Thanks to the use of practical effects combined with the computer-generated elements, this round goes to Dante's Peak.Īt the center of each movie is a touching moment where a character sacrifices themselves to save everyone else, but which one takes the prize for making audiences cry more?įor the early goings of the movie, John Carroll Lynch's Stan Olber is the wiseass Los Angeles MTA director chomping on gum as he tries to quit smoking and yelling at his workers, but he enters the hall of heroes when he saves a driver in the tunnels of the Los Angeles that have been overtaken with hot lava. It's especially apparent when Harry and Rachel escape through the deserted and partially destroyed town. The shots of the volcano erupting, combined with the practical effects and placement of ash and darkened skies adds a level of detail and believability that remains just as impressive as it was all those years ago. The special effects in Dante's Peak, while not comparable to anything you'll see in 2020, surprisingly still hold up after all this time. Looking back on it now, the overused CGI takes away from some of the better practical effects, except for those random slow-motion shots. When I first saw Volcano when it came to home video back in the late '90s I was blown away by the special effects, especially in the final act when the lava flow gets closer and closer to the protagonists, but that all changed with the advent of high-definition television. With movies like Volcano and Dante's Peak, believable and eye-catching special effects are crucial, so let's find out how they match up. The supporting cast features Charles Hallahan, Grant Heslov, Elizabeth Hoffman, Tzi Ma, and a few others to round out the movie.Īs great as it was to see James Bond and Sarah Connor face off with a destructive volcano, this round has to go to Volcano for that impressive supporting cast of characters, including Don Cheadle the same year he appeared in Boogie Nights. Outside of the two main stars, the disaster movie also features Gabby Hoffman, Don Cheadle, Keith David, Richard Schiff, and a large ensemble of character actors to fill the movie's bit roles.ĭante's Peak, on the other hand, features a smaller cast that includes stars Pierce Brosnan as geologist Harry Dalton and Linda Hamilton as Rachel Wando, the mayor of the small Washington town. Volcano's cast is led by Tommy Lee Jones as Office of Emergency Management director Mike Roark and Anne Heche as California Institute of Geological Sciences geologist Amy Barnes, both of which were pretty big names for the time. Volcano and Dante's Peak both feature some of the biggest actors of their time as well as some great up-and-comers, but which one has the better overall cast.
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