Customer Reviews

Magma: Volcanic Disaster

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am notorious for liking bad natural disaster movies... but this is awful, even for me. The effects were awful (the opening sequence is just ridiculous), the acting very poor, the overall effect is not very interesting. The best acting was done by Xander, but this performance was mediocre for him. I just wasn't impressed at all. I'd rent this before thinking of buying it. I'm sure glad I did.

I am horrified by the thought that somebody might take those "scientists" seriously and actually believe in what this movie tries to tell. Let me pick just two of the many utterly wrong things: 1. Yellowstone sitting on the continent's biggest fault zone? I don't think so. Yellowstone is a hot-spot, like Hawaii, thousands of miles away from fault zones and anybody who took geology 101 would know the difference. 2. Black smokers in the Mariana Trench? So far, black smokers have been found on the ocean plateau, at about 6,000 ft depth but nowhere near the trenches. Oh, one more thing: the Virginia Class submarines shown in the movie have a maximum diving depth of 800 feet, nowhere near the depth of oceanic trenches. Enough.
I understand that a B-Movie's budget doesn't allow for a high-class scientific advisor, but any college student could have done a better job than whoever authorized this piece.
One scene I really liked: "There was a time when the scientific community unanimously agreed with the flat earth theory." Apparently, we didn't go very far ever since. If this movie had claimed our earth is a cube, it wouldn't be much further from the truth than the story of this sad piece of entertainment.

Originally airing on the Sci-Fi channel, this is another one of those disaster movies with a wholly illogical scientific basis and mediocre special effects. As a disaster movie, it also fails to deliver any real scenes of personal crisis or danger, leaving us with a talky treatise on governmental incompetence.
Xander Berkeley is quite good as the heroic scientist whose theory of cataclysmic disaster is rejected by other scientists; Reyko Aylesworth is very good as his estranged wife whose own life may be in peril; and Amy Jo Johnson is the oh so bright graduate student.
While certainly not a classic disaster flick, it's an okay timepasser.

Obviously done on the cheap. For example; In a scene where there were supposed to be multiple explosions, was really one explosion done at different angles. Would have worked fine if they had bothered to check the background, and noticed that the extra that got hit in the first explosion, was the same extra that got hit in the second and third explosions.
It's like this throughout the entire movie. Very poor film continuation, weak plot and cornier than a bowl of popcorn. And it's so obvious.
Good for a laugh at the special effects, which again were definitely done on the cheap.

I won't spoil this movie for anyone who hasn't seen it so this review will be short. Having seen this movie on the Sci Fi Channel, I can say it is about average for a made for TV disaster movie. It starts off good with an interesting premise and quickly goes downhill as the plot become cheesier and cheesier.

The only bright spots in the entire movie are the characters played by Xander Berkeley and Reiko Aylesworth who most people probably know from the Fox show "24." Despite the mediocre script and ridiculous plotline, both manage to shine in their roles. If you're a fan of either Xander or Reiko, the movie is worth purchasing.

Magma: Volcanic Disaster by Xander Berkeley, Amy Jo Johnson, Michael Durrell

Great movie!!

This is a low budget film with low budget, mostly unknown actors. Still, they do an acceptable job dealing with a sorta-bad script. The effects are what you would expect for a film like this, but still it's fun to watch. I don't expect much when I buy films like this as most all of them are low budget affairs. So "you get what you pay for" applies here. Just be aware and enjoy what you get!

For some reason, the Earth's core has become unstable, and rising internal pressure has caused an increase in volcanic activity at weak points in the crust, around the world. Magma: Volcanic Disaster (2006), asks that you believe that man has the ability to affect the course of volcanic activity.

Scientist Peter Shepherd (Xander Berkley) and his team happen to be on site at some of the hot spots of volcanic activity, and develop a theory that explains the pattern of events. To spice things up, there is some minor drama involving the reporting of findings to the President. And Shepherd has some personal trials, losing a close friend to an exploding volcano, and is also working on repairing his relationship with his ex-wife (Reiko Aylesworth).

Realistically, what man can do when dealing with a planetary crisis like this is very limited. The plan is to creating weak spots in the crust, using nuclear explosions, and promote volcanic activity at the bottom of the ocean, where the least damage would be done. Submarines from various nations launch nuclear tipped torpedoes, that trigger underwater lava flows.

Lacking scientific credibility, and with average special effects, there isn't much too reason to see this, except for Xander Berkley. Berkley is a very solid actor, and it is nice to see him in a lead role. It is also good to see Reiko Aylesworth (24). Unfortunately despite the film's mostly solemn attitude, the story is just too goofy to be taken seriously.

I'll start by admitting that the story may not be the best ever, but it wasn't that bad either. And the main reason I watched it, other than the natural disaster story,....Amy. Jo. Johnson. That's right the original Pink Ranger. My first tv crush, and she's still a crush of mine. I'd watch most anything she's in. I really enjoy this movie over and over again.

Magma: Volcanic Disaster: 5 out of 10: The always watchable Xander Berkley (24) and the impish Amy Jo Johnson (Pink Power Ranger) lead a surprisingly solid cast down made for television disaster movie hell.

With Made for TV disaster movies the questions are not how good are certain elements but how mind numbingly awful will these elements be. Stack the deck with the terrifying fact this is a made for Sci-fi Channel Disaster movie (Only PAX is worse) and anything above pure pain is a feat of cinematic luck. This is not pure pain.

As I said the leads were watchable and the screenplay liked to actually kill off characters on screen which is a nice touch. In addition Amy Jo Johnson's attempts to simultaneously bed Xander Berkley and save his marriage were more entertaining than anything else in the movie. (Usually in disaster movies these subplots put the "T" in tedium.) Alas the rest of the movie is a true disaster and both the screenwriter and the effects/sets departments share blame. First off all most natural disasters are not caused by man. Perhaps a look near a dictionary for the definition of natural might clear this up.

The idea that nuclear testing and chemical waste is polluting the core of the earth (it's solid by the way and starts about 400 miles below the surface) causing it to expand is not the most ridiculous premise for a movie (that is shared by this film's bigger sister The Core, The Day After Tomorrow and Sixteen Candles) but it is close.

As for the special effects guys I know the CGI lava looks bad and the model subs are wanting but if you're going to put the characters in a lava tunnel perhaps one without actual lights attached on the walls would be better. And what kind of underground mine was that anyway? It looked like a Styrofoam tunnel house.

The movie simply falls apart at the end with nuclear weapons once again coming to the rescue and a Yellowstone finale which was one of the funniest things I've seen all year. Magma is average in a field where the competition is awful.