Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York (2006)

disaster review

I highly enjoyed this movie. Full of action and team work. Makes for a nice night of watching . August 17, 2008

"There's A Lady Present....Lady? I'm A Sand Hog!"

This is one of the stupidest movies I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of really, really bad films. The premise is simple: a crazy scientist and an evil mayoral contender conspire to drill for geothermal energy under Manhattan, releasing a volcano under the city. In the process it's up to a group of tunnel diggers to drain the lava into the city sewer system.

Along the way we get a lesson on "sand hog" etiquette ("You gotta' earn that title, sweetheart!"), we see gratuitous intestinal spillage, and we see the romance of the lead sand hog and the brilliant geologist, Dr. Foxley, rekindled. Do not miss her emotion-packed dialogue: at one point she thanks her ex-husband by saying "Thank you former spouse". Yes, she really says that.

The film has the most ridiculous looking CGI effects in a recent production, and has perhaps the most spectacularly improbable cause-and-effect villain death in all movie history. (Think bullets and lava.) During the course of the movie the FBI is portrayed as dimwitted conspiracy theorists (they think the volcano is a terrorist plot), and wants the city put under martial law, which prompts many scenes of people fleeing from the ridiculous CGI ash clouds. On a brighter note, you may enjoy the "Sand Hog calendar" presentation before the closing credits. I enjoyed it because it signaled that the movie was nearly over: I bet you'll enjoy it too.

The DVD has no extras, which I actually consider a positive in this case, as I wanted to know nothing more about the film. This is a totally hackneyed and pretentious production, and should be avoided at all costs. June 10, 2008

THAT ONE STAR REALLY MEANS NEGATIVE 1

JESUS HELP ME! THIS MOVIE WAS SO CORNY, I SHOULD FIND THE DIRECTOR AND PUT HIM IN JAIL! WHAT MAKES THIS MOVIE SO EWW, THEY DIDN'T EVEN FILM THE MOVIE IN NEW YORK! ALL THEY DID WAS SHOW A LITTLE BIT OF FOOTAGE OF A EVERYDAY NEW YORK STREET, THEN IT WILL CUT OFF QUICKLY OF THE NEW YORK STREET AND HAVE THE CHARACTERS STANDING IN BUILDINGS! WHEN THEY DID SHOW THE VOLCANO ERUPTING IT SHOWED PEOPLE RUNNING AROUND IN A CITY THAT LOOKED LIKE BOSTON OR PHILLY! PLUS WHEN THEY SHOWED THE CHARACTERS STANDING OUT SIDE OF THIS NOT NEW YORK STREETS THEY HAD POLICE SIRENS GOING OFF IN THE BACK GROUND THE WHOLE TIME! TAKE IT FROM ME PEOPLE I LIVE IN BROOKLYN, YOU DON'T HEAR SIRENS LIKE THAT ALL DAY! PLEASE DO NOT BUY OR RENT THIS GARBAGE! December 27, 2006

LAVA IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING

Yep, that's right...a volcanic eruption in NYC is the premise for this hokey but mildly diverting disaster flick. Seems like nasty doctor Michael Ironside is trying to develop a source of geothermal energy and doing so he starts a volcanic rift under the Big Apple. Dedicated tunnel worker Costas Mandylor is the first to discover the lava flow but of course no one believes him. Enter Alexandra Paul as his geologist ex-wife who is called in to find out what's going on. The FBI is certain it's the work of terrorists, while a high city official is secretly funding Ironside's experiment.
The movie is nowhere as intense as the earlier VOLCANO, as it's pending doom never seems large scale enough for a good disaster movie, and the effects aren't that impressive.
Diverting entertainment for fans of the genre. November 10, 2006

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