I have to admit my curiosity was somewhat aroused by the title. I'm always up for a volcano disaster movie, and this seemed like an original take on it. Well, there was an airplane, there was a volcano, and the movie was certainly a disaster...
The movie starts with a volcanologist, Joseph (Ralph William Tarr), setting up equipment to monitor an increase in activity from a dormant volcano on an island off the coast of Hawaii. After the equipment is up and running, Joseph's colleague, Lisa Whitmore (Robin Givens) warns him that the volcanic activity on the island is increasing drastically and that he needs to leave immediately. Before he can leave, the island erupts, engulfing him in lava, leaving Lisa very upset when she figures out what has happened. The scene switches to the eponymous plane, where after a brief introduction to some of the passengers, we go into the cockpit, and find out that due to the eruption of a ring of volcanos near the coast of Hawaii, the plane's electronics and magnetics are not working properly, and the plane is flying off course and too low. Before the pilot and copilot can fix these problems, they are killed, leaving the stewardess, Rita (Tamara Goodwin) and passengers to fend for themselves. Fortunately, we have Marshall Jim Kirkland (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) on hand to take charge, finding Rick Pierce (Dean Cain) who has some knowledge of flying, but has never flown a plane this large, and volcanologist, Landon Todd (Matt Mercer), a friend of Lisa's who is on his way to join her team, among the passengers. Rick takes over piloting the plane, and coaxes it through a series of harrowing disasters caused by volcanic ash and lava bombs which bombard the plane as it flies through the ring of erupting volcanoes. Adding to the trouble is Carlos Crieger (David Vega), a psychopath whose actions are bizarre and whose motives are never explained. Eventually Landon manages to contact the military to ask for help, by this point Lisa is on the base to help out with her scientific knowledge, a process that would go much more smoothly if the officer in charge, Colonel Ryker (Mike Jerome Putnam) would actually listen to her. He, however, would rather concentrate on evacuating those in harm's way from the eruption, especially after a pyroclastic flow kills everyone at a nearby beach. However, after much coaxing, and forged orders that end in failure, Ryker relents, and captains the mission to rescue the passengers and blow up the the volcano that has emerged in the center of the ones which had been erupting. From there it's a race against time and nature to save the passengers and stop the volcano.
Like most disaster movies, the writing is atrocious. The science seems a bit off, as it often is, and most glaring is the fact that exploding a bomb in a volcano usually doesn't stop an eruption. If it impacts the eruption at all, it would probably make it worse. Likewise, it shouldn't take the plane that long to fly out of the ring of volcanos, although to the passengers that part of the flight might seem endless, unless, or course, the engines fail due to the volcanic ash, or the plane gets hit by a lava bomb. There is precious little character development, so we understand little of what haunts Rick, although it is obvious that he is haunted by something in his past, nor do we now why Ryker is so driven to save everyone but the passengers of the plane, or why Rita seems to be so drawn to Rick. The biggest mystery is why Crieger is so awful, although his ultimate comeuppance is quite satisfying. And the reliance on cliched scenes is really annoying, especially at the end when it bogs down the action, such as it is.
Surprisingly, the acting is actually pretty good. Cain, Givens, Hilton-Jacobs, Goodwin, and Mercer all do a good job of creating characters you care about and route for. Unfortunately, none of them is able to rise above the awful writing. Putnam and Vega are over-the-top with their characters, to the further detriment of the movie. And the special effects are nothing to write home about, except for the apparently obligatory scene where a lava bomb burns a hole through the chest of someone who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It's kind of sad that a premise that seems to be quite original was executed in such an uninspired way. However, the movie can be enjoyable if you don't take it too seriously.
The movie starts with a volcanologist, Joseph (Ralph William Tarr), setting up equipment to monitor an increase in activity from a dormant volcano on an island off the coast of Hawaii. After the equipment is up and running, Joseph's colleague, Lisa Whitmore (Robin Givens) warns him that the volcanic activity on the island is increasing drastically and that he needs to leave immediately. Before he can leave, the island erupts, engulfing him in lava, leaving Lisa very upset when she figures out what has happened. The scene switches to the eponymous plane, where after a brief introduction to some of the passengers, we go into the cockpit, and find out that due to the eruption of a ring of volcanos near the coast of Hawaii, the plane's electronics and magnetics are not working properly, and the plane is flying off course and too low. Before the pilot and copilot can fix these problems, they are killed, leaving the stewardess, Rita (Tamara Goodwin) and passengers to fend for themselves. Fortunately, we have Marshall Jim Kirkland (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) on hand to take charge, finding Rick Pierce (Dean Cain) who has some knowledge of flying, but has never flown a plane this large, and volcanologist, Landon Todd (Matt Mercer), a friend of Lisa's who is on his way to join her team, among the passengers. Rick takes over piloting the plane, and coaxes it through a series of harrowing disasters caused by volcanic ash and lava bombs which bombard the plane as it flies through the ring of erupting volcanoes. Adding to the trouble is Carlos Crieger (David Vega), a psychopath whose actions are bizarre and whose motives are never explained. Eventually Landon manages to contact the military to ask for help, by this point Lisa is on the base to help out with her scientific knowledge, a process that would go much more smoothly if the officer in charge, Colonel Ryker (Mike Jerome Putnam) would actually listen to her. He, however, would rather concentrate on evacuating those in harm's way from the eruption, especially after a pyroclastic flow kills everyone at a nearby beach. However, after much coaxing, and forged orders that end in failure, Ryker relents, and captains the mission to rescue the passengers and blow up the the volcano that has emerged in the center of the ones which had been erupting. From there it's a race against time and nature to save the passengers and stop the volcano.
Like most disaster movies, the writing is atrocious. The science seems a bit off, as it often is, and most glaring is the fact that exploding a bomb in a volcano usually doesn't stop an eruption. If it impacts the eruption at all, it would probably make it worse. Likewise, it shouldn't take the plane that long to fly out of the ring of volcanos, although to the passengers that part of the flight might seem endless, unless, or course, the engines fail due to the volcanic ash, or the plane gets hit by a lava bomb. There is precious little character development, so we understand little of what haunts Rick, although it is obvious that he is haunted by something in his past, nor do we now why Ryker is so driven to save everyone but the passengers of the plane, or why Rita seems to be so drawn to Rick. The biggest mystery is why Crieger is so awful, although his ultimate comeuppance is quite satisfying. And the reliance on cliched scenes is really annoying, especially at the end when it bogs down the action, such as it is.
Surprisingly, the acting is actually pretty good. Cain, Givens, Hilton-Jacobs, Goodwin, and Mercer all do a good job of creating characters you care about and route for. Unfortunately, none of them is able to rise above the awful writing. Putnam and Vega are over-the-top with their characters, to the further detriment of the movie. And the special effects are nothing to write home about, except for the apparently obligatory scene where a lava bomb burns a hole through the chest of someone who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It's kind of sad that a premise that seems to be quite original was executed in such an uninspired way. However, the movie can be enjoyable if you don't take it too seriously.