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Special Features
- Behind-the-scenes featurette
- Eric Burdon Sixteen Tons music video
- Cast film highlights
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Joe Versus the Volcano is a true early-1990s cult film. This fantasy-comedy was the first pairing of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, yet it polarizes viewers like a Blue Velvet or Happiness. As the only directorial effort from John Patrick Shanley (the Oscar-winning writer of Moonstruck), it is something special, and it's hard to resist the film's feather-light heart tugging. Joe Banks is having the life sucked out of him at a dead-end job. Miserable in his gray surroundings with stark fluorescent lighting, Joe dreams of being brave again. A visit to the doctor reveals that he has a "brain cloud." It's fatal, but he'll be fine for a few more months. An eccentric millionaire, Samuel Harvey Graynamore (Lloyd Bridges), hears of Joe's predicament and comes to him with a proposal: The people of the Pacific island of Waponi Woo need a human sacrifice to appease their gods. Why not live like a king for a few weeks, then throw yourself into a volcano? (Graynamore needs a sacrificial victim to offer in exchange for permission to mine the island for a rare mineral.) Joe accepts Graynamore's lavish proposal and on his journey meets three romantic possibilities (all played by Ryan). Joe embraces life; so does the movie. It's packed with smile-inducing supporting performances by Bridges, Ossie Davis, Robert Stack, and Dan Hedaya; playful songs ("Sixteen Tons," "Ol' Man River," Presley's version of "Blue Moon"); and amusing scenes (such as Joe buying luggage). Add the daring, imaginative production design of Bo Welch (Edward Scissorhands), Hanks and Ryan's chemistry, and Georges Delerue's romantic music and you have a film to fall for. --Doug Thomas
Product Description
Laughs erupt when Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love and fall in lava in Joe Versus the Volcano, a colorful, stylish laughquake written and directed by Moonstruck Oscar winner John Patrick Shanley. As Joe, Hanks adds to his phenomenal string of successes that includes, Splash, Big and Turner & Hooch. And Meg Ryan follows up her starmaking When Harry Met Sally...with three roles, playing each of the women in Joe's life. When we first meet Joe, he has the white-color blues. Every day is Monday, the boss is always in a bad mood and the cumulative stresses convince Joe he has a terminal condition called a "brain cloud." So when a zany jillionaire pops up and offers him a fleeting taste of the good life, Joe leaps at the chance. All he must do in return is leap into a volcano. But funny things happen on the way from the urban isle of Manhattan to the remote tropical isle of Waponi Woo... Out of the corporate frying pan. Into the fire. Is Joes doomed to be the last of the red-hot lovers? Not if the forces of courage, love and comedy have their way.
DVD Features:
Documentary
Filmographies
Interactive Menus
Music Video:Eric Burdon, "Sixteen Tons"
Other
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
86 of 88 people found the following review helpful
By "fiendhed"
Format:VHS Tape
The first time I watched this movie, shortly after its release, when I was a small lad, something struck me as "different" about this movie. The direction was good, the plot was VERY simple, and the acting was wonderful, with plenty of comedic and ironic elements.
However after watching it again during my high school years, I remember picking out dozens of metaphorical and symbolic items from the plot. Every evil or destructive force in Joe's life is symbolized by the company logo that the film features at the beginning, right down to the lightning bolt featured prominently later in the film. The fact that every woman important to Joe is the same girl, the lovely Meg Ryan, carries the theme of recurrence quite well.
To sum it up, Joe is an individual who has died, if not in reality, in spirit, stuck in a dead-end job after personal crises drove him to hypochondria. He discovers he is terminally ill, then is confronted by an eccentric millionare who wants Joe to sacrifice himself to a volcano on a small polynesian island to secure mining rights for his superconductor company. Joe proceeds to go on an endless stream of discovery, realizing that while he may be dying, he was never more alive. The recurring themes in this movie, such as the jagged line logo, Meg Ryan's appearance, his luggage, and the bizarre but likeable characters he's confronted with throughout make this movie seem more like a vision quest for Joe than the last few weeks of his life.
The plot is simple, but hides deeper meanings and morals, like any great fairy tale. This is possibly the best movie I have ever seen, and very worthy of purchase.
Now if they'd just put it on DVD.
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan will be best know for "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail" but this is really their best work. Tom Hanks has seemingly gone through three stages as an actor. Inane, teen-oriented buffoon ("Bachelor Party", "Volunteers") to quirky, but lovable ("Big", "Joe Versus the Volcano") to serious ("Philadelphia", "Saving Private Ryan"). "Joe Versus the Volcano" represents the best of his middle career and in my opinion, his best period. In playing Joe Banks, he captures the best of silliness and seriousness in one role. He shows a much greater range of acting ability than he has in any other film. Meg Ryan is equally amazing, playing three very different roles convincingly. This is a movie I have to view over and over because each time I do, I pick something up I hadn't previously. There is a hidden story underneath the surface and its up to the viewer to discover it. This movie is a veritable tapestry of symbolism and hidden messages. Listen carefully to the dialogue, especially the speech Joe gives to his boss after he leaves his job. And try to spot how many times you see the zig-zag symbol throughout the film.
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Tom Hanks gives one of his best comedic performances here as Joe, a hypochondriac who's led to believe he's dying from a "Brain Cloud." So he strikes a bargain in which he gives up his humdrum existence working for an artificial prosthesis factory with loud, buzzing flourescent lighting, to live a life of luxury for several weeks until he is forced to become a human sacrifice by hurling himself into a volcano to appease the gods of an island populated by orange soda drinking natives of a bizarrely comical multi-ethnicity. Somehow it all pulls together.
Meg Ryan - whom I normally cannot tolerate - here is charming in three different roles.
The great Ossie Davis has a small role as a chauffeur, and, charmer that he is, nearly walks off with the entire movie.
A delightful sleeper that passed under most people's raider. Worth a second look.
Meg Ryan - whom I normally cannot tolerate - here is charming in three different roles.
The great Ossie Davis has a small role as a chauffeur, and, charmer that he is, nearly walks off with the entire movie.
A delightful sleeper that passed under most people's raider. Worth a second look.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Of All the Movies that Never Should Have Worked, This One Takes the...
because not even the screenwriter/director truly realized what he had.
Of course according to most critics and the majority of the movie viewing public, this movie... Read more
Of course according to most critics and the majority of the movie viewing public, this movie... Read more
Published 9 days ago by fredtownward
5.0 out of 5 stars
great
feel good movie, very clever
i've watched it many times
tom hanks and meg ryan are perfectly cast in this movie
i've watched it many times
tom hanks and meg ryan are perfectly cast in this movie
Published 12 days ago by cindy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie
Different from any other movie. Like Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan together. Enjoyable for the whole family. Great Movie anytime
Published 15 days ago by Dance your pounds away
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another movie from the past
Liked the movie. Some of the parts were from a long time ago. It was nice to see it again.
Published 16 days ago by frances
5.0 out of 5 stars
To Jump or not Review
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are great in this picture! They have some real chemistry going together. The story is about a guy who finds himself in a job he hates working for a boss that... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Louis J. Barbier
3.0 out of 5 stars
Out there, but not too bad.
Its a bit slow in the beginning, but i stuck with it.The way the movie is shot and the way the special effects are done is much different.... It was only OK.
Published 20 days ago by SteveD.
5.0 out of 5 stars
I enjoy this movie more and more each time I see it
I initially watched this movie years ago. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are adorable in it. I am a fan of both of these actors. Read more
Published 24 days ago by LeesaRN
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great, quirky movie.
I always loved this movie. This DVD is adequate and the quality is fine. I would recommend to anyone who likes Tom Hanks.
Published 25 days ago by James Gallagher
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and quirky
Fun and quirky movie from the earlier carreer.
Reminds me of the character he played on Bosom Buddies.
Abe Vigoda Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges are great in this.
Reminds me of the character he played on Bosom Buddies.
Abe Vigoda Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges are great in this.
Published 25 days ago by J JACQUES
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sleeper!
GREAT movie! Saw it a long time ago and do not understand why it did not do a LOT better!!
Published 1 month ago by Greg D
