There is one bad green screen shot and an occasional obvious miniature, but other than that, the effects are a 9/10. Very impressive, especially the bridge scene.
shareThe effects are spectacular even for now. The volcano effects hold up perfectly fine.
Yeah, there are miniatures, yeah, they have brick buildings made of balsa, it still holds up though.
I'll take Dante's Peak's effects over 30 minute long CGI fight scenes that are all the rage these days.
You need suspension of disbelief. When everything is too good, it's terrible. It just doesn't look right. I like miniatures. The only thing that bugs me in the movie are the trees getting knocked down. They should have used a tilt lens for those shots so it would look like a normal lens if everything was full size. That's a minor nit-pick. Maybe they didn't have a PC lens at the model shop? They aren't cheap. I have one for 35mm and you can do really cool shots of models to make them look real. A 35mm still camera PC lens will probably run you about $1,000. I can't imagine what a Panavision one costs. Probably more than my house.
The first time I saw it many years ago, I thought the effects were fine. Then I saw it for a second time on the same day I posted this thread, and I was blown away with the effects. Maybe because I was so used to watching films over the years turn into CGI turds and I'm able to appreciate it more now. It's so much easier on the eyes when you have practical effects.
shareThis thread has almost convinced me to watch the film again.
shareYou should. I didn't love it the first time, but I appreciated it more the second time. The biggest problem with the movie is that it takes too long for the main volcano to erupt but it's still an entertaining film. 6.5/10
share1st time viewing complete. Agreed, the first half was too slow, it needed some action/suspense moments before the eruption. Jurassic Park found ways to titillate you before shit went mental.
Once Dante’s Peak kick’s into gear though it’s great. Ridiculous, sure, but the effects and pacing are so good it carries you along.
All the first half needed was one memorable action scene 25 minutes in. It would have broken up the constant talk about a volcano, and given us a moment to get a good feel about what was coming up.
shareExactly. The teens getting roasted in the hot spring was good but not much after that. The guy fooling around with the robot during a tremor and getting a broken leg was a bit weak. Needed some kind of lava spurt action scene.
shareI didn't recall that scene before I saw it for the second time, but during the second viewing, I expected the lava to start spilling over while the crew slowly started to scale down the volcano while the lava is slowly following them behind. Something like that would have made such a difference.
shareAbsolutely right
shareWatching it now and the effects are awesome for 97.
shareEven for 2023 they're pretty good. The whole scene on the bridge looks incredible.
shareAbsolutely. The miniature work on the dam is top notch. The only issue I see with the CGI is the flowing lava in a few scenes (cabin wall comes to mind). In the HBO behind the Scenes for Congo, they talked about filming Lava being really difficult. Dantes Peak did a great job and kept it tight by not focusing on it too much.
shareYeah there were some bad lava shots and maybe two clear miniatures, but it's still impressive as a whole.
shareHell yeah!
shareIt was amazing as I recall. I think I will watch this during this hurricane and after this afternoon’s earthquake.
shareI thought it was okay when I saw it in theatre, but I saw it again 3 years ago and it was a lot better than I remember. The biggest negative is that after the first scene, you don't really get any action for the next 45 minutes.
shareI watched it last night and it was great fun. There was more there than I remembered. Does it kind of remind you of the Norwegian movie The Wave? It’s almost the family vacation and a volcano. I think you’re right. It has very impressive effects.
I saw a documentary last year about a married couple who were volcanologists called Fire of Love. They both died in Japan's Mount Unzen volcano in 1991. They’d been to Mount St. Helen’s. They said there are two types. Red and gray. Gray being the most deadly. Anyway I enjoyed watching Dante’s Peak again in a storm this time.
I've never seen The Wave.
I really wish more film used practical effects like this. I was born in the 80s and grew up with movies like this and I almost forget what non-CGI effects look like.
I used to love this movie back when I first saw it in the early 2000s, when I was in middle school. I don't think I'd watched it since then (yikes, 20 years??) but I finally rewatched it tonight, and holy shit, these effects are absolutely incredible!! Especially compared to the bullshit CGI we see too much of.
I remember thinking the same thing when I rewatched "Titanic" a year or two ago. Whatever they were doing in the mid-to-late '90s with effects was working!!
There was less lava in the movie than I remembered or was anticipating, but man, it's still such a great movie.
At the time, I didn't think much of the effects. Not that they were bad, but I just thought the effects were of the time and didn't notice that they were any worse than other 90s films. But after all these years passed and have become used to so much mediocre CGI, that's when I realized how great they were.
shareI only saw this once and was not a fan. But I have to agree. It's a remarkably well-made disaster film.
shareHow long ago did you see it?
shareAbout five or six years ago. I kept putting it off for ages because I saw Volcano not too long after it came out and hated it. But while again, not a big fan, I'll rewatch this over that.
shareYou probably won't like it a second time then. I saw this when I was a kid and didn't rewatch it until almost 25 years later and appreciated it a lot more.
shareThe effects here are really under appreciated. Most of them have aged quite well, and would look good in a movie released today. Just a testament to the power of practical effects.
shareI can't believe how spoiled I was in the 90s. I didn't think it looked amazing, but it actually looks better than effects now.
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