Volcano

Volcano (1997)

  • 44% of critics liked it
    (39 reviews)

  • 43% of users liked it
    (163,337 ratings)

Disaster visits jaded L.A. in the form of an underground volcano, not the big earthquake all the citizens expect. Shot on the largest set ever constructed in the U.S., in nearby Torrance, California, Volcano is a big-budget, special-effects-laden disaster movie with a standard plot. Tommy Lee Jones… More

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PG-13,
Directed By
Written By
Jerome Armstrong, Billy Ray
Genres
Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense
In Theaters
Apr 25, 1997 Wide
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • Todd McCarthy, Variety

    Never generates a head of true excitement, partly because the characters remain constructs designed to perform defined functions, and partly due to the time-worn hokiness of the whole disaster-film format.

  • , Time Out

    Jones and Heche work hard to dig up an emotional rapport from next to nothing, while the slow but inexorable progress of the lava makes for more suspense than the usual slam bang firework display.

  • Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

    A host of characters is introduced in the opening scenes, but Volcano doesn't know what to do with them. It can't make us care.

  • Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

    The coast may be toast, but it's the lava, covering everything like a malevolent tide of melted butter, that makes this a disaster picture that's tastier than usual.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    Like the substantially better Twister, this film insists on a thunderous, exhausting pace that inevitably becomes deflating.

Read all 16 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Phil H


    The second volcano disaster film released in 97 and clearly a different tone, didn't do as well as 'Dante's Peak' and its easy to see why. First off the plot, like most all disaster films, is completely identical to that other volcano film. This film kicks off… More

  • Jeff "


    Volcano is a decent disaster film with a good cast. Continuing the trend of epic disaster films, Volcano though engaging and somewhat entertaining and fun. However the film could have been much better than this and the film relies on clichés from the genre to establish its story.… More

  • Dead A


    The idea of volcano destroying the city was great. But representing the idea wasn't that great. Some of the scenes seemed a bit weird to me: Why was Kelly Roark (Gaby Hoffmann) was still standing when the lava was coming straight towards her? I mean any person who have common… More

  • Tim S


    Pretty forgettable.

  • Lenny M


    Retarded. Sexy Lava.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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