Dante’s Peak **** (1997, Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, Jamie Renée Smith) – Classic Movie Review 11,065

Pierce Brosnan takes time out from playing James Bond and finds good work as a vulcanologist called Dr Harry Dalton, who arrives at the ‘most desirable’ fictional American countryside town of Dante’s Peak only to find the title’s long-dormant volcano may spring to life at any moment. Dalton teams up with the mayor Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton) to try desperately to convince the city council of the impending danger. As usual in films, and in life, safety is being placed well after economical interests.

The 1997 action adventure thriller Dante’s Peak is a confident, highly entertaining old-style disaster movie, very capably handled by director Roger Donaldson and well written by Leslie Bohem. It is exciting and even nail-biting at times, and Brosnan and Hamilton are likeable and engaging.

An excellent production on a big budget of $116,000,000 makes things look convincing, with good use of locations, CGI and special effects, many of which were practical special effects, using models or full-size props and vehicles.

Most of the film’s exteriors were shot in Wallace, Idaho, and then Dante’s Peak and the surrounding scenery were then digitally added. All crater scenes were shot at Mount St Helens, a volcano located in southwestern Washington state. The volcanic ash comprised fine newspaper shavings.

Dante’s Peak found itself in a distribution race with 20th Century Fox’s Volcano (1997) but thanks to a speeded-up production schedule, Dante’s Peak reached cinemas almost three months earlier and had better box office, a hit taking $178.1 million.

It also stars Charles Hallahan, Elizabeth Hoffman, Jamie Renée Smith, Jeremy Foley, and Grant Heslov.

It was produced by Universal Pictures and Pacific Western Production and released on 7 February 1997. It is producer Gale Anne Hurd’s third film with Hamilton, after The Terminator and Terminator 2.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,065

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