MovieChat Forums > Dante's Peak (1997) Discussion > Movie holds up great!

Movie holds up great!

posted 10 years ago by AlarmedGibbon
21 replies | jump to latest

I watched Dante's Peak last night for the first time since the late 90's, this time watching it with my 7 year old niece.

This film has held up really well! And my niece loved it.

Admittedly, it drags a bit in the middle. But that was really its only flaw.

Much of the film was quite intense! Linda Hamilton and Pierce Brosnan were wonderful.

I know people complain about the dog, but my niece was so happy when Ruffy was saved. It was a small touch, and it worked. It helped to keep the film from becoming too dark, with the deaths of Ruth and Paul, and Marian at the beginning. They needed a good save for the tone of the film, and Ruffy was it, contrived however it might be.

The practical effects were awesome! The look of the volcano eruption was awesome.. had they used extensive CGI, this film would not have aged as well as it has. The great practical effects are a big part of what makes this film work 20 years on.

Dante's Peak looks to be a film that will stand the test of time forever. A fun and intense film that shows the real majesty and unbridled destruction of a real volcanic eruption.

Kudos to director Roger Donaldson for a job well done!

[–] imemminger 10 years ago

Well said -

[–] cologne664 9 years ago

yep, extremely underrated movie. Deserves a 7 for the visuals itself.

Only Interstellar comes close to this perfectly used combination of CGI and miniatures.

[–] cdjunkee-1 8 years ago

Watching it now after a long time and I just thought how decent it is. Not overly sappy or cheesy. Just the right amount of effects and emotion. Other disaster movies haven't aged as well.

[–] eddyhops 8 years ago

The practical effects were awesome! The look of the volcano eruption was awesome.. had they used extensive CGI, this film would not have aged as well as it has. The great practical effects are a big part of what makes this film work 20 years on.

Indeed. A wee bit melodramatic and the science is a touch off... but all the solid and relatively accurate effects make up for this, and then some. Production really did their job here.

_____________http://tinyurl.com/gtb6nc2_____________

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

Still holding up. Just watched it again and enjoyed the show.

[–] Rorikon (18400) 7 years ago

God dammit. You made me download it now to watch again for the 3rd time after all these years. Next up is Tommy Lee Jones Volcano.

[–] Bowilly (171) 7 years ago

Both good films, but I think I prefer Dante’s Peak. Between the two films, for me, Dante had a more Cinematic feel. I think they both hold up pretty well though.

[–] Truthtalker (2033) 7 years ago

Absolutely right

[–] HarlemEagle42 (18445) 6 years ago

I didn't care for it tbh. But I will say the visual effects were very impressive.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

I never ever talk during films ... unless I'm at home and they reaaally suck. Me and two friends caught this in the theater. We thought we were the only ones in the theater so there came a point when we couldn't take it anymore and started ripping on the movie as it went. We only realized there were more people in the place when we heard them laughing at our jokes. I shouted out a "sorry, we thought we were alone" and they replied with "we are enjoying you guys more than the movie"

We had a good time roasting this bogey. A fun memory. What a terrible movie. Slightly dumber than the intensely dumb film Volcano.

[–] Kowalski (79227) 5 years ago

PFFFT.

[–] The LA Baker (971) 5 years ago

r/thatHappened/

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 5 years ago

So you doubt the veracity of this tale? Is it because you think this is such a fine film that nothing like this could possibly have happened? Or is it that it sounds too Ferris Bueller to you?

[–] The LA Baker (971) 5 years ago

It is a mediocre film. I enjoy disaster porn. I liked DP for the same reasons I kinda enjoyed 2012. I would rate DP a bit higher though.
I just don't think your tale is very likely, but I could be wrong.

At the end of Return of the King when Sam comes in and gazes longingly at Frodo, I said in a normal talking voice to my then-girlfriend, "Just kiss him already", and some people around us chuckled at my glib remark. I suppose it isn't too different.

[–] howgamer (3989) 5 years ago

For the most part yup; still a very entertaining disaster movie. The ending was kind of ridiculous with Brosnan surviving for two days without air and then being all fresh when rescued, but sure let's go with it. Absolutely loved the effects in this, especially using models and miniatures, they are so much better than most of today's CGI fest effects. I also enjoyed the main score.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8864) 5 years ago

I actually rewatched this film a couple of years ago. It was the first time I had seen it since it was released.

I also was impressed by how well it held up. It's probably my second favorite disaster movie, after Twister. It's definitely better than its sister movie Volcano.

As you say, the effects still look pretty damn good and that's BECAUSE they had the foresight to go with miniatures instead of just doing a bunch of CGI. It's the same reason the effects in Independence Day still look a lot more impressive than what we see in ID: Resurgence, even though Independence Day is like 20 years older. I really wish Hollywood would get the message on this.

Yeah, Dante's Peak, fun movie. Certainly one of Brosnan's more notable roles and the only thing I can name that Hamilton was in outside of the Terminator films.

[–] howgamer (3989) 5 years ago

There's a short clip on Youtube about how they made some of the effects and it is really awesome. I wanted to look up how they did the dam scene because it looked incredible and what an amazing special effects crew. Took them 4 months to build and a 680,000 gallon water tank.