Dante's Peak
Universal Pictures | Release Date: February 7, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
43
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
8
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This corny and manipulative movie taxes your ability to suspend disbelief and predictably punishes characters for their hubris--earmarks of a great disaster flick, if the tone is just right. Read full review
70
Washington PostRita Kempley
While the plot is thin and there's little action till the big blow some 60 minutes into the film, a volcano offers a greater variety of thrills than your basic cyclone ever could. Read full review
70
Washington PostEric Brace
Dante's Peak is predictable from start to finish, but the video-game style action and effects never let up long enough for you to remember how absurd it all is. It's a blast. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Dante's Peak, written by Leslie Bohem and directed by Roger Donaldson, follows the disaster formula so faithfully that if you walk in while the movie is in progress, you can estimate how long the story has to run. That it is skillful is a tribute to the filmmakers. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Director Roger Donaldson ("Smash Palace," "No Way Out," "Species"), working from a script by Leslie Bohem ("Daylight"),does a serviceable job, wrapping his narrative around the big kabooms, but the real interest comes from the extraordinary barrage of sound and spectacle. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Older youngsters not threatened by PG-13 levels of intensity might pester Mom and Dad to let them see this cinematic fluff-head. For everyone else, it simply is what it is -- which, despite a budget that could feed Star Wars' Jabba the Hutt for life, isn't very much. [07Feb1997 Pg 04.D]
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The special effects are suitably catastrophic, though they aren't much more clever than the computer tricks that turn up in beer commercials these days. Read full review
60
EmpireCaroline Westbrook
This is yet another one of those mindlessly enjoyable outings which eschews such unimportant details as plot or characterisation in favour of the biggest, flashiest special effects money can buy. Twister with lava, if you will. Read full review
60
TimeRichard Schickel
Writer Leslie Bohem and director Roger Donaldson brush briskly through the standard scientific and romantic blather. They know that in movies like this, complexity is the province of the special-effects people. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It hardly helps, of course, to have no characters to root for. What is it about Pierce Brosnan? He's got dimples, grace, charm; he's not a movie star, exactly -- he looks as if he should be hosting something. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
"Twister" is a rush. Dante's Peak, on the other hand, is a bore. Oh, it has its moments, but most of them are concentrated in the final forty-five minutes. The first hour, which is all typical disaster movie setup, is interminable. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It seems almost beside the point to bring up the notion of plotting and characterization in such an effects-driven film ; nobody's going to rush out to catch Dante's Peak on account of the Shakespearean-caliber thespians involved. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Dante's Peak is customary for the genre, with convincing special effects sharing screen time with standard-issue characters and situations. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Physicality of the second half, then, will keep the audience going, but it is not quite sufficient to camouflage the elemental silliness of storyline. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubJohn Krewson
As boring as the special effects are, they far outshine the stultifying plot. Read full review
30
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The special effects are definitely the best thing about this curiously bland disasterthon. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
These lessons are driven home via silly dialogue ("Her name was Marion and she loved volcanoes...") and painfully predictable plot complications, repeated often enough that there's no need to take notes, except for the benefit of friends who fall asleep. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Approximately the last hour of Dante's Peak is made up of action scenes, and how well one likes computer-generated destruction will determine how well one likes the movie. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
Dante's Peak expands the concept of badness in movies. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The dialogue is utterly inane, but the high-tech effects deliver the sort of thrills that disaster-film connoisseurs expect. Read full review
10
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Too bad that by the time the volcano shoots its wad, the movie has already died a thousand deaths, ground to a halt by the interminable waiting for the damn thing to blow. Read full review
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