‘Dante’s Peak’ 4K UHD Blu-ray (review)

Kino Lorber

With the turn of the millennium on the horizon, 90s blockbusters increasingly became preoccupied with grandiose disaster scenarios, and Dante’s Peak became one of the decade’s biggest successes in the category.

Detailing a looming volcanic eruption of seismic proportions near the idyllic town of Dante’s Peak, volcanologist Harry Dalton (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself struggling to have his warnings taken seriously, and he must team up with mayor Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton) to convince the townsfolk of the impending catastrophe before it is too late.

Starring Brosnan at the height of his James Bond fame, and Linda Hamilton after she cemented her star power as the badass mother of the human resistance in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Dante’s Peak is led by two of Hollywood’s heavy hitters of the era, so the film came with built-in appeal for movie-going audiences at the time.

Brosnan’s serious, no-nonsense Harry is juxtaposed well by the character of Rachel playing to Hamilton’s innate warmth and relatability, creating an interesting but believable dynamic as both actors are, to an extent, playing against type here, and thereby ensuring that there is a payoff in terms of character development, straightforward as it may be.

As Brosnan was usually associated with smooth charm and Hamilton with unwavering intensity, it was unusual to see their turns as the bereaved volcanologist who does not mince words and the soft-spoken smalltown mayor who needs to tap into her full potential, but it enabled an otherwise paint-by-numbers film to fill the time until the volcano inevitably erupts with ample amounts of melodrama without becoming schmaltzy.

Taking its time to build the image of picturesque small-town America, the film is not in a rush to reach its seismic climax, allowing the viewer to feel the sleepy pace of Dante’s Peak, thereby making the contrast of the volcanic mayhem that much more impactful and tangible when all hell finally breaks loose.

This ensures that the pacing remains steady without dragging, and the narrative gradually escalates at intervals that keeps the viewer invested.

As disaster films go, the appeal is of course to witness a fictional disaster in a safe setting, and Dante’s Peak never pretends to be anything more than what it is, and the filmmakers most definitely knew they needed to deliver in spectacle department.

And deliver they do.

What stands out about Dante’s Peak in particular is its reliance on practical effects, and how exquisitely they are executed, especially with regard to how beautiful the miniature work is, and that is arguably the main attraction here.

Naturally, Dante’s Peak was not the only volcanic disaster movie of 1997, as Volcano was released later that year, and while the incredibly cheesy approach of Volcano may appeal more to some, when comparing the two movies, Dante’s Peak ultimately wins in terms of both spectacle and dramatic appeal.

Extras include commentary, featurette, and trailer.

Dante’s Peak delivers spectacle in a way only the 90s could, and while the general framework is formulaic and farfetched, it is nonetheless competently and compellingly utilized, just as the excellent practical effects and engaging leads makes it a fun flick to revisit from a decade that excelled at glossy mainstream blockbusters.

Verdict: 7 out of 10.