Dante’s Peak

Dante’s Peak is a 1997 disaster film starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton.

10 out of 10 stars.  This is one of the best disaster films ever made.

If you’ve never seen the actual video footage of when Mount St. Helen’s blew in the state of Washington then you’re in for a real treat.  Many of the scenes in this film are based on the actual footage taken of Mount St. Helen’s.  Few people realize that when a volcanic mountain blows, you don’t just have volcanic ash and lava.  You also have earthquakes, explosions, acidic lakes, dead animals falling from the skies, flash floods, dams breaking, and a whole host of other problems that they cause.  It’s like every disaster you can imagine all rolled into one.

Dr. Harry Dalton is a volcanologist working for the U.S. Geological Survey out of Vancouver, Washington.  He’s sent to the small town of Dante’s Peak because the mountain hovering over the town has some serious tremors.  When Harry arrives he’s immediately smitten with the town’s mayor, Rachel Wondo, and her two kids, Lauren and Graham.  Rachel takes Harry to the mountain so he can take some samples.  Along come the kids and Rachel’s nasty mother-in-law Ruth.  There they find two backpackers who burned to death in the hot springs along with a mountain full of dead squirrels dropping from the trees.  The lake is acidic and Harry thinks the mountain is going to blow.

Rachel calls a town meeting to decide how to evacuate the town just as Harry’s boss shows up and tells everyone Harry is exaggerating.  (He’s not.)  Within twenty-four hours the mountain blows and while Rachel and Harry are holding the town evacuation meeting the kids drive up the mountain to get Grandma Ruth who won’t leave.  By the time Rachel and Harry get back things have deteriorated considerably and they’re fighting for their lives.  Fortunately, Harry has a pickup with a snorkel (for driving through rivers), he can hot wire cars (for stealing a forest service truck), and he’s a survivor.  They get the kids just as the lava breaks down Grandma’s cabin and escape by boat on the lake that’s now turned to acid.  Ruth sacrifices herself to bring the boat up to the lake’s edge and they all steal a forestry truck and drive through the lava down to the mine just in time for the real explosion.

Don’t worry.  They’re found three days later still alive and kicking.  Yes, they saved Ruffie the dog.

10 out of 10 stars.  Stunning cinematography and Pierce and Linda are easy to watch.  The kids were great actors and really looked like Linda Hamilton’s kids.  🙂