending an alert seem the only responsible thing to do these decisions are not to be made lightly but I want you to understand that if the time comes to call for an alert if the time comes it will be based upon scientific evidence and not upon anyone's opinion take a look seismic activity is nil steady as rock let me take a look over here A whole lot of nothing been like that all week there is nothing happening we got the mountain wired we got all our equipment in place we can keep an eye on things from home base from now on our work here is finished I've got that scientific evidence you need let just come from the town's water supply it's the same oh my God okay listen I know it's tough to think about leaving our homes but clear clearly it's the most responsible thing to do right now these are just precautionary measures um we don't want to start a did anybody feel that please just stay oh my God don't look fast [Music] [Music] Dante's Peak opened in the USA on the 7th of February 1997 and arrived a month later on the 28th of March in the UK produced on a budget of $116 million and made 178 million worldwide and a further 31 million on home rentals the movie was deemed a modest success but didn't make the numbers Universal Studios were expecting the reviews were certainly mixed but leaning more towards the positive most critics were impressed by the visual effects it's a attempts to provide fual evidence to support the cause of the volcano's eruption and the performances of Pierce brosman and Linda Hamilton the mid 9 saw the Revival of the disaster movie genre in my teenage years the first one that really came to my attention was twister in early 1996 which did extremely well at the box office and that summer saw the release of Independence Day which took the World by storm Studios were in the early stages to take advantage of this new craze and wanted to capitalize quickly late that year saw Stallone suit up and join in on the action in daylight which like Dante's Peak did okay at the box office but fared worse with critics but it does have one of the most epic disaster sequences to Kickstart a film definitely one to watch with surround sound disaster movies were coming in thick and fast and early 97 we got Dante's Peak which was competing with another movie with a similar theme volcano volcano starred Tomy Lee Jones battling an eruption of lava in the middle of LA the movie was panned by critics and lost a battle with Dante's Peak at the box office I saw volcano again recently having not seen it since it came out on VHS and good Lord it was still as hilariously bad as I remember but surprisingly entertaining in some regards because it was so stupid the big set piece of Tommy Lee Jones saving his daughter from a collapsing building and literally pushing her to safety by jumping a meter away made me howl with laughter to be honest the title of the movie has nothing really to do with a volcano so to speak it should have been called lava the movie the producer of Dante's Peak Joseph singer had come up with the idea of a volcano Disaster Movie and approached his friend Les bam to help develop the script Les had written the screenplay for the 96 movie daylight Les wasn't really Keen but after a year of back and forth with the producer they developed a script and began to hunt down a director who could tackle the material Roger Donaldson who had just had success with the 95 sci-fi horror film species was approached Roger had studied to be a geologist as a student and still had a keen interest in geology for him to take on the job the movie had to be faithful to the facts and not fabricate the science in the film it had to be real and the audience had to buy it David harow was the volcanologist who helped advise the production he specialized in seismology which involves measuring earthquakes and seismic signals generated by volcanoes a lot of the movie would be inspired by the events of Mount St Helens the script and movie make efforts to mention the event from 1980 they also make use of the actual volcano as visual reference in the film The End Credits had a shot featuring it but I'm not sure if it's a digital representation I.E a map painting or actual footage the 1980 disaster was the biggest volcanic eruption in North American history for over a century killing 57 people wiping out wildlife and trees it was Devastation on a grand scale the landscape was a wasteland for Miles Mount St Helens is still very much an active volcano during 2004 to 2008 there was a lot of seismic activity but thankfully nothing happened on the grand scale of the 1980 event when it came time to finding a shooting location they struggled to find real volcanoes and a suitable location for the town spending nearly 3 months with no success they settled on digitally adding in the volcano and finding a town that was suitable for the script and the director's Vision they eventually found the ideal location in Wallace Idaho a picturesque town with a large Hill just southeast of the town so they could digitally alter it to look like a volcano many of the town's folk were used in the movie for the initial award ceremony during the emergency town meeting and the disaster evacuation scenes that did not involve any stunts but for the most dangerous moment stump men were employed during no scenes Pier brosan was put forward to play volcanologist Dr Harry Dalton Roger Donaldson was good friends with Pierce but only in a professional manner but became closer friends during the production and worked together again on Rogers most recent movie The November Man P was happy to take on the role and was excited to be a part of it gay Lan herd was also attached as a producer on the film and I believe had recommended Linda Hamilton to take on the role of Mayor Rachel wandoo after working with her on the Terminator and T2 the director Roger was not sure if the role was suitable for Linda because he only knew her from action roles and felt the mayor of the Town needed to be more down toe and vulnerable but Linda proved him wrong she was the the total opposite to an onscreen Persona of Sarah Connor and got the part Linda and Pierce got on really well on set and became good friends which helped with their on-screen chemistry the movie opens in the midst of a volcanic eruption in Colombia Dr Harry Dalton and his partner Maryanne who were there studying the volcano attempt to flee but maranne is killed by a volcanic bomb Harry is left remorseful after her death believing he could have saved her by evacuating sooner Harry is from then on very paranoid and overly cautious about his work four years later Harry is assigned by his boss Dr Paul draus to investigate seismic activity at Dante's Peak hey it's Charles halahan from the thing you know he's going to die later Dante speak is a small town situated near a dormant volcano in the Cascades Harry arrives at the Town celebrating its anniversary of its founding and meets the town's mayor Rachel and her two children she offers to take Harry up to the mountain to take readings while also visiting her former mother-in-law Ruth Ruth is a very stubborn woman and doesn't get along with Rachel Ruth believes Harry is wasting his time with his investigation while the family and Harry visit a hot springs Harry stops the children from jumping in as he sees the water is boiling when the steam clears they see two dead bodies floating in the springs boiled alive believing the excessive heat is a result of volcanic activity Harry asks Paul to bring a team to to study the mountain further they arrive with additional equipment to conduct more detailed checks Harry tries to convince Rachel to prepare the town for something drastic and calls a meeting with the heads of the Town draus arrives and is annoyed Harry has put the people on alert with little information during the next few days they do tests on the volcano and their findings do not conclude with Harry's fears a week passes without any signs of volcanic activity and Paul orders the team to pack up and they will measure the activity from home while having a final dinner with Rachel and at this point their relationship is beginning to Blossom but they both feel a little disappointed that it might be coming to an end as Harry will have to return home Harry then discovers her water to be containing volcanic residue and shortly discovers the town's water supply is contaminated Paul and Harry agree this is a sign of a pending eruption and they begin to evacuate the town and call a meeting but the volcano takes them by surprise and erupts in its full destructive Glory [Music] the visual and special effects for Dante's Peak are fantastic and still look incredible today many movies from the '90s really struggled to hold up to scrutiny mostly down to the overreliance of CGI during that decade and the technology was abused for sequences that were too ambitious not all movies fell into that trap Jurassic Park Starship Troopers and Titanic really stood the test of time what surprised me was that Dante's Peak was not even considered for an Academy Award I think it was down to stiff competition that year but I think it should have at least got a nomination the movie really pushes a mix of live action CGI and Miniatures the effects companies involved were digital domain who handled the bulkload of the work and CIS Hollywood who handled additional shots the visual effects supervisor for the film was Patrick McClung who supervised the effects on Apollo 13 and Chain Reaction but he's really an expert in Miniatures and provided his talents on Aliens diard Cliffhanger and True Lies the most impressive sequence for me is the bridge being taken out by the lake that has overflown by the damn breaking Under Pressure pretty much every shot is a miniature it blows me away every time I see it these weren't just tiny models these were quarter scale ones that really pushed the reality of the sequence it's seamless as it cuts to the real size Vehicles when the volcano erupts a second time and fires out the pyroclastic clouds they used a large scale miniature for the close-ups and long shots to be comped into the picture digitally seeing Linda Hamilton look back and see this Cloud reaching miles up into the Sky the shot really gives the movie its Grand scale and one we over as being one of the most impressive disaster sequences in a movie the cloud cuts through the small town and destroys everything in its path using more Miniatures yet again to sell the shots the film is a perfect combination of visual effects techniques just recently watching Independence Day Resurgence which used no Miniatures in the movie and went full on CGI Dante's Peak easily looks more impressive because the production took the time to think what was best for each shot and not just going the easy way out and doing everything within the computer the ash they created was basically installation used for houses it's pulped newspaper and seeing it used after the first eruption really sells these haunting images of the town the lava was all done digitally and blend seamlessly as it cuts through roof's house and surrounds them by the lake Dante's peers up there as one of the best examples of using all the different types of visual and special effects that are available and I just wish more of these big SU Blockbusters would continue that Trend and not go with CGI for [Music] everything the score to Dante's Peak was composed by John Frizzle James Newton Howard contributed some material for the main theme which is featured in the opening titles and a couple of cues during the movie but the majority of the music was handled by JN I'm not sure why James Newton Howard was brought to do the main theme but maybe the producers and director weren't satisfied with John's attempt this was one of John's early scores and he came to most people's attention for his work on Alien Resurrection the last number of years he has provided music to a lot of horror films and TV shows and is still working steadily today the score is surprisingly very good there are great action cues and themes that would ideally fit into a horror score John nicely creates a threatening theme of the volcano many parts of the soundtrack do actually sound like Jerry Goldsmith style of composing which always brings a smile to my face the soundtrack was released at the time but only 30 minutes of music and at the moment there is no official release of an expanded soundtrack you can easily find a score on iTunes and hunting down a CD release shouldn't prove much of a [Music] challenge Dante's Peak is a movie I totally missed at the cinema I remember the adverts on TV and thought it looked interesting but I wasn't rushing out the door to go see it at the time I didn't have a full-time job I was only 15 years old and had a paper round and my spare cash and pocket money went on video games so I was very picky on what movies I would watch at the cinema I made an effort to rent it as soon as it came to VHS I was pleasantly surprised by the film the visual effects were certainly incredible for the time but we had a disaster movie that had strong technical evidence to demonstrate how to be alerted to an eruption and the clues to find out if something is on the horizon the facts weren't rammed down your throat or you felt like you were being put through an educational movie the director and writer maintain a healthy balance of research and entertainment the film itself is played very straight it doesn't attempt to throw in cheap gags or comedy Sidekicks you do have the wacky computer experts who make an appearance but they're not focused on that much or come across as really annoying as the ones do in say twister who are overly enthusiastic about everything they do and seemed to be amped up to 11 to be super nerds Dante's Peak felt like a more mature attempt at the the genre which may leave some people underwhelmed by the movie on first viewing having more comic relief may have made it appeal to a wider audience especially with it being marketed to families to enjoy I think younger viewers may have found it a bit dull until the big setpiece which may have resulted in the film not doing as well as predicted at the box office Pierce brzin was in the height of his popularity golden eye was a big hit and he continues with his charm and confidence on camera and provides a great performance he falls into that father figure with Rachel's kid very quickly he instantly comes across as a caring and considerate person he and the writer don't attempt to make his character a macho man or make him attempt to do things that are betrayed by an action hero he seems like a normal guy who is experienced in the field and does his best to keep everyone at Harm's Way he is a very calculating individual very much like James Bond but without the punches and guns at his disposal Linda Hamilton betrays a warm and welcoming woman who is supportive of her town and family she seems out of place with the other indiv uals in Dante's Peak who seem very much set in their ways very much like her former mother-in-law Ruth Linda's character Rachel seems very open to ideas and more liberal as she takes on Harry's advice and tries her best to help the people of the town instead of the interest of keeping things as they are the chemistry between Pierce and Linda does work really well but they do seem to fall in love pretty quickly I felt like it was kind of a forced relationship the movie had to include all films such as this have to have some sort of relationship featured to appeal to certain audience members and it's a tried and tested way to increase the drama as they are put in Peril along the way every disaster movie has to feature a dog but is always saved at the last minute I don't know why this happens but so many include one twister Independence Day both movies feature the same breed of dog I believe and also we have daylight and volcano just to name a few in Dante's Peak you forget Rachel's family even have a dog but suddenly it pops up as they attempt to return to the town if the dog died the audience would be furious and no one wants to see a dog burnt alive or left to die with the film trying to be very realistic though having a car drive through Lava I don't think that is possible I think those tires would have melted very quickly the film is by no means perfect there are a few parts that annoy me with scenes that could have been cut out and the ending felt a bit rushed the first set piece to create some suspense and to trick the audience into thinking there is going to be an eruption is when they check out the top of the volcano with the equipment and a minor earthquake occurs nothing really comes of it and one of the scientists breaks his leg as it gets crushed by the debris as he attempts to save this clunky robot that was used to measure the seismic activity it's just a bit of a dull action set piece that could have been trimmed out or to a lesser extent be shortened throwing kids into the mix always drives me nuts they do stupid things like kids do but having them drive up to their grandmother's house which I think is impossible because they are too small to reach the bloody pedals let let alone steer their way up a mountain it was a silly way to put the kids in Jeopardy the grandmother Ruth is written to be a stubborn old bag but her decision to jump out of the boat and into the boiling hot water was in part really funny and stupid at the same time because you can see the boat is pretty much near land and Pierce seemed to be okay steering it with his hand covered by his jacket she does The Honorable thing to save them but she suffers the consequences of being a pain in the ass the ending always felt a bit rushed to me once they escape the parastic cloud and get caught up in the mine and get trapped Pier's character luckily got the transmitting device and his team find the signal after 2 days then it suddenly cuts to like 500 people there ready to save them it would have been nice to include more of a resolution to Harry and Rachel's relationship or what happens to him afterwards maybe setting up his next investigation or whatever this happens a lot in movies especially in the action genre once someone has been saved or the bad guy has been defeated those end credits are so desperate to come rolling in Dante's Peak is often forgotten about when I mention it to my friends it often takes them a few minutes to remember it and what happened in it if you take out the final set piece there isn't much in it visually and or dramatically to jog your memory it's not to say the script is dull I think it manages to keep you invested in the movie once you start watching it until the big payoff but keeping things in reality and just dealing with a volcano it can be difficult to add further excitement to the buildup of the moment everyone is waiting for it does a pretty good job of building up suspense the bigger option is about 55 minutes into the film which some may say is a bit too late into the movie the most effective part of a disaster film is the First Act and the introduction of the first action scene then it becomes a challenge after that to keep the suspense and excitement going thankfully Dante's Peak third Act is really good so I can forgive its rushed ending or slightly delayed buildup to the big eruption Dante spook is a very satisfying movie it's extremely wellmade Les Bowen provides a better more well-rounded script to his previous efforts on daylight Ro Donaldson holds the film together and keeps you invested for the most part to the volcano's eventual eruption he has a great visual eye that makes the action sequences really exciting and effective in making what you see seem real the visual effects team go above and beyond to bring across the horrifying imagery of a fullscale volcanic eruption if you are a big fan of disaster movies and you still don't own Dante's Peak definitely pick it up because it's one of the most polished and well-made movies out of the bunch if this thing blows if she doesn't mind SE Helens the blast will get here within a minute oh my God wait [Music] oh can anybody hear me coming where are you I'm heading up to Rachel to get her kids once I've done that I'm going to come back down and help you pack out of there okay for whatever it's worth you were right and I was wrong I'm sorry get down down if you enjoyed the video you can find more on my YouTube channel and also you can follow me on Twitter if you want to help support the channel you can donate through patreon and receive monthly perks such as updates on the latest news on my channel Early Access to reviews and commentaries before they go live on YouTube even the smallest donation can help keep this channel going thank you

Channel: Oliver Harper

Views: 158,840

Keywords: dante's peak review, dante's peak, 1997, tv spot, trailer, ending, retrospective, making of, documentary, retrospective review, oliver harper commentary, oliver harper, oliver harper retrospective, ollyh82, ollie harper, review, pierce brosnan, linda hamilton, volcano

Id: AJnS0CYgB50

Length: 23min 39sec (1419 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 04 2016