Product Details

• Actors: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Abe Vigoda
• Directors: John Patrick Shanley
• Writers: John Patrick Shanley
• Producers: Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Roxanne Rogers, Steven Spielberg, Teri Schwartz
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: January 14, 1994
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (193 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302816602
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,899 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most People Miss the Point, March 29, 2000

By 

"fiendhed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joe Versus the Volcano [VHS] (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.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Misunderstood, Poetic Fantasy, August 28, 2000

By 

Robert E Wilson "robewil" (West Covina, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joe Versus the Volcano [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Sleeper, February 4, 2005

By 

G P Padillo "paolo" (Portland, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joe Versus the Volcano (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.