Product Details

• Format: Widescreen, NTSC, Color
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Studio: Discovery Communications Inc.
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HMI92M
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,705 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Amidst the stunning wilderness of Yellowstone National Park, steam and hot water bubble and hiss from thousands of colorful, mineral-encrusted springs and vents. These hot springs, geysers and bubbling mud pools are all outward manifestations of a huge body of magma residing not far beneath the surface. It's a subterranean sea of molten lava that scientists are sure will burst through the Earth's crust  it's just a question of when. And if the resulting super-volcanic eruption is anything like the last one on earth  which plunged the world into darkness for six years, tipped us into the last Ice Age and reduced the human population to just 2,000 people  we're in for one explosive ride. Based on the predictions of top volcano experts and the detailed planning and evacuation strategies of government agencies, this sobering, factual drama shapes possible events into a compelling human experience. Watch as state-of-the-art computer graphics integrated with mock-factual sources reveal the horrifyingly realistic build-up to the Yellowstone eruption and the climax itself. Learn what effects the eruption may have across the globe  environmentally, politically, economically and socially  as the massive ash cloud drifts into the upper atmosphere. And glimpse the fragmented world that such a cataclysmic geological event would surely leave behind.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CAUTION! - This movie will scare the HELL out of you, August 13, 2006

By	John Hedlund - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not a documentary. It is a very realistic feeling movie walking you through the expected catalclismic events leading up to and following the eruption of the super volcano under Yellowstone National Park.

I don't believe this movie will ever be telecast because it would cause such a panic. It was disturbing to watch because it was so realistically portrayed. It is a very exciting and dramatic story that may likely affect the world as we know it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Portrayal of Science!, November 21, 2006

By	William Chamberlin "Professor Sean" (Fullerton, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Want to get your students talking about geology? Show them this film. It's an excellent study in how geologists study volcanoes, from studies of paleodeposits to supercomputer models. It also very movingly portrays the personal and professional challeges that scientists face when trying to warn the public about an impending disaster. Cry wolf and risk losing your job and credibility. Play it safe and risk human lives. If there is such a thing as a scientific movie, this is it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Actually... it's pretty good science, November 1, 2008

By	Ultramafic (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

Contrary to what one fellow reviewer avers, the science in Supervolcano is actually pretty accurate... at least that's what the real head of the real Yellowstone Volcano Observatory says: "Scientists from USGS, Yellowstone National Park, the University of Utah and elsewhere in academia were visited by the film's producer and writer, prior to filming. They asked us countless questions during script development, including the following: How do you monitor the volcano? What phenomena imply an eruption? Who is responsible for what tasks? What do you do in the field? Where do you stay? How do you get around? Later, we reviewed a draft script for the drama and provided them with our comments and critiques. Michael Riley, the actor playing the YVO scientist-in-charge, phoned me twice, and we had lengthy conversations about topics ranging from "my typical day" to dress code to the proper pronunciation of place names and geological jargon. In the end, the BBC Science team did an impressive job of addressing the sorts of scientific issues we would grapple with during the start of an eruption. The drama unfolds as a true scientific thriller, both gripping and fact-filled. The characters, though based only loosely on real people, had motivations and interests similar to mine and those of my colleagues. Although we strongly would have preferred portrayal of the effects of a small eruption, their intent was always to provide a worst-case scenario, and the final product did that very well." [Jake Lowenstern, "Truth, fiction and everything in between at Yellowstone" GEOTIMES, June 2005; see http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/june05/feature_supervolcano.html]
For those who don't want to read this interview, I'd just add a couple notes in response to one negative review to this movie: Pyroclastic flows do not need to be going downhill to flow--in fact, they not only can flow laterally for miles, but they can flow UPHILL(that's what killed David Johnston at Mt St Helens]; in "Supervolcano," I don't recall a cargo door falling off an aircraft to admit the eruption's sulfurous fumes, but I do recall that in real instances, such fumes have got into aircraft that have flown through volcanic plumes (and, while the critic is correct that the USGS does issue volcano alerts for aircraft now, this was not always the case: the current practice was the result of pretty much exactly the experience shown in Supervolcano--although with a much smaller volcano, of course--and doubtless the example was included because most viewers are probably unaware of this danger). Anyway... the movie is good, does an excellent job explaining the science within the plot & dialogue, without seeming pedantic, and... well, it makes us wish we had Wendy Reiss in charge of FEMA.