Customer Reviews

Supervolcano

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

My sister and I love geology (we live in Washington State, where we have 5 active volcanoes). We've seen films related to Earth catastrophes, most of which were more like science fantasy than science fiction (eg, "10.5" which was awful). After Discovery Channel's "Supervolcano" aired, my sister and I were stunned. I called her and we agreed we couldn't find a single inaccuracy as far as the science went. The cast was good too; many have been on the "Stargate" series, which we both love as well. Very good story, great SFX, great science. It's kind of like "Armageddon": "It's happened before. It WILL happen again. It's just a question of when." The sub-title is right: it's overdue, by about 40,000 years. Yikes.

I have enjoyed watching this "documovie" at least six or seven times since I originally recorded it on my HD-DVR in 2005 from Discovery Channel. It is one that you want to show to others. I am buying the DVD so there won't be as easy a chance of losing it due to accidental erasure. It caused a lot of geological interest within my household, and through our own research, the chance of a Yellowstone National Park Supervolcano is quite real, and the show is full of true facts, along with the skepticism of people saying that the show is sensationalizing the possible event. But, within the show it even addressed that part of this scenario as well.

Don't look for a "Super-Production" disaster movie like "Deep Impact", or "Armageddon" because there are no big Hollywood names, and also to keep the documentary feel, it will have a raw "video tape look" in SOME areas of the production, but thankfully not the whole movie. If you like disaster types of movies, you should really like this. It's entertaining AND educative along with the added side stories of people's personal lives thrown in to give the "humanity" appeal of caring what happens to the characters.

It can scare or bother one from an "impending doom" scenario, and it's one that you can't honestly tell your kids not to be scared because "It's just a movie", so I suggest you keep a PG-13 rating in mind. It is a very good bet (percentage wise) that it will not happen within our lifetimes, but how long can that be said??...

In the last three years, there have been a number of good documentaries produced by the Discovery Channel, History Channel and Science channel on the subject of super volcano phenomenon. This is a fictionalized account of an eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano. It's well done, believable, and sticks to the facts as they are known today. An entertaining production that will also provide amplification of an interesting facet of volcanoes not well known to the public.

This exciting film has two great things going for it. (1) The scientists and the science are highly believable; this is probably the best natural disaster film ever made (and the special effects are pretty good too). (2) The "plot" focuses on the interactions between the scientists, Yellowstone Park staff, government officials (Administrator of FEMA, Director of USGS, Secretary of Commerce, Governor of Wyoming), and the press. Note that there are no villians, except the volcano itself. Anyone who interprets science for the public will appreciate the great skill with which the Yellowstone Chief Scientist explains the potential eruption to the Administrator of FEMA, for example, and of course thus also communicates to us, the viewers. The great tension between the players concerning how to assess and communicate the risks is both gripping and relevant to other more familiar natural disasters such as hurricanes. This film sets a high standard for the increasingly popular genre of films about natural disasters.

They probably have to come up with a new category for movies like this. It's clearly an exercise in getting some science across to the viewer, and yet it has the trappings of a Hollywood blockbuster. And yet somehow it melds the two into a new style of entertainment!
This is a BBC TV movie (in two one hour parts) which shows the build up to, and subsequent global effects of, a super-eruption. Although sensationalised - (it's overdue! It will plunge us back into the stone age!) it is actually almost documentary like in its unfolding, with the drama unfolding interspersed with faux interviews with the characters, as if looking back on the events - providing an effective opportunity for exposition of the science, in counterpoint to the action unfolding in the drama.
As a drama, it works pretty well - character is not so important as keeping the pace licking along - which it does. And although the faces are often a little earnest in movie-of-the-day style, the actors are convincing enough to keep an interest in who lives and who dies. As a documentary, it succeeds in getting across the scale of what could happen and how, in its geological context. Effects are passable for the small screen and sound is a satisfyingly rumbly 5.1 mix.
Extras include two half hour documentaries which were linked to the movie and share some of the graphics, positing the science behind the thriller. A little too glossy and sensationalist to be first class documentaries, but interesting enough.
All in all, a well intentioned science based thriller, with decent talent and enough cash and science thrown at it to make it gel. It's somehow satisfying to find a thriller that does not have politics or terrorists as the driver, and done more believably than several high profile Hollywood stabs at the subject of volcanoes.
Recommended.

A brilliant and well-researched dramatization of what could happen if the volcano that sits beneath Yellowstone should erupt. I recommend it strongly to my colleagues who teach college-level geology. I doubt, though, that the vendors at Yellowstone want to have it in their shops; it's that scary.

I watch this film so often that I am on my second copy of it. I find it to be well done and quite realistic. The science data is great and keeps nature fans like me well entertained. I love "disasters" and the eruption of a "supervolcano" fits the bill perfectly. I find the human element in the film to be very realistic and spot on where bureaucratic attitudes are concerned. This film makes one sit back and think about one's own reaction to things. How would we handle such a situation? Hmmm...