Volcano or Volcano in Quebec is an American film directed by Mick Jackson , released in 1997 .
Synopsis
An earthquake hits Los Angeles . Mike Roark, head of the emergency administration office, is keen to return to work, although he promised his ex-wife that he would take a vacation while his thirteen-year-old daughter visits him. His deputy chief, Emmit Reese, notes that the earthquake caused no significant damage, although seven underground workers were burnt to death in an underground pipeline at MacArthur Park . Despite the insistence of public works that it was just an exceptional accident, Mike wants to stop the metro of the red line. Chief Stan Olber, sensing there is no threat to trains, ignores Mike’s decision. The latter then leaves with Gator Harris in the pipeline to investigate. It is then that they are almost burned to death when the gas suddenly floods the pipe. Geologist Amy Barnes of CIGS believes a volcano can form under the city, but Mike can not take action without evidence.
The next morning, Amy and her assistant Rachel go to the MacArthur Park to investigate the tunnel. While taking samples, a new earthquake strikes. Rachel is killed and a red line subway train (under MacArthur Park ) derails. Near the La Brea Tar Pits , steam comes out through the sewer system, throwing the grids into the air. The smoke escapes from the sewers, with lava bombs. Mike, on his way to the Emergency Management Office with his daughter Kelly, stops to help firefighters extinguish fires.
A volcano then erupts and lava flows on Stanley Avenue, destroying a fire truck, trapping Kelly and burning his leg. Mike saves her. Realizing that he must stay to do his job, but the situation is not safe for Kelly, he sends it to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with D r Jaye Calder. The lava flows down from Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue (in) . In the subway tunnel, Stan and a rescue crew reach the train just as lava begins to flow into the tunnel. The team saves the passengers, but by saving the driver from the oar, he falls into the lava and dies while sacrificing himself.
Mike and Amy try to find a way to stop the lava. They stack 82 concrete blocks at the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax to create a cul-de-sac. After pumping water into swimming pools, they wait for the helicopter bombers to arrive with the fire hoses to pour water over the lava to form a crust. The operation is successful, but Amy realizes that the main flow of the lava is still heading into the subway in the tunnel of the red line, heading north. It calculates that the main eruption will occur at the Beverly Center (in) near the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center , where the tunnel ends.
They then create canals by destroying the street to divert the flow of lava towards Ballona Creek (in) , which flows in the Pacific Oceanbut the street goes downhill. Mike sends Amy to find her daughter while he has another plan to stop the lava. He wants to destroy a 22-story building to create a dam and force the lava to flow into the creek. However, when the demolition begins, Mike sees his daughter Kelly with a little boy in the parking lot of the building and runs to save her. This is when the building collapses, making the plan a success. Mike then emerges debris with Kelly and the child and they decide to go back home, the situation being under control. A late text notes that the volcano, called Mt. Wilshire, is considered active.
Technical sheet
- Original and french title: Volcano
- Quebec title: Volcano
- Director: Mick Jackson
- Scenario: Jerome Armstrong and Billy Ray
- Music: Alan Silvestri
- Photography: Theo van de Sande
- Editing: Don Brochu (de) and Michael Tronick
- Sets: Jackson De Govia
- Costumes: Kirsten Everberg
- Production: Andrew Z. Davis , Neal Moritz , Stokely Chaffin , Michael Fottrell , Scott Stuber and Lauren Shuler Donner
- Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
- Distribution: Twentieth Century Fox
- Budget: $ 90 million
- Country of origin: United States
- Languages: English and Spanish
- Format: Color – 1.85: 1 – DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS – 35 mm
- Genre: disaster , action
- Duration: 104 minutes
- Release dates:
- United States :
- France :
- United Kingdom :
Distribution
- Tommy Lee Jones (VF: Claude Giraud ) : Mike Roark, OEM Manager
- Anne Heche (VF: Marine Jolivet ) : Dr. Amy Barnes, Institute of Geological Sciences
- Gaby Hoffmann : Kelly Roark
- Don Cheadle (VF: Serge Faliu ) : Emmit Reese, Deputy Chief of OEM
- Jacqueline Kim (in French) (VF: Nathalie Spitzer ) : Doctor Jaye Calder, Doctor
- Keith David (VF: Mario Santini ) : Lieutenant Ed Fox
- John Corbett (VF: William Coryn ) : Norman Calder
- Michael Rispoli (VF: Patrick Borg ) : Gator Harris
- John Carroll Lynch (VF: Georges Caudron ) : Stan Olber, Site Foreman
- Marcello Thedford (en) : Kevin
- Laurie Lathem : Rachel
- Bert Kramer (in) : the Los Angeles Fire Chief
- Bo Eason (in) : Bud McVie, policeman
- James MacDonald (VF: Philippe Peythieu ) : Terry Jasper, the police officer
- Dayton Callie (VF: Joseph Falcucci ) : Roger Lapher
- Michael Cutt : Armstrong
- Kevin Bourland (VF: Herve Bellon ) : Bob Davis
- Valente Rodriguez : The metro driver
- Susie Essman : Anita, the babysitter
- Jared Thorne / Taylor Thorne : Tommy
- Richard Schiff : Haskins
- Kerry Kilbride (VF: Bernard Lanneau ) : the news presenter
Around the film
- The shooting took place in California in Los Angeles , Torrance and the Mojave Desert .
- The lava consisted mainly of methylcellulose , the thickening agent used by fast food for their milkshakes , while the ash was made from old newspapers.
- Another disaster film centered on a volcano came out the same year, Dante’s Peak .
- The animated series South Park parodies the film in an episode of the same title, Volcano .
Awards
- Nomination prize of greatest indifference to human life and public property, at the 1998 Razzie Awards .
Reference
- (In) This article is partially or entirely from the Wikipedia article in English entitled ” Volcano (disambiguation) ” ( see the list of authors ) .