Let's talk about disaster movies, a.k.a. I rewatched Dante's Peak last night for the first since '97

RollSonnenRoll said:
Seeing large populations be presumably killed numbs you to the importance of major character death scenes
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Yes, good thinking. I agree with that. It destroys the intimacy between the viewer and story and its characters.
 
Really enjoyed Dantes Peak. Stands up to repeat watching too. Twister was on AMC last night and it was weird seeing Bill Paxton and Phillip Seymour Hoffman together and realizing they are both dead. And the movie was 21 years ago.
 
Protectandserve said:
Twister was on AMC last night and it was weird seeing Bill Paxton and Phillip Seymour Hoffman together and realizing they are both dead.
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Yeah man, it sucks. Two great actors, both of which died before their time. PSH in particular really seemed to be in a good place in his career, too. He had been doing some hard-hitting work in the 2010s.
 
RollSonnenRoll said:
Volcano was just weird because they tried to do this weird tension relationship with TLJ and Anne Heche. Bad enough that there was like a 30 year age gap but he's this traditionalist midwestern blue collar guy and she looks like a lesbo so it really doesn't fit. Then the whole movie operates on the same principle as the "floor is lava" game you played in your living room growing up, as long as you don't touch the lava then you'll be fine. Nevermind that being within 100 feet of something that hot would burn you. It has a lot of cool effects though and TLJ is at his usual best plus Don Cheadle has a great supporting part.
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LOL. I love it. I mean, if you have a nice hot and big camp fire that burns down to super hot coals it fucking hurts to be close to it. The heat just radiates and feels awful. Molten lava would be melting their damn skin off if they got that close to it. hhahaha

Of course how close you can get depends on the type of lava flow and speed and if skin is forming and the wind and numerous other variables.
 
lifelessheap said:
LOL. I love it. I mean, if you have a nice hot and big camp fire that burns down to super hot coals it fucking hurts to be close to it. The heat just radiates and feels awful. Molten lava would be melting their damn skin off if they got that close to it. hhahaha

Of course how close you can get depends on the type of lava flow and speed and if skin is forming and the wind and numerous other variables.
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The best science in that film is the scene where the train-driver melts/disolves in a lavaflow which is about 3 inches deep.

 
Man I really love Linda Hamilton.

Cameron was a lucky guy.
 
DIABOLUS said:
I don't remember much about this film, but that scene of the grandmother carrying the child across knee-high water that was acidic? boiling? was forever ingrained in my mind.
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Yeah right in the feels there.

Dantes Peak was pretty damn good. Haven't seen it since late 90s but I definitely recall being impressed.
 
RollSonnenRoll said:
Volcano was just weird because they tried to do this weird tension relationship with TLJ and Anne Heche. Bad enough that there was like a 30 year age gap but he's this traditionalist midwestern blue collar guy and she looks like a lesbo so it really doesn't fit. Then the whole movie operates on the same principle as the "floor is lava" game you played in your living room growing up, as long as you don't touch the lava then you'll be fine. Nevermind that being within 100 feet of something that hot would burn you. It has a lot of cool effects though and TLJ is at his usual best plus Don Cheadle has a great supporting part.
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Lmao at the floor is lava game. We've all been there.

Yea dantes peak > volcano but TLJ is a beast whose literally I think turned in one bad performance his entire career (I think you know what film I mean).

Deep Impact I felt was better than Armageddon as well. Armageddon too long and too bloated. Deep Impact had more of a sense of seriousness about it. Wasn't a perfect movie of course but I definitely enjoyed it. Part where Maximilian Schell and Tea Leoni reconcile and then stand and embrace while imminently awaiting their death via tidal wave was some feels shit.
 
FierceRedBelt said:
Man I really love Linda Hamilton.

Cameron was a lucky guy.
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I totally forgot that she was even in this shit. When I saw her name in the opening credits, I was like, "Wait, what the fuck? Linda Hamilton's in this shit?" I couldn't have told you a damn thing she did after T2, but she actually is great in Dante's Peak.
 
ufcfan4 said:
Lmao at the floor is lava game. We've all been there.

Yea dantes peak > volcano but TLJ is a beast whose literally I think turned in one bad performance his entire career (I think you know what film I mean).

Deep Impact I felt was better than Armageddon as well. Armageddon too long and too bloated. Deep Impact had more of a sense of seriousness about it. Wasn't a perfect movie of course but I definitely enjoyed it. Part where Maximilian Schell and Tea Leoni reconcile and then stand and embrace while imminently awaiting their death via tidal wave was some feels shit.
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Two face?
 
ufcfan4 said:
Exactly!
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The worst part is that he fucking nailed it with his opening speech until he dialed it up to 11 after about 30 seconds and then never reeled it back in. Oh what could have been
 
The Towering Inferno with Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway and a shit ton of other people is another pretty entertaining one. It's like The Poseidon Adventure only it's people trying to escape a skyscraper that has a massive fire tearing through it. Pretty melodramatic and cheesy at times but also exciting and suspenseful.
 
RollSonnenRoll said:
The worst part is that he fucking nailed it with his opening speech until he dialed it up to 11 after about 30 seconds and then never reeled it back in. Oh what could have been
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Good call. You're right- the damn shame of it is that Two-Face is a complex and interesting character (one of the most interesting and depressing comic villains in the DC universe) and TLJ as a great actor could have done that so well. Instead we get over-the-top cartoon Harvey with the Sugar and Spice girlfriends and the irrepressible desire to mug for the camera so as to not get overshadowed by Jim Carrey. Really lame.

When I think of Schumacher's Batman movies, I'm really convinced that they were both quite bad. Batman and Robin is universally considered bad (and for some so bad it's good/funny type bad) but I think there's a vocal group that think of Batman Forever fondly. I don't see it.

On the other hand I think Burton's movies are both sick. Batman Returns, for me, is awesome. One of the few comic book movies that pulls off the multiple villains very, very well. Penguin, Catwoman, and Schreck- all played by really solid actors giving awesome performances. Contrast the three villains in that movie- with the various team ups and double crosses to Batman Forever/Batman and Robin or Spiderman 3.
 
i havent seen this movie since the 90s and i remember 2 things

1-that sick scene where the dog survived by parkouring through the neighborhood
2-when grandma was mvp and went into the boiling water to push the boat
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I remember a time when disaster movies were all the rage. The 90s: The decade when movies liked to fuck shit up. And since I'm sure many others here remember those days, I figured it would be a good time to discuss our favorite disaster movies.

And with that said, I'm going to smoothly segue into some thoughts on Dante's Peak, which I rewatched last night for the first time since catching it in the theater 20 years ago.


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I have to say, this movie is actually BETTER than I remembered it being. Seriously. It's directed by Roger Donaldson--who also directed the underrated Thirteen Days--and while watching it I had the feeling that if Spielberg only had about 2/3 of his talent and decided to make a disaster movie, then Dante's Peak is pretty close to what you'd get.

I identified three primary strengths with this film:

1. There's an emotional core. Brosnan, Linda Hamilton and the kids all did a good job and made me root for them. I wanted to see them survive.

2. The science seems legit. I'm not a volcanologist, so I can't say for sure that it IS legit, but it definitely feels that way and I enjoyed the procedural elements that brought the science team to the point of being convinced the volcano was going to blow.

3. The FX. Holy shit are the effects good in this film! I mean they are goddamn GOOD, not just for '97 but even today they hold up extremely well. The film's real strength in this regard is that instead of just going full CGI the filmmakers decided to marry CGI with traditional miniatures and I think the results are excellent.

I mean, just watch this clip:



All in all, I found this to be a surprisingly enjoyable film that holds up much better than I expected it to. A well-told story, strong performances, and great effects win the day.

For anyone who may be interested, this guy did an EXELLENT retrospective on the movie:

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This was a fantastic "disaster" film...

 
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