Volcano (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Volcano |
| Original title | Volcano |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1997 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Mick Jackson |
| script |
Jerome Armstrong Billy Ray |
| production |
Neal H. Moritz Andrew Z. Davis |
| music |
Alan Silvestri Theme Song: Wendy Melvoin |
| camera | Theo van de Sande |
| cut |
Don Brochu Michael Tronick |
| occupation | |
| |
Volcano (Alternative title: Volcano - Hotter than Hell ) is an American film from 1997. The director was Mick Jackson , the screenplay was written by Jerome Armstrong and Billy Ray . The main roles played Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche .
action
Mike Roark heads the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, which is responsible for civil protection in Los Angeles . He is on vacation with his daughter Kelly when a light earthquake shakes the city. Roark breaks off his vacation because of this and drives to work. Shortly afterwards, an accident occurs in a regular water canal under MacArthur Park, in which seven canal workers in the city are killed and another barely survives. Roark then tried unsuccessfully to block the subway section under MacArthur Park.
Initially an accidentally drilled steam pipe is suspected as the cause of the accident, but it quickly becomes clear that the workers died not from steam, but from a flame, which causes Roark and his colleague, Gator Harris, to climb into the storm sewer themselves. There they discover a crack in the ground, from which suddenly a burning gas jet flows and almost kills both of them. Roark then consults the geologist Dr. Amy Barnes and her colleague, Rachel. Because the temperature of a lake in the park has risen unusually sharply within a few hours, both geologists draw Roark's attention to the fact that plate tectonic activity may cause magma to rise to the surface of the earth directly below the city and form a new volcano . However, with no concrete evidence, Roark's hands are tied.
During the night, Barnes and Rachel climb into the storm sewer to investigate the crack. Without warning, the city is shaken by a violent earthquake, which interrupts the power supply. Rachel, who is right next to the rift, loses her balance, falls into the rift, and is killed by the sudden release of hot gases. Due to the earthquake, a subway with several passengers on board derailed. Roark, who is awakened by the earthquake, wants to drive his daughter to safety when suddenly steam rises from the sewer system. A black column of smoke and lava bombs shoot up from the La Brea tar pits at the same time . When one of the lava bombs hits a fire engine and overturns, Roark and doctor Dr. Jaye Calder the injured.
A few minutes later the volcano breaks through to the surface of the earth at the tar pits and lava slowly flows onto Wilshire Boulevard . Two of the firefighters trapped in the overturned car burn in the lava. Kelly is injured in the leg by a lava bomb and is taken by Calder to Cedars Sinai Hospital . The lava spreads, accompanied by immense media coverage, over several hundred meters over Wilshire Boulevard.
Meanwhile, a rescue team led by Stan Olber, the boss of the Los Angeles Metro , discovers the derailed subway, towards which a lava flow is moving. Since the doors cannot be opened, the passengers are still trapped in the wagons and have passed out from the heat. The rescue team can rescue the passengers before the lava reaches the wagons. Olber notices that the subway driver is still missing and gets back into the now burning wagons. He manages to find the unconscious driver and carry him through the wagons. The lava flow has now washed around the entire underground. Olber's attempt to jump onto safe ground from the wagon fails. He falls into the lava flow, but before he dies he can still throw the subway driver in the direction of the rescue team.
On Wilshire Boulevard, Roark and Barnes try to stop the lava flow with the fire brigade and civil protection. They erect a barrier made of concrete blocks on which the lava flow initially accumulates. Fire brigades and fire-fighting planes pour tons of water over the lava, causing it to form a crust and solidify.
However, Barnes calculates that the eruption is not yet over and that a significant amount of lava still flows underground, which will erupt again at the next obstacle. According to the calculations, this outbreak will occur at Cedars-Sinai Hospital , of all places - exactly at the point where Roark had previously transported his daughter and several other injured people.
Since there is not enough time to evacuate everyone, Roark makes the decision to blow up an uninhabited high-rise building so that the rubble acts as a barrier and diverts the lava flow into Ballona Creek - a rainwater canal. Just as they start to blow up, Roark notices that his daughter and a little boy are standing right next to the skyscraper. Since the blasting sequence can no longer be canceled, Roark rushes to help them immediately. The skyscraper collapses and all three are buried. Thanks to a cavity in the neighboring building, they can only be recovered slightly injured a little later. Roark's plan worked: the lava flow will be blocked, diverted into Ballona Creek and eventually poured into the Pacific. In the end, Roark goes on a well-deserved vacation with Barnes and his daughter.
The film ends with a look at the Los Angeles skyline and the still smoking volcano in the background. A text shows that the volcano is registered under the name "Mount Wilshere" and listed as active.
criticism
- The lexicon of international films wrote, "in the absence of a workable story that would degrade the characters to cinema robots" , "the special effects (...) wear out faster than the running time of the film would like" .
“NASA experts recently put the sci-fi genre on the gold scales: the most unrealistic scenarios? ' 2012 ', ' The 6th Day ' and 'Volcano'. They are right: the story is laughable and completely absurd. Hot action, cool irony and the 'gleeful' orgy of destruction are still fun - it's just a film. - Magma cum laude - thanks to fault tolerance. "
Awards
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
The film was nominated for the 1998 Golden Raspberry in the category Most ruthless disregard for human life and public property .
Individual evidence
- ^ Volcano. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 4, 2017 .
- ↑ Volcano - Film review on the TV Spielfilm website , accessed on February 6, 2011
Web links
- Volcano in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Volcano atRotten Tomatoes(English)