Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2824 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-10-03
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Greek, Norwegian, Swedish
• Dubbed in: Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The first of 1997's volcano disaster movies (the second being Volcano) was arguably the better of the two but both of them made for passable entertainment with some spectacular special effects to serve as icing on the stale cake. After all, Dante's Peak doesn't pretend to be anything more than an updated variation on a whole catalogue of disaster movie clichés. Despite all that, it's reasonably enjoyable. It's an added bonus that the script is just smart enough to allow Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton to play their roles with straight faces, never condescending to the audience of the formulaic story. He's a volcano expert from the US Geological Survey, and she's the mayor of a cosy Washington State town perched beneath a volcano that's about to blow. Tell-tale signs are everywhere, so evacuation must be carried out immediately. Of course, not everybody's eager to leave and even some of Brosnan's colleagues think his alarm is premature. This sets the stage for massive ash clouds, rivers of raging mud and molten rock, flattened forests and death-defying escapes by Brosnan, Hamilton and some (but not all) of her family, friends and townsfolk. So what if it's all pretty flaky ... and can a four-wheel-drive vehicle travel over fire and molten lava without bursting its tires? Don't ask too many questions and you'll find Dante's Peak to be (if you'll pardon the pun) a total blast. --Jeff Shannon

Special Features
2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
Czech\French\German\Hungarian\Italian\Polish\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Production Notes
Cast And Film Makers Notes
Trailer
Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\Greek\Norwegian\Swedish

Synopsis
A volcanologist forlorn over the loss of his wife in the Mt. Pinatubo eruption arrives at a small Pacific Northwest town to investigate the rumblings of the local dormant volcano. Though he instantly fears the worse, he must convince the skeptical townspeople and his suspicious superiors who believe he is overreacting in the aftermath of his own tragedy. The beautiful, widowed mayor of the picturesque town believes him, however, and soon they find themselves in a fight for their lives as "Dante's Peak" blows its stack ten miles high, raining ash and fire over everything in its shadow. The Signature Collection Special Edition laserdisc includes added commentary by the director and production designer, a behind-the-scenes documentary, and an isolated score.

Customer Reviews

Dante's Peak
I've never been huge fan of disaster films, as I've always found them to be over the top, or just an excuse for some special effects. Nevertheless I decided to give the pre-millennium Dante's Peak a chance and all things considered I'm pretty glad I did as I really enjoyed the film.

Set in Dante's Peak (hence the title I guess) the film tells of a major volcano located in the heart of the town, that's about to blow it top. Despite the increasingly alarming warning signs, the idea of evacuation is considered premature and brushed aside, despite the best efforts of Pierce Brosnan (who plays the volcano expert) to convince them otherwise. There are some really spectacular special effects, but all have been done in such a way that really enhances the film itself. I couldn't help be astonished but the realism and the scale of the devastation caused. Very true to life. The film has been well scripted and obviously well planned out. And there is a good degree of suspense and a building sense of doom. Granted you kind of know that the volcano is going to erupt sooner or later. It's more a question of when. It's also quite an enjoyable and exciting film to watch. The acting is reasonable good, Pierce Brosnan (who to be honest has never been my fravioute actor) is pretty damn good in his role. The DVD also comes complete with some decent special features; the documentary included was actually rather interesting.

Granted Dante's Peak is not entirely believable. As a few other reviewers have rightfully mentioned "can you drive over burning lava?" And some of the acting seems a bit wooden and stereotypical. But if you can ignore a few minor oversights and errors and just sit back and enjoy the film, then it works. So Despite being somewhat sceptical, I rather enjoyed this film. I doubt it's the kind of film that can watch over and over again, but it still deserves to be seen (at least once) by all.

Super special effects
Now I am sure that most people reading this has already seen this either at the Cinema or on TV so there is no point going on about what the film is about.

The film is set in the fictional town of Dante's Peak Park, Washington, located in the northern Cascade Mountains, but was actually filmed in and around Wallace in Northern Idaho.

I was in two minds about buying this dvd because I tend to Buy Special Editions but I could not track down one so it was a great surprise to discover the DVD is in fact a Special Edition except the Studio did not name it as such.

You have a one hour Documentary which is very interesting indeed and a Commentary track as well.

Even although it was made some time ago it really does have great special effects - Its was well worth the money and I will watch it again.

Very good disaster movie!
This movie is great from the very beginning! It started off rather slow but began to speed up as it went through to the main crisis. Some movies as i say'are very boring, too much talking in them' however, this has something inside it to make the storyline good. E'g- volcanist(played by pierce brosnan) played a good role where he tests out the volcano, in washington. He is seeing if its active or not, whether it will blow shortly etc etc. This eventually gets close to the main happening in the film.
I reccomend! very good and realistic! And the suspician of whats going to 'happen' is shown quite early in the film.