Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4322 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: English
• 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

Special effects, special effects...and more special effects
Dante's Peak is, first, last and foremost, a disaster movie, and consequently it has been comparatively forgotten. But it is a very good disaster movie, one that, whilst containing all the key cliches and stereotyped disaster-flick elements, still manages to be inventive, exciting and visually amazing.
Pierce Brosnan (!!) plays a volcanologist sent to monitor seismic activity on a long-dormant volcano in the Cascade mountains (Mount St Helens, anyone?). Then scary things start to happen (I won't say what they are) and he becomes convinced that the volcano is going to erupt. Of course, nobody believes him, especially not his colleagues, who seem more interested in drinking cups and cups of Linda Hamilton's character's coffee. He still persuades them to call a town meeting to discuss escape plans. And, during the meeting, guess what happens...
Nothing happens and they all go home.
No, I was kidding.
The actors are generally very good, with Brosnan and Hamilton playing the lead roles without going over the top. The film also has a terribly sinister scene where they are all in a metal boat singing to cheer the kids up and they realise that some bad, bad things are happening to their boat. It's really quite scary.
Aside from the occasional blot on the geological copybook with some things happening that are scientifically impossible, Dante's Peak is great-and the special effects are incredible.

EX film! great points on Mount.Saint Helens.
If you love disaster movies or love to learn about that sort of thing like i do, i reccomend you to see this film! I could watch it over and over again as its a really good movie. Just like when mount saint helens blew in 1980's. Very good actioning in the film. Other than it being about a volcanist moving to washington to find out about the volcano, then it erupting not long after there isnt really anymore to tell. MUST SEE! A fab family movie!

Dante's Peak, a king among the disaster genre!
Dante's Peak is one of the most accurate and enjoyable science-based films of recent years.
Technical information is kept at a basic level and by no means negatively influences character development and gripping special effect scenes!
Pierce Brosnan (Dr Harry Dalton) and Linda Hamilton (Rachel Wando) are both well cast and give a good; but not over emphasised view of both the scientist and layman.
Other characters too are charasmatic and give good supporting roles, especially Rachel's children graham (Jeremy Foley) and Lauran (Jamie Renée Smith) as well as Paul Dreyfus (Brosnan's irritating/ patronising boss) played by Charles Hallahan.

Altogether a riviting movie, that may not stick in your mind forever; but will definately require a second (if not a third) viewing!
*****