Other meanings of Volcano
Film
Volcano is a 1997 American disaster film directed by Mick Jackson and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, and Don Cheadle. The film depicts a sudden volcanic eruption in the middle of Los Angeles, forcing emergency officials to battle lava flows and save the city. It was released on April 25, 1997, by 20th Century Fox, and became a box office success despite mixed reviews.
In Los Angeles, a series of mysterious earthquakes and a toxic gas leak in the La Brea Tar Pits signal an impending volcanic eruption. City emergency management director Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones) and geologist Dr. Amy Barnes (Anne Heche) discover that a volcano is forming beneath the city. As lava erupts from the La Brea Tar Pits, it flows through the streets, forcing evacuations and heroic rescue efforts. Roark and his team must find a way to divert the lava flow to save the city, culminating in a plan to use concrete barriers and a subway tunnel to channel the lava into the Pacific Ocean.1
The film was produced by 20th Century Fox and shot on location in Los Angeles, with visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic. The production faced a tight schedule to beat the release of the similarly themed film Dante's Peak (also 1997), which was released earlier that year. The film's special effects, including the lava flows and destruction, were praised for their realism at the time.2
Volcano received mixed reviews from critics, with an approval rating of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 55 reviews. The consensus notes that the film is "a disaster movie that delivers on spectacle but lacks character depth."3 Despite this, it was a commercial success, grossing over $122 million worldwide against a budget of $90 million.4
Volcano was one of two volcano disaster films released in 1997, the other being Dante's Peak, and the two were often compared. The film's production was rushed to avoid being overshadowed, and it was shot in just 60 days. The La Brea Tar Pits, a real location in Los Angeles, served as the eruption site, and the film's depiction of a volcano in the city was inspired by the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, which caused a lahar that buried the town of Armero. The film also features a cameo by actor John Carroll Lynch as a paramedic. Notably, the film's score was composed by Alan Silvestri, who also scored Back to the Future.5
This article is about the 1997 film. For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation).
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