So much better than Volcano. I saw them both a few months apart.
I love LOTR trilogy, and films by Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray just for reference, and I was very thrilled with Dante's Peak. The acting of the two leads was great, believable, and the kids were very good actors, grandma was a bit weak at the end, but it's hard to recreate you're dying in acid. The effects were amazing for 15 years ago. Volcano was boring script-wise. Tommy is great but the movie was bland.
Get this on DVD!