Volcano (1997): Dir: Mick Jackson / Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, Gaby Hoffmann, Don Cheadle, Keith David: Containing all of the suspense and excitement of a beer commercial, and about as much ambition as a bowel movement in the bathtub. It follows the formula closely with problem discovered by hero who goes unbelieved until disaster strikes etc, etc. Outcome is predictable and dumb as expected and directed with the same arrogance by Mick Jackson who also made The Bodyguard and L.A. Story. This would easily be the worst disaster film since Twister. Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche basically recite what every hero must go through when becoming involved in bid budget disaster crap. Heche in particularly has a lame scene where she runs about a crowded panic stricken street screaming someone's name, as if she actually believes that she will be heard. Gaby Hoffmann plays Jones's daughter who serves as little purpose as possible. Then there is Don Cheadle as that trouble maker with a last minute change of heart. David Keith also gives a wasted performance in a role that is about as broad as lava of the ass. There is also a total lack of plausibility such as making a horse shoe barricade that would hardly work since the lava can flow through the cracks. It is about as entertaining as plugging the toilet. That could be fun if the object used to plug it is this film. Score: 1 / 10

Just getting over the aftershock of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the Los Angeles area now had to deal with other major issues. If it wasn't drive-by shootings, it was the destruction of old historical buildings to put in mini-malls as well as the expansion of the red line into Beverly Hills, a fight that would eventually cease and leave the end of the line in Hollywood. But there's magma forming underground, and that is even a bigger problem for an already freaky city where film crews didn't even have to leave town to get to.

MacArthur Park really will be melting on the dark if something isn't done, and when the bubbles start a brewin' in the La Brea tar pits, trouble is definitely on the way. At the helm of the investigation into what's bubblin' up is a straight faced Tommy Lee Jones (assisted by Don Cheadle) who quickly puts two and two together, getting a two minute warning of pending disaster. The result is the return of the disaster movie genre, off the box office roster since the mid 1970's.

I have fond memories of seeing this at the Beverly Connection cinema, right across the street from where much of it took place. To say that the audience reaction to this was just a little weird is an understatement. The conclusion brought the volcano literally under my seat, adding a ton of fun to my film going experience. This is a mixture of disaster, only the slightest of family subplot interference, growing intensely as it moves on, and featuring a feisty Carole Lombard like performance by Anne Heche as a geological expert.

Released almost simultaneously with the similar but more rustic "Dante's Peak", this never slips up like more recent disaster films that crossed the line on credibility, although the character played by Gaby Hoffman (as Jones' teenaged daughter) starts to get on ones nerves after a bit due to her selfishness. There's also a bit with a racist cop that could have been done away with. Scenes of genuine tragedy happen with two trapped firemen in an overturned truck and an MTA employee trapped underground are gruesome and caused violent shaking when I saw this again. I happen to prefer "Dante's Peak" over this, but this has comedy, tension, conflict, a little bit of romance, a bit of real L.A. history that I experienced, and none of the excess garbage that pretty much ruined the new wave of disaster films that came out following the millennium.

There is a hidden volcano growing underneath the city of LA. The city is building a new subway line led by Stan Olber (John Carroll Lynch). Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones) is living with daughter Kelly (Gaby Hoffmann). He leads the office of Emergency Management where Emit Reese (Don Cheadle) works. When some city workers are killed by something hot underground, Mike goes down to investigate. He barely escapes and gets geologist Dr. Amy Barnes (Anne Heche) to help. He tries to be cautious and has the powers to take over, but nobody in the city wants anything to close down. Then a giant earthquake hits.

It's a traditional disaster movie with lots of stock characters reminiscent of the 70s. It is well made if a little bit corny. A lot of things blow up. Everybody is taking it seriously which was probably difficult. Director Mick Jackson is expert enough to head this schlock fest. The start has a nice quiet anticipation and then it's wall to wall action. There is a lot of real fire action as well as some reasonable CGI. Lava is not the best but there are lots of explosions. Tommy Lee Jones maintains a modicum of realism through his will of personality. It is as good as the genre allows.