Dante's Peak

"The pressure is building..."

1997 1h 48m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 2,202

ActionAdventureDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Volcanologist Harry Dalton comes to the sleepy town of Dante's Peak to investigate the recent rumblings of the dormant volcano the burg is named for. Before long, his worst fears are realized when a massive eruption hits, and immediately, Harry, the mayor and the townspeople find themselves fighting for their lives amid a catastrophic nightmare.

“The pressure is building...”

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Cast

Pierce Brosnan
Harry Dalton
Linda Hamilton
Rachel Wando
Arabella Field
Nancy
Jamie Renée Smith
Lauren Wando
Jeremy Foley
Graham Wando
Elizabeth Hoffman
Ruth
Charles Hallahan
Paul Dreyfus
Grant Heslov
Greg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roger Donaldson
Writers: Leslie Bohem, Timothy Braniff, Ronald D. Herbst
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$116M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

266+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roger Donaldson, shot by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Frizzell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tina Hirsch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton and Arabella Field carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The pressure is building...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roger Donaldson directs. Andrzej Bartkowiak behind the camera. John Frizzell scores. Tina Hirsch cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$116M budget — tentpole studio territory.
229 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3266+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Roger Donaldson, shot by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by John Frizzell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Tina Hirsch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton and Arabella Field carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The pressure is building...".
9IMDB entry: tt0118928 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 25 themes, including "rescue", "small town", "helicopter", "lava".

The technical file

Cinematography: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Original score: John Frizzell
Editing: Tina Hirsch
Production design: J. Dennis Washington
Costume design: Isis Mussenden
Makeup / hair: Karen Asano-Myers
VFX supervisor: Ken Jones
Sound: Michael Geisler
Stunt coordinator: R.A. Rondell
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $116,000,000
Box office: $178,127,760
Return: 154% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Dante's Peak (1997)

Also by

Roger Donaldson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-03-22
★ 6/10
There are certain similarities with “Jaws” (1975) here, don’t you think? A small town, tourist-centric, is hearing some rumblings from mother nature that geologist “Harry” (Pierce Brosnan) doesn’t much like the sound of. When he calls the townsfolk together, though, they are way more concerned about the economic impact on their businesses if any bad news leaks out. The mayor (Linda Hamilton) is in no rush to terminate her time in office, and when his boss “Paul” (Charles Hallahan) turns up and tries to dial things down, it would seem that all is under control - or under the rug, anyway. Well, that’s until they try the tap water and then realise that this mountainside community is about to see red - quite literally! Can he manage to rescue everyone (including the mayor, her kids and the obligatory stray pet) and get the residents to safety? Now jeopardy isn’t high on the list of priorities for Roger Donaldson here so the plot is all fairly predictable, but there are some decent visual effects as the things nears it’s conclusion and there’s just an hint of science to illustrate that volcanoes tend to do what they want, when they want - regardless of whatever gadgets human beings stick in the ground to monitor them. It’s called the pyroclast protocol - just ask the Pompeiians. Brosnan is hardly an all-action hero, but he does enough here with the always wooden Hamilton and there are just enough tea-time, family, scares to keep the thing entertaining enough for just short of the two hours it takes for me to roast a chicken (in an oven). Watchable? Yes. Forgettable? That, too.

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