I'm thinking specifically of the practical / miniature effects - such as the exploding volcano, collapsing highway, and dam/bridge ... I adore practical effects, and this film offers some great examples ... the ash also looked excellent ......
this is one of my personal "comfort movies" - can't explain why, but it always puts me in a good mood!
I second that -- I think it's because the town in the movie really IS a pleasant place we'd like to exist -- I mean, hey -- small town ambience and coffee -- like, maybe Seattle with all its sophistication and artsy pleasantness translated down into Mayberry -- plus, springs and resorts and all of this believable.
The destruction and hellishness of its ending is necessary to keep it from getting dull. As soon as you're tired of it, you get your buck's worth of fire, ash, and mass destruction to finish your bill.
I totally agree with you. I don't know how many times I've watched this movie - probably one of the most-watched films in my library. And mostly due to 1) The awesome practical SFX, so rare these days since everything seems to be done digital. 2) The town is definitely one you would like to be able to visit. I've always been attracted to small towns like this - with just enough old-time charm mixed with the present. 3) It's just a great entertaining thrill-a-minute (once the volcano starts her thing) roller-coaster special effects extravaganza! I will be sooooo happy once this gets released on Blu-ray! Come-on Universal, get your act together! You've got a great print already!
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Came here to say the same thing. Especially after seeing the awful '2012', this movie seemed that much better. Good pacing and casting, amazing truly stand out FX, great cinematography (at times), interesting deaths, and little to NO cgi... what else could you ask for in a disaster movie?
"Did you mean for all those words to come out like that or did they just fall out randomly?"-H.H.
Agree...damn (forgive the pun) good special effects.
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