Oh, Reel Original - S1E4 - A Volcano In Your Neighborhood with John Stegemann

[00:00:10] Speaker A: Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode four of our Real Original. I'm Cory Dempsey. [00:00:14] Speaker B: I'm Andrew Beam. And if you're just joining us, the oh Real Original is a podcast where we explore the phenomenon of twin films, which are just two movies that are really identical to each other in terms of their premise and they're released within the same 12 month period. [00:00:28] Speaker A: That's right, everybody. And we do so by exploring these movies through the lens of a fight. Boxing, MMA, or whatever your violent sport of choice is. Two movies will enter the ring, but only one can emerge victorious. There will be no ties here. [00:00:41] Speaker B: That's right. We're gonna go five rounds in this fight, and the judges, which is us three sitting here, we're gonna score each round out of ten. The first round of the fight will be an analysis of the talent involved with each film. We'll discuss the directors, the actors, the writers, and ultimately decide on which film had the better credit sheet. [00:01:03] Speaker A: In the next four rounds, we'll hone in on some similar plot points or storytelling tropes in each movie and do a deep dive into those scenes to decide which film was superior in its execution. After those five rounds have been completed, we'll tally up our score sheets and declare a winner. [00:01:20] Speaker B: So in previous episodes this season, we've covered movies like no Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits. We explored a couple of the 80s franchise revivals in Rambo, Last Blood and Terminator, Dark Fate, as well as Freddy versus Jason and Alien versus Predator. And like in all of those previous episodes, we're joined by a special guest to help declare the winner here. [00:01:41] Speaker A: And this week, our special guest judge is also a co founder of the AP Film Collective and a director at Super Scout, it is John Stegman. John, how we doing? [00:01:51] Speaker C: Howdy, gents. How you doing? [00:01:52] Speaker A: Good. Thanks for coming. Joining us. Thanks for coming on. [00:01:56] Speaker C: Strategically forgot to open that before. [00:01:58] Speaker B: Indeed. I liked it. [00:02:00] Speaker A: And so now that we've got all of that out of the way, we are going to go to our announcement of these two films. Beam is pulling double duty as both a judge and the ring announcer. [00:02:12] Speaker B: So, I mean, just imagine if Bruce Buffer was like, all right, I'm done now I'm gonna go sit down and judge this. Like, all amped up. So that's what I'm gonna do. [00:02:21] Speaker C: So who's Bruce Buffer? [00:02:23] Speaker A: The guy who announces, like, the MMA and the boxing fights? [00:02:26] Speaker C: That was Michael Buffer. [00:02:27] Speaker B: No, that's the guy who does boxing. I believe his brother. They didn't know that for a while. [00:02:31] Speaker C: So that's a Great family trade. [00:02:33] Speaker B: It's quite a family trade. Anyways, I'm going to go and not change it all and do the introduction now. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the only event of the evening sanctioned by absolutely no one. Our three judges scoring the contest are this evening are Corey Dempsey, Andrew Beam and John Stegman. There is no referee because just. Yeah. And now for those in attendance and the one or two people listening around the capital region, ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you've all been waiting for live, but not at all, because we are recording at Jivehive somewhere in Albany. It's time five rounds for the best movie about a volcano that without any notice whatsoever, erupts in your neighborhood. Introducing first, a film where Tommy Lee Jones just stands there and yells at everybody while Ann Hesch, who is apparently a geologist but becomes Tommy Lee Jones assistant while a volcano erupts in the middle of la. Volcano and their opponent, a film featuring a dashingly handsome Pierce Brosnan and the wonderful Linda Hamilton, have a meet cute in the middle of a small town where a formerly dormant volcano starts erupting out of nowhere. Dante Peak. [00:03:55] Speaker A: That's right, everyone. This week we are going to be discussing Dante's Peak and Volcano. And without further ado, let's get this fight started. All right, so in round one, we are going to discuss the talent involved with these two films. Before we get into the talent though, I have some notable statistics and numbers about these two movies that I want to give you all. [00:04:15] Speaker C: So. [00:04:16] Speaker A: Dante's Peak was released first February 7, 1997 by Universal Pictures. Produced on a budget of 116 million, it made 178.1 million at the worldwide box office. Volcano was released two months later, April 25, 1997 by 20th Century Fox. It made 122.8 million at the worldwide box office on a $90 million budget. Those numbers are courtesy of Box Office Mojo. Thank you. [00:04:44] Speaker B: Nice job citing both. [00:04:48] Speaker A: Both films. Financial success. [00:04:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:52] Speaker A: Made their money back and some. [00:04:54] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:04:54] Speaker A: Dante's Peak, slightly more. I was surprised. Dante's peak had a 116 million dollar budget. [00:04:59] Speaker C: I was going to say the same thing. I'm kind of like shocked by that. [00:05:01] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's a big number. [00:05:03] Speaker C: Like sizable. Nowadays things have like kind of gone down and then back up a little bit. But like, like I'm shocked that because there's way more store. There's more and more star power in Volcano too. So you think that would be higher? [00:05:13] Speaker B: Where in it do you think they splurged A bit more in Dante's peak. Where. Where do we think that money went? [00:05:19] Speaker A: Pierce Brosnan certainly commanded a sizable salary, I think because he is James Bond at this point. Some of the special effects stuff you destroy a lot of in this movie. I feel like the production sets probably cost a fair bit. [00:05:33] Speaker C: Effects for sure. The, like, the practical stuff is way larger scale. Like. Like, I think they built like a 30 or 40 foot volcano at one point too. So that might be it, but that's still. 116. Is that what it was? [00:05:45] Speaker A: Yeah, 116. [00:05:46] Speaker C: Pretty up there. [00:05:47] Speaker A: Yeah, it's up there, but made its money back. 178.1 million at the worldwide box office. That's substantial. [00:05:54] Speaker B: Wait, so it was 90, what for [00:05:55] Speaker A: Volcano, $90 million budget, 122.8 million at [00:05:59] Speaker B: the box office did a little better. I mean, comparatively, I think. [00:06:03] Speaker A: Well, 50 million above or 60 million above for Dante's peak. 30 million above. I don't know what it works out to be percentage wise, but I mean, both were. Both were moderate successes. Dante's peak, also for a February release is interesting to have that big budget. [00:06:20] Speaker C: You probably get some savings from there being a true LA movie. Volcano, too, like, that's everything else. Location, I would assume for Dante for sure. [00:06:32] Speaker A: All right, so the talent involved, we're going to go with the scripts first. I have a interesting theory about the scripts to these movies that I'd like to share with you all. Dante's Peak, to me feels like a detective story in the vein of like seven, where we're following a geology detective as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on with this volcano. [00:06:56] Speaker B: Keeps picking up all these clues. [00:06:57] Speaker A: Yeah, picks up all the clues. And then, you know, he doesn't try and stop the volcano because there is no stopping a volcano. He just tries his best to save the people in Volcano. It feels more like a horror film where you have a scary monster. The lava, the volcano, it is slow moving and it just chases people with no regard for anything. And so it kind of just kills without any prejudices. Just like a Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees. It's kind of like a slasher movie, but in disaster form also. [00:07:34] Speaker C: I feel like. Definitely agree with you on Dante's where that is. It's almost like a procedural TV show episode that's just lengthened out a little bit. Like the whole first half of the movie is. I mean, like the. The action doesn't really start till a little later in Dante's or maybe it just feels that way. But to me, it feels like it's like, halfway through the movie for you, really Absolutely crazy. Volcano is pretty much like, probably only a quarter of the movie for you. I would say, like, Volcano feels like kind of for that era, like in the cookie cutter straight disaster movie. I feel like Dante's. One of the reasons, like, I always kind of like, gravitated towards that movie was it just feels a little different. It's also because settings different, just because it's like a very much like, classic disaster. And he's always a giant city, like, as, like, asteroid hidden, you know, in the middle. [00:08:18] Speaker A: New York City or. [00:08:19] Speaker C: Yeah, and then that's really just downtown LA versus Daddy's Peaks. Just kind of like quaint little town. [00:08:25] Speaker A: Well, it's also important to note that Dante's Peak takes place in a place where there actually would be volcanoes, whereas Volcano takes place in la, where there are no volcanoes. [00:08:35] Speaker C: Man. [00:08:36] Speaker B: We haven't seen it yet. [00:08:37] Speaker A: We haven't seen it yet. [00:08:39] Speaker C: So there's a cool ray. [00:08:40] Speaker B: And I say that it won't. I also love the way that it appeared. Like, somehow it got higher and like, it, like, it was like Billie Eilish, like, almost like appearing, like, at a concert is coming up through the floor. Yeah. Right as they, like, on its big intro, which, I mean, it's la, so I guess I understand doing that. I also think that was kind of funny about Volcano is that, like, there was a level of Dante's Peak. Like, you know, we had some fun with it. It almost felt like Twister, like, where, like, that you had that crew and everyone just had their part within it. Where, like, in Volcano, it felt so slapstick hilarious in so many different moments without. I feel like trying. Or maybe that was the intention, which I think goes to the point of it being like a horror movie. [00:09:21] Speaker C: I think that also comes from, like, Dante's Peak being slightly more realistic, where, like, we're actually with the group of people that would be there for that reason. So we're in that world a little bit, versus, like, volcanoes. Like, firefighters. [00:09:33] Speaker A: They're like the firefighters, the police officers. Yeah, we got hoses, for sure. Absolutely. [00:09:40] Speaker B: And you probably say it differently, you [00:09:42] Speaker A: know, to give credit where it's due. The Dante's Peak was written by Leslie Bohm. He also wrote Nowhere to Run, which is a Jean Claude Van Damme vehicle from the early 90s. That was his only other notable credit. [00:09:54] Speaker B: I missed that one. [00:09:54] Speaker A: Volcano was written by Jerome Armstrong and Billy Ray. We talked all about Billy Ray on the Terminator, Dark Fate, Episode. He's a heavy hitter. State of Play, Shattered Glass, Captain Phillips. He's done a lot of really great stuff. Jerome Armstrong, this was his only writing credit and he actually recently passed away in 2023, so rest in peace, Jerome Armstrong. Yeah, well, you know, it feels important to give respect where it's due, so let's now move to the directors. We talked about the scripts a little bit. The director of Dante's Peak is Roger Donaldson, known for movies such as no Way out, cocktail, species in 13 days. [00:10:35] Speaker B: Cocktail. [00:10:35] Speaker C: That's classic. [00:10:36] Speaker A: Cocktail. No Way Out. Kevin Costner, vehicle from the late 80s. Big fan of that movie. Species is ridonculous. 13 Days is a boring movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it, it's professionally done, got no problems with it. Volcano is directed by Mick Jackson, whose other notable credits are LA Story with Steve Martin. Good movie. And the Bodyguard. [00:11:00] Speaker C: Interesting. Yes, the Bodyguard. [00:11:02] Speaker A: The Bodyguard, Terrible movie. [00:11:03] Speaker C: It's really. [00:11:04] Speaker A: Whitney Houston is a gem. [00:11:05] Speaker C: Both these guys have some like real like hidden gems, but not a consistent. [00:11:09] Speaker A: No, not a consistent filmography. [00:11:11] Speaker C: Not at all. [00:11:13] Speaker A: But yeah, the Bodyguard was a huge hit. I mean, Costner Houston, like, Whitney Houston's a gem. I don't like that movie, but I will watch Whitney Houston all day long. [00:11:22] Speaker C: You could also make an argument that that's like a well directed movie. It's like, has some interesting choices. I wouldn't necessarily say that for Volcano. Feels pretty. Pretty cookie cutter, but in an endearing way. [00:11:35] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I get that. [00:11:36] Speaker B: Felt a little frantic. [00:11:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, well helmed, if you will, but it definitely feels like, like, hey, we just need someone to like this just Movie needs to exist. Give it. To give it to somebody. [00:11:46] Speaker A: It feels that way with both these. Like you're not seeing a lot of flexing from the directors. There's not a lot of fancy stuff going on. It's just like we need a professional filmmaker to just sit at the helm of this expensive disaster movie for sure. And I think both of them do their job. I. I wouldn't say like specifically there's anything going on that I like really of note. I mean, the action's there and it's pretty exciting. [00:12:11] Speaker C: Yeah, it's tough because I feel like. Because Dante Speak, I feel like has some moments, but you could make the argument that that's just the script and not the direction. [00:12:17] Speaker A: True, very true. [00:12:18] Speaker C: But they both have like pretty crazy good practical effects for like the era. It's just kind of like that perfect late 90s marriage of CGI and practical though Dante's is mostly practical, I think. [00:12:30] Speaker B: I mean, the scene where his first partner in the film gets hit by a lava bomb. Dude, hey, man. Got me. [00:12:37] Speaker C: I was scared of lava bombs for a long time in my life. So make sure I wasn't in volcanic area. [00:12:43] Speaker B: That was going to be my question. Follow up was, how in danger were you? [00:12:48] Speaker C: Me personally? Yeah, just extremely. [00:12:51] Speaker A: Always a threat. [00:12:53] Speaker C: Freaking went to school with a helmet on. [00:12:56] Speaker A: So let's talk about the. [00:12:58] Speaker B: Yeah, there it is. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Let's talk about the special effects for a moment. You know, you worked in some effects departments. You did a lot of art department work in your. In your film career. So when you're looking at these special effects, you know, this was a pretty great time for special effects. It feels like where the mix of practical and digital was really coming together in a really cool way in the late 90s. Independence Day was a great example for me. Men in Black with all the aliens and stuff and all that. So, you know, when you watch these movies, do you have a preference in terms of the special effects or talk to us about some of that stuff? [00:13:35] Speaker C: I'd say Eileen Dante's, but I think they're both at the same level. But it's really just kind of like what was asked of them to do it. But I will say, like, that whole era I love because you kind of get like the last vestige of like, really insanely good practical effects before you kind of went down to, like, now it's just like the few people that do it, really do it. You know, you have Christopher Nolan, stuff like that. But like, that era, people start to get a little more creative with practical effects because, like, they're being basically replaced to a degree. So anything that's there is. You can. [00:14:07] Speaker A: You need to show off. [00:14:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I've watched basically specials on both of these movies. I think both have really, like, they had to figure out how to do the flowing lava was all practical. And I think they use, like, it was basically a liquid that was. Had UV mixed in it, and then they would float paint on top of it to have the dried sections so it would still be able to flow. Both of these things were like. I mean, they're. We're talking, you know, 100ft by 40ft. Like, everything was on, like, big, big scale. And same thing with Dante's. I just think, typically speaking, like, it's probably easier to make like a giant mountain mountain, more like Mount St. Helens, but like, that kind of flow with water and stuff at that level just like, I think always tends to Even nowadays, there's a reason that people still, if they want to do that practically because it just always looks freaking awesome. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I don't. How do you know how they did the lahar. The. The big water flow in Dante's Peak [00:14:59] Speaker C: was that with the, with the. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Where they're crossing the bridge and the bridge gets destroyed. Actually it looks so fucking good in real. [00:15:06] Speaker C: What's crazy is that's the one time where it's like you're so suckered in by how good the water looks. And because it's a. It's pretty large scale, I'd say it's probably like like a 10 or 15 foot wide river that they made. Basically it's all modeled and stuff and they shot like an insane amount of water down it, but it's all like, [00:15:24] Speaker A: like a whirlpool or like a wave pool. [00:15:26] Speaker C: And like is. They basically had this rig that was like 50ft in the air or something like that that would just dump. They would fill it all up. It's almost like at Great Escape where they'd have that water bucket. Water bucket. They could have basically did that. But the Paul Bunyan's bucket. Yeah, yeah. [00:15:40] Speaker B: Trying to make sure. [00:15:41] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. There we go. Thanks for the shout out. But no, I think, I mean, one of the things that always looks good, especially with practical effects is like if you get the scale big enough where you don't have to worry about like fluid dynamics not looking real anymore. Same with flames. Like, if it gets big enough. I mean, Independence Day is another reason for that. Like the flames they got. That was a big thing. But that, you know, super slow motion always looks good. But on this one they got a pretty big. But if you look at the bridge when they do that, there's like. I think they're like one foot long, like model trucks, but you're so distracted by. By the water that you don't even notice it. But if you do rewatch it for that, you can notice it a little bit. But that's just. That's like one of my favorite shots in the movie. It's so good. [00:16:20] Speaker B: I'm not going to watch it for that. I'm going to suspend disbelief and think that, holy shit, they really did that. [00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, the Paul Bunyan broken brigade thing, like, that's pretty ingenious, honestly. [00:16:32] Speaker C: But still, like, it's. It's pretty like, I mean, you really got to focus on it to notice it's fake. Like it's. It's quite, quite excellent. [00:16:38] Speaker B: I think we have To. I think we have to now reconsider where. Where that budget may have gone. [00:16:43] Speaker A: No, Defin. Definitely big time special effects. [00:16:45] Speaker C: No, 100%. I also, I mean, I have to imagine they shot on location to a degree. [00:16:49] Speaker A: To a degree. I feel like they built those sets in like a mountain locale because, like, the landscape shots are certainly real. It looks like Washington or Oregon or wherever in the Cascades. So it definitely felt like on location to an extent. [00:17:01] Speaker C: Yeah. I do kind of vaguely recall them saying they like digitally composite the mountain in, but I feel like I don't know that enough to say it on a podcast. [00:17:08] Speaker A: Like, oh, fair enough. Like you are right now. [00:17:11] Speaker C: Currently. Right now. Yeah. [00:17:12] Speaker A: All right, so finally, with the talent involved, let's talk about some of the actors. We're going to go three kind of categories with the actors. The first are the leading men. We got Pierce Brosnan as Harry Dalton. The geology James Bond. We also have Tommy Lee Jones as Mike Roark, an old crotchety guy who barks orders at people, which is what Tommy Lee Jones did a lot during this era. He was K and Men in Black doing the same exact thing in this year. [00:17:38] Speaker B: He was a little more hands on, though. [00:17:40] Speaker A: He was. He was more hands on and not. I mean, he was at every scene in Volcano. He was always there. [00:17:47] Speaker B: Right. [00:17:47] Speaker A: But not really doing much 90s time yellows. [00:17:50] Speaker C: I have a fondness for that, though. Like Double Jeopardy. Always classic movie. [00:17:53] Speaker A: Double Jeopardy is good. [00:17:55] Speaker B: No, I mean, I think we've seen it on mute. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Oh, no, we. We watched it. We watched it at the ruck while it was on mute at the background and we like got real sucked in. [00:18:06] Speaker C: Nice. [00:18:06] Speaker A: It was great. [00:18:07] Speaker C: Get sucked in on a muted film. You know, it's saw. [00:18:10] Speaker B: We were also very hungover. [00:18:13] Speaker A: Yeah, it was like 11am on a Sunday. [00:18:16] Speaker B: Super hungover, like. And then they changed the channel and [00:18:20] Speaker A: we were like, excuse me, can you go back to Double Jeopardy? We're in this movie now. [00:18:24] Speaker B: Anyway, so about Tommy Lee Jones. [00:18:26] Speaker C: Yeah, late 90s Tommy Lee Jones, like, classic hotel film guy. You just like, you get into a random Holiday Inn in like Boise, Idaho, you just like got a. You don't have any guide on there. It's just one channel. Tick, tick, tick. You get to a Tommy Lee Jones film from the late 90s. [00:18:42] Speaker B: We have a shared experience. [00:18:43] Speaker C: This is a share experience. Universal. [00:18:46] Speaker A: Slap it through a cable, find the Tommy Lee Jones movie. [00:18:49] Speaker C: Volcano is like a little bit more star power up front, I feel like. But I do feel like Dante's Peak has like a really Good kind of balance, I guess. You have less. Less really popular people from the time, for sure. [00:19:02] Speaker A: I mean, for me, the leading man. I love Pierce Brosnan in this movie specifically, like as kind of the spot. The geology spy. He's just figuring stuff out and trying to figure it out, just like he would with James Bond. Like, he's pretty charming. There's a little bit of torture in his past because of his wife, or, sorry, close to wife who got killed by a volcanic bomb. And I really like him in this movie. And, you know, I. I was kind of making fun of Tommy Lee Jones for barking orders at people, but, like, he does it really effectively. It's a great character trait for him. [00:19:36] Speaker C: He does it well. [00:19:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Does it great. The other notable difference here is they use Pierce Brosnan to have a kind of love story with Lindell Hamilton's character. Not the case with Mike Roark. And Anne Hesch's character, Dr. Amy Barnes. [00:19:51] Speaker B: It kind of seems like Barnes, though, did have a bit of a thing for him. And it was almost like she came in as a geologist and then she met him and she's like, oh, yes, anything you say. What are we going to do now? I'll go do it. And it was kind of weird. And he met the daughter subservient to him. Like, in a weird way. It's like, you know, a ton more than they do. [00:20:15] Speaker C: Have a few lines in there too, where she's like. Where her friend before she gets fried says that to her. Yeah, you like him. [00:20:21] Speaker B: Yeah, like before she. [00:20:23] Speaker A: But there's nothing ever overt in the movie. And I feel like this is a thing with Tommy Lee Jones that has happened. Like he. He's always been like a non sexual entity in movies. [00:20:33] Speaker B: Like even in no Control Men where he had. [00:20:36] Speaker A: He has a wife, but all they ever do is talk. I never see them hug or touch or kiss is what it seems. And then Men in Black. Like, he has a wife, but, like, she got neuralized. [00:20:45] Speaker C: Especially. Especially when the film's on mute. [00:20:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:48] Speaker C: Yes. [00:20:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. That's only Double Jeopardy, man. [00:20:52] Speaker C: Oh, every Tolly Lee Jones willing. [00:20:56] Speaker A: And then we have our female supporting characters. We have Linda Hamilton as Mayor Wando and we have Anne Hess, Dr. Amy Barnes. I got to be honest, neither is given a lot to do, so it's hard to really judge them. [00:21:09] Speaker B: I mean, I kind of like Linda Hamilton. I liked what she brought to the table. I thought her character didn't make sense. To me, it's like, you're a mayor for like 10% of it, but most of it. You run a coffee shop. [00:21:20] Speaker A: You're a mayor. You run a coffee shop. You like Pierce Brosnan a lot. You get. You have your two kids and you're looking for a surrogate father for them, which Pierce Brosnan can fulfill. I don't know. [00:21:32] Speaker C: I feel like you could make the argument with Dante's Peak that it is several actors second best movie outside their main franchise. I don't know if you could make that argument for, like, anyone in Volcano. Not that it's bad. Like, the cast is good. Arguably the cast is way better in Volcano than it is in Dante's Peak. But I feel like Dante's Peak gives them a little bit more probably just the story arc because you're immediately disaster in Volcano. Like, what do you do? It's just like. It's a. It's a modern day, like the rock role, basically. [00:22:03] Speaker A: Right. So because you're just thrown straight into the action, you're not given a lot of character development. And so, like, what are you supposed to do as an actor? You're just. You're just there figuring shit out, barking orders at people. I mean, Anne Hesh is established as, like, a geologist and an expert, but. But then I feel like they spend the whole movie sending her on, like, babysitting missions and, like, not really using her expertise effectively does. So, like, they establish this character as like, okay, she's an expert, and then they just do nothing with that. So it's just like, what are you supposed to do? [00:22:34] Speaker C: Every once in a while there's like a random line about, like, what Iceland does when they do volcanoes. Yeah. [00:22:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:39] Speaker B: Do you think the moment that when the riot was breaking out and all the looting was happening, and her, she just was so dejected coming out of the tunnel and she's like, oh, God. Like, I just can't. I'm so sad. My friend just got cooked. I am very sad. This is chaos. I need to take my oxygen tank, put it on the car. [00:22:59] Speaker C: Well, just be. Yeah. [00:23:01] Speaker B: He snatches it. [00:23:02] Speaker C: It's actually one of my favorite fights in this movie. I know. [00:23:04] Speaker B: I'm kind of wondering if, like, I don't. I don't really appreciate that moment for what it was or that was the moment she was broken and she didn't know what to do anymore. She. So her whole geology, her profession. [00:23:16] Speaker A: Well, that's also the moment where, like, she's actually given some, like, space to act. And then in the background, you just somehow have someone stealing her shit. It's so bonkers. [00:23:25] Speaker C: I will say I feel like one thing about. I like find endearing about volcanoes. I feel like maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like there was a lot of real later comments by studios execs. Just saying, like it's a really emotional scene. Like, hey, let's get Gary to grab the oxygen take for this take. It's going to be great. We won't use it. Don't worry about it. [00:23:47] Speaker B: Doing it as a now. [00:23:50] Speaker C: Yeah, that happens like a bunch of times throughout the movie where there's some [00:23:53] Speaker A: weird stuff that just weird notes for sure. And then the last bit about the actors. We have the supporting players in this. Harry's got an entire team. USGS team. I like a lot of these guys. There's a lot of like that guys from movies. Paul Dreyfus, played by Charles Halahan. He's the cautious box, the boss who's kind of stuck in a tough spot. [00:24:15] Speaker C: Love that ends for me. [00:24:17] Speaker A: We got Grant or Greg. Grant Hesloff. His only notable characteristic is a serious addiction to coffee. Java, Java, Java. [00:24:28] Speaker C: That's his entire personality. [00:24:30] Speaker B: His entire personality is that portion made the word coffee for me deeply unsettled. [00:24:35] Speaker C: I bet you store your beans in a freezer. [00:24:38] Speaker A: There's a lot of coffee bits with that guy. Don't really understand it. [00:24:42] Speaker B: Like, I like coffee. I don't like coffee nearly as much as his character does. And it made me think of coffee as the word. Most feel about moist. Sorry, I think I just ruined that for a second. [00:24:53] Speaker C: Yeah, well, moist most. [00:24:54] Speaker A: We also have. We also have Terry, played by Kirk Trutner. He's the cowboy. He kicks stuff to get it working. He goes off rope on the top of a volcano and he talks shit about NASA for the entire movie until he doesn't anymore. We have Nancy Arabella Field, not really given anything to do and has no like characteristics. [00:25:18] Speaker B: She has side comments. [00:25:19] Speaker A: She has side comments that are pretty funny every now and again. She was also in Godzilla in 1998. So she was kind of on a heater here. And then we have Zima playing. [00:25:30] Speaker B: Stan say that too. Because the way like Godzilla breathes fire. The lava. Anyway. [00:25:33] Speaker A: Yeah, it's all lit. You know, Peter, that was on purpose. [00:25:36] Speaker B: Apologize that I brought us back. [00:25:38] Speaker A: And then Stan, who is played by Zima. Zima, the legend from Rush Hour and Arrival and the Farewell. Great actor in Volcano. His entire support staff consists of one guy. And it's Don Cheadle who is also a legend. [00:25:54] Speaker C: But they save a lot of roles for like all of the sides, like first responders. Keith David just randomly. [00:26:01] Speaker A: Keith David shows up and Bunny Colvin from the Wire. I forget. I think his name is Robert Chisholm Jr. Bunny Colvin from the Wire. He shows up. He's also next to Don Cheadle. [00:26:11] Speaker C: If you were putting, like. If you had to do a draft of actors, like, Volcano's way better for. For, like, longevity of other things. [00:26:18] Speaker B: Are you talking about, like, in a street fight? [00:26:20] Speaker C: Yeah, sure. [00:26:22] Speaker A: All right, acting career. Who's the first pick out of everyone in this movie, including leads? Yeah. [00:26:28] Speaker B: I think it's got to be Tommy Lee. [00:26:30] Speaker A: It's gotta be Tommy then. [00:26:31] Speaker C: Cheadle's probably right there. [00:26:32] Speaker A: Cheadle and Brosnan. Cheadle and Brosnan would be in close contention for second for me. I love Brosnan. [00:26:39] Speaker B: I love. You love him in this movie. I'm like, he was super charming in it. I think I have a fascination with Pierce Brosnan in this movie. [00:26:45] Speaker C: Personal preference wise, I agree with you. But as far as, like, acting chops and just, like, roles they've gotten, I think it's undoubted that, like, Cheadle is definitely better than Bron. [00:26:54] Speaker A: Fair enough. [00:26:55] Speaker B: You. [00:26:55] Speaker A: Would you take Anne Hesh over Lindell Hamilton? No. [00:26:58] Speaker C: Neither is, like, I feel like the most. Just fill in a role person from the 90s. I mean, like, six days, seven nights. Great movie. Do you remember anything she did in that? No, no. It's Harrison Ford and then a blonde girl. [00:27:10] Speaker A: Fair enough. [00:27:10] Speaker C: Yeah, she. But, you know, she has. She has a couple movies that are, like, great, but I don't feel like she ever is the person in that movie. Linda Hamilton has, like. Like a weird X factor. She just does some things that are just like. Yeah, that was interesting. Like, it's just. [00:27:26] Speaker A: I mean. But what does Linda Hamilton have, apart from the Terminator franchise in this. [00:27:30] Speaker C: That's what I was saying. I don't think. I can't think of anything, actually. What. I mean, a couple. [00:27:35] Speaker A: She's got. Of course she has acting roles. [00:27:38] Speaker C: What was she in Bird on a Wire? [00:27:40] Speaker A: I don't even remember that movie. [00:27:41] Speaker B: I don't have an answer for that. [00:27:42] Speaker C: You need a weird mid Mel Gibson movie from the 80s. There's your. [00:27:46] Speaker A: That's the one. [00:27:47] Speaker C: All right. [00:27:48] Speaker A: All right. So in this round one, we have the scripts, we have the directors who we both said are kind of just plug and play professional. And we have this entire cast of characters. Given that, who wins this round for you? And is it in dominant fashion or is it kind of a close race beam? What do you think? [00:28:08] Speaker B: I think it's a close race. I mean, listen, Volcano is a hilarious movie, but when you kind of take like the ensemble part of it, I don't know. Actually, I think really where it is is that Dante's Peak is better in the sense of just like one. The script is great, the execution of it's amazing. Yeah, I think that's kind of where it wins in terms of. If we're talking about this specific round, think you got to give it to Dante's Peak. I think it's more of a 10, 9 than a dominant 108 over volcano. As hilarious as Volcano is, for some of the wrong reasons and just like, if you know it's not, it doesn't hurt it too much because the ensemble is great. [00:28:54] Speaker A: The ensemble is great. Some of the action's really good. I feel the same way. I'm going 10, nine, Dante's peak. For me, it's mostly about the script. And I think Dante's Peak is just like a perfect script. Like there's some dumb shit in it, no doubt. And some terrible line deliveries. So the ending, I got a couple with this fishing trip thing. [00:29:14] Speaker C: I love the fishy. [00:29:15] Speaker A: The fishing trip thing and the girl. [00:29:18] Speaker C: I think it's because he's too British that, like, we need to man this guy up with some American. Let's have him go deep sea fishing off of Florida. [00:29:25] Speaker A: And then the girl, the girl is just like her line delivery after that. That's great. And that's like the end of the movie. [00:29:31] Speaker B: I think they didn't care about it either. I think those kids, like, they were silent for a minute and then the little girl's like, we kind of like this guy. Yeah, that sounds great. That's what it felt. [00:29:41] Speaker C: Both of these movies also just end, which I love. It's like, well, the action is done. It's done. [00:29:48] Speaker A: Let's. [00:29:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I love. [00:29:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:50] Speaker B: Tommy Lee Jones emerges from the rubble with a toddler who. They probably cut multiple scenes. Like, can you please stop crying? He's gonna keep crying, guys. We just gotta run it. [00:29:59] Speaker A: No, but I mean, the Dante Speak script for its, like, for the couple of flaws that it has in general. Like, I love it. The, the procedural aspect of it. They get a lot of things right about the volcano. Like all these things would happen. The, the acidity in the lake that's killing animal life. You know, the, the pyroclastic cloud, all these things. Like, they, they have an attention to detail there that I respect as well. Volcano is very much just like action blockbuster let's get into it. Let's do the action. And if you're going to be that. I just need the action to be a tiny bit better. I just need it to be elevated, like, a bit more where I'm really sucked in. [00:30:38] Speaker C: They picked kind of like a. Like, what sounds like it's a really threatening thing, but it's, like, ultimately, like, the slowest monster. Yeah, it's like the blob, but it's just also. [00:30:47] Speaker A: And that's the thing without, like, the ash cloud that, like, the pyroclastic flow is the real thing about volcano. Like, lava just. I mean, obviously it's destructive, but it moves super slow. And it's just, like, going along and they stop it. Like, there's no stopping the. That Dante's peak does. [00:31:03] Speaker C: No, no, absolutely not. [00:31:04] Speaker B: It's pretty fast in both movies, I would say. [00:31:07] Speaker A: Yeah, a little faster in Dante's. [00:31:09] Speaker C: Dante's has moment. Dante's has moments of being, like, an actual eruption that's, like, from that kind of volcano, though, which is, like, you can't escape it, versus, like, the other one's, like. Like a Hawaiian volcano, like, still eruption. But yeah, just make sure you're not on that road. [00:31:26] Speaker A: Just go where the lava is not. [00:31:28] Speaker B: I almost feel like, the edge I got to give to you, like, in terms of lines, like the seat. The one that seals the deal for me is Pierce Brosnan. Wherever there is a volcano with an attitude. [00:31:38] Speaker A: Love that. [00:31:39] Speaker B: I think that's just an amazing line in any movie. Wherever that's a T shirt. [00:31:44] Speaker C: So, no, I have a question here. So, like, with judging this, are we talking about, like, are we stepping back and it's like, category by category as far as, like, are we just taking it from talent, or are we talking about how the talent was used in the movie? [00:31:57] Speaker B: This isn't all together. [00:31:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it's the talent, but it's also how they're used. [00:32:01] Speaker C: Like, because I feel like I'm. If we're taking it just straight talent, I'd say volcano probably edges it out 10, nine. But, like, as far as quality goes and the way it was, like, again, I think it's Dante is. Is a sum of its parts kind of thing is greater than. Than what is actually there. [00:32:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:19] Speaker A: And for me, I mean, that's mostly about the script to me, which is why I kind of give it the edge. Like, I agree with you. From a pure cast standpoint, like, Volcano probably does edge it out, but I feel like Dante's utilizes it and the talent at Their disposal a little bit better because of a really, you know, largely a very good script, I think. So that's why I'm going 109 in [00:32:40] Speaker C: that round for me, I'll probably lock in 10, 9. Dante's as well. [00:32:44] Speaker A: All right, great. [00:32:45] Speaker C: For pretty much the same reason. [00:32:46] Speaker B: 10 Ryan's. 10 nines all around. [00:32:47] Speaker A: 10 nines all around for Dante's Peak. Indeed. So let's go into round two. Now. This is where we are going to start honing in on some specific scenes or storytelling tropes from the movies and talk about their similarities and the differences who executed it better. So in round two, we are going to talk about when the scientists venture into the belly of. Of the beast and then there are earthquakes and some shit goes down. So in Dante's Peak, Harry and Terry take Spider Bags on an adventure up the mountain with a very greedy helicopter pilot. [00:33:26] Speaker B: He wants to discuss the raid. [00:33:28] Speaker C: Yeah, we need somebody to be a guy who we can kill quick. [00:33:33] Speaker A: We need to get a greedy guy in here because he needs to die later. [00:33:37] Speaker B: That is his function for being okay with him and dying. [00:33:40] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, super okay with it. But in the. In this part, Spider Legs has some stuff go wrong. He's the robot that kind of goes in and checks out the volcano. Some things go wrong. So Terry goes down, goes off rope, and then there's a earthquake. Boulders fly and we get a broken leg situation. In volcano, we have Dr. Amy Barnes, Anne Hesch's character, and her assistant Rachel. They go down and take a clandestine trip into the sewer. At that time, an earthquake happens and it opens up a space where the lava can flow. And her lovely assistant Rachel gets caught up in the lava. And this is where we get the scene afterwards where Dr. Amy Barnes is grieving publicly and gets her shit took in a just bonkers moment. So what are you guys thoughts on these two scenes? Which one do you want to focus in on first? [00:34:40] Speaker C: Feel like let's. Let's go. Dante's. [00:34:42] Speaker A: Okay. [00:34:43] Speaker C: Dante is what I like about this whole movie. And it continues after that. But again, very realistic because pretty much even though he breaks the leg, the break the leg is basically a hindrance to them taking a proper test. So they don't even really get the data that they 100% need. And then it becomes more of an argument with his boss. And it's just, we can't shut the town down. [00:35:05] Speaker B: Drive kind of not into that. [00:35:06] Speaker C: Yeah, but it was still like. The thing I also love about him is he's just like, he's not he's not a bad guy. He's just doing his job. And he's like, even friends with. They're still friends with him. [00:35:15] Speaker B: It's not like he's like, really bad at his job. Well. [00:35:18] Speaker C: Well, no. [00:35:18] Speaker A: I mean, hindsight's 20 20, but, like, he's. [00:35:21] Speaker B: I don't know, he's given some clear. This is off topic, but he was very. Given some clear evidence where maybe I was just too much in Pierce's cats. See, this is where it is again. That's My infatuation with Pierce Brosnan is what's really getting in the way. I'm sorry. [00:35:33] Speaker C: Yeah, I know. I think, like, what's actually cool is for that kind of role. Like, they don't do that that often. That's a pretty realistic. Like. Like, it's an easy thing to make that guy just like, ah, fuck that guy. But, like, he's not. He's like. Yeah, he's like an actual friend. He's just like, hey, man. Taking this a little too seriously kind of scenario. But anyways, broken leg, very realistic scene versus volcano where, like, that's just classic disaster. Like, it's. It's the earthquake scene at the Hoover Dam where the dude gets sucked down and while Paul Giamatti watches in San Andreas. It's like that. You know, it's the classic. [00:36:10] Speaker B: It felt like the second Ghostbusters where they were like, going down. Look at the ooze. [00:36:15] Speaker C: No, nice, nice. A sewer scene's always going to go well. [00:36:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:18] Speaker B: Great. [00:36:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:19] Speaker A: No, I mean, for me, like, the. The Dante's Peak is a little bit of a nothing burger. Like, but it is important to the story. The. The volcano thing is honestly one of my favorite moments of the movie because of when she gets her shit looted while she's grieving. Like, it is a bonkers choice. It makes absolutely no sense in the movie. But, like, I hysterically laughed during that scene. [00:36:44] Speaker C: Top tier drink. [00:36:45] Speaker A: Like, it is just wild that they included that and go. Like. I don't. I don't know if they were trying to be intentionally funny, but, like, what is this scene doing in this movie? [00:36:55] Speaker C: No hesitation. You just be lines for the. [00:36:58] Speaker A: Just beeline for the oxygen tank and miss the TVs. [00:37:01] Speaker C: This thing's worth something. [00:37:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:03] Speaker A: Well, it's also a really good take during a volcanic eruption. Like, get some oxygen. [00:37:08] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:37:09] Speaker A: Some supplemental air. [00:37:10] Speaker C: Yeah, but no one's thinking volcanic eruption at that point in that particular spot, are they? They're just thinking some. [00:37:15] Speaker A: True. That is true. Some shit's going Down. And we're going to take this opportunity to steal some shit. [00:37:20] Speaker B: Going to need oxygen in any moment that this earthquake is presenting. [00:37:24] Speaker C: True. [00:37:25] Speaker A: Totally fair. [00:37:25] Speaker C: And it's very fair. [00:37:27] Speaker A: So given this round, given this particular scene, given this matchup, how are you scoring this one? [00:37:33] Speaker C: I think I got to give it to Volcano. I do think that as far as the story building goes, Dante speak is better, but I do think as far as, like, actually doing something in the moment, like, it's Volcano, it's probably one of the better parts of Volcano, I think. So. [00:37:48] Speaker A: There's. There's two scenes in Volcano that I really, really enjoy. Like, don't get me wrong, Dante's Peak. I think, on the whole, like, you said, like, some of its parts great, but, like, each part serves and, like, builds on the next one. So this being kind of early on in the movie, it's just, like a key cog in the machine of the movie. Like, it's an important part. They establish this thing, then they go with it. They build upon it in Volcano. Like, this is a memorable scene to me. [00:38:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:16] Speaker A: I mean, it's the first chance that Anhesh has a chance to act, and then this thing happens in the background, [00:38:21] Speaker C: which is just wild. Yeah. And you could also say, like, they kind of hit at talking about how a volcano is more of an action movie for longer. This is kind of the launching point for a lot more action in this movie versus, not to speak. Like, we're still just in the information gathering, like, sequence for. [00:38:38] Speaker A: There's a little. There's a little bit of action here, but it's just information gathering the same way with, like, you know, the kids are about to jump in a lake with, like, dead bodies in it, and he has to catch them. But really, it's just. It's little snippets of action where, like, Volcano. This is the kickoff of the action. [00:38:54] Speaker B: What's funny, though, like, I know we were saying of, like, Volcano being compared to, like, in more of a horror movie, I almost feel like that particular scene in Dante's Peak is, like, I. You know, I guess it's. I guess you could say it's a thriller aspect, but that kids are about to jump in. That felt like a horror. [00:39:09] Speaker C: That's great. [00:39:10] Speaker A: It's also. It's also the. It's also the couple who is having promiscuous sex getting killed. It's a real slasher trope right there [00:39:17] Speaker B: to get to actually having sex. [00:39:18] Speaker A: Oh, they were. It was. It was about to go down. It was about to Go down. And then the lava came up. It's the heat of the bodies touching. It's real representative doing some real symbolic things there. [00:39:29] Speaker B: I just don't think there was penetration that I know that occurred There was [00:39:33] Speaker C: about to be pedestrian. Many times [00:39:37] Speaker B: I'm not seeing the film, I'm saying the scene but like I, yeah, anyway, 109. [00:39:42] Speaker A: 109 volcano. Also 10, 9 volcano. [00:39:48] Speaker B: I, I don't know, I kind of feel like, I will say in terms like more memorable with Dante's Peak. I will say I was a little, I, My anxiety creeped up while I'm sorry, what's his name? [00:40:00] Speaker A: Terry. [00:40:00] Speaker B: The broken leg. Terry is down there with the broken leg because I was like, shit, how's he going to get out of this? And like, to me, that stuck, that stuck with me but you know, I kind of like the little girl chat going through the tunnel about Roark and kind of like brought a little humanity to the scene a little bit like, why wouldn't you just be bullshitting while you're trying to check out what's going on in the tunnel and then, oh my God, there's lava. [00:40:23] Speaker A: Well, that is the interesting thing. Like it's just a professional work conversation between two colleagues. Yeah, but like because they're geologists checking out a volcano, like, it does seem out of place but that's, that's what we do. [00:40:35] Speaker B: Like, you just, it felt real. [00:40:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:37] Speaker B: So I like that I got to give a 10, 9 to Volcano. [00:40:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I, I think it's very close. Like Dante's Peak is a great scene as well. Like, so I have no knocks, but it's just a little bit more memorable [00:40:47] Speaker B: with Volcano could have been nicer to Spider Legs but, you know. [00:40:50] Speaker A: Yeah, he kicked it a lot. That's, that's kind of what he did. [00:40:52] Speaker B: It was, it was, it was kind of his thing and I don't, I'm not like, I can't be there for it. [00:40:57] Speaker A: Fair enough. All right, so we are going to go to round three. So far we have a 109 round all around for Dante's Peak in round one. We have a 10, nine all around to Volcano in round two. So we have a tight, tight contest. Round three, we have the volcanoes clear their throat and starts hits the fan. This is the initial eruption of the volcano in Dante's Peak. Harry and the mayor, Mayor Wando, played by Linda Hamilton, they call a public heating a public meeting in the high school gymnasium. And that is when Dante's Peak starts to erupt. The initial eruption Invite Volcano. Mike Roark and his daughter are taking a drive in the car. And then the volcanic bombs start raining down on the vehicle. And from there, shit goes down. I want to focus in on Dante's Peak first. It's a really good scene. You get the people trying to escape from the gymnasium and it's bedlam. And then everybody walks outside and they see the eruption happening with the big ash cloud. And then we get the asshole helicopter pilot from earlier trying to extort money from people to get them out of the situation. [00:42:14] Speaker B: Terry's got a broken leg, man. [00:42:15] Speaker A: The ash chokes out the. The helicopter blades. It crashes. [00:42:20] Speaker C: Snorkel scene with the truck. [00:42:21] Speaker A: You got the. You got the trucks trying to drive through the river with this real. [00:42:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I wanted a snorkel on my [00:42:29] Speaker A: non existent truck for years because of that movie. [00:42:32] Speaker C: This movie. [00:42:33] Speaker B: I should put one on my Jeep. Renting it. [00:42:34] Speaker C: You should. [00:42:35] Speaker A: And it's a really, really good scene in Volcano. It is a very good scene. And there's moments. But what I think it suffers from, it cuts to a lot of different things during this. Like, actually during this scene is when you start cutting to Anne Hessian. The looting situation, that's happening in a different location. You're cutting to this situation with subway workers. So it's cutting around a lot of the action and distracting from it. Whereas, like, the action that's taking place, you have the stuff with the fire truck. They start building the barriers to kind of channel the lava. There you have this weird racial justice thing where the cops are arresting a black man for speaking his mind. But then the black man offers to help out because. [00:43:19] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a moment. [00:43:20] Speaker A: Directing the lava will save the people in his neighborhood. And the white cop lets him go. And it's a whole thing. [00:43:28] Speaker C: He's like, you're a good guy. [00:43:29] Speaker A: You're a good guy, Jerry. Like what? Like, it is a bonkers choice. [00:43:34] Speaker B: But there's more because he directed the fire trucks to go to his neighborhood. [00:43:38] Speaker C: I know the guys that let him go. Not great. [00:43:41] Speaker B: That let him go was a different guy at me. Get out of here. [00:43:45] Speaker A: Yeah. It's just some wild stuff. But the point. The point being that they're cutting to all these different things that are happening. Yeah. [00:43:52] Speaker B: Cover it all. [00:43:53] Speaker A: And it takes away from the action a little bit for me. Whereas in Dante's, it's just beat after beat during that kind of shit hitting the fan. Yeah. What are your thoughts? [00:44:06] Speaker C: So I'm curious, where do we cut off that scene? Because the issue Like, I feel like Dante has a very clear issue is Volcano is like it kind of just bleeds together because it's the same action for a long time. Dante's is like that whole scene ends when they have to go up the mountain and then that's like a like definitive end of that, like probably 10, 15 minute sequence. [00:44:24] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like a 10 minute sequence in, in Dante's where it feels like they cross the river with a snorkel truck. And when they're on the other side [00:44:35] Speaker C: of that, then we're clear. [00:44:37] Speaker A: Now we're figuring to get the kids now. Now we got to figure out how to get the kids. That's the next scene. That's the next bit. So like this is that 10 minute sequence in Volcano. You are right, John. I feel like it's like it bleeds together and there's a lot going on because it's cutting. I think the definitive end to that piece is when they stop the lava by squirting it with all the water from the hoses on the fire truck and so they successfully kind of stop the lava flow. [00:45:04] Speaker B: Wasn't there other ones? [00:45:05] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Helicopters too. Helicopters come in, come through and are dumping water on it. [00:45:10] Speaker C: So it is a very squeezing because they. This. It is a weird time because like they're. This is kind of part of why volcanoes sometimes has some issues where like they have so many side characters. John, Carroll, lynch. That whole sequence is squeezed into this for some. [00:45:23] Speaker A: Yep, that whole sequence is squeezed in here. [00:45:25] Speaker C: Feels like its own thing. [00:45:26] Speaker A: It is its own thing. And so that's what I'm saying. It kind of distracts at points by. By cutting around all these different things. Just with a volcano, a lot of different storylines. Weird, weird racial justice things happening. That's probably a bit tone deaf. Yeah. Not inaccurate. [00:45:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I feel like Volcano. [00:45:43] Speaker B: Anyone else is in it. Don Cheadle. [00:45:45] Speaker A: Don Cheadle. [00:45:46] Speaker C: Down to like a one minute or two minute. Like when it physically starts happening, like Volcano is actually very intense for like two minutes to the point where you're like, holy shit. [00:45:56] Speaker A: It's just like the volcanic bombs raining down on the car. [00:45:59] Speaker C: Like it's intense. It's. It's a great sequence. Then I feel like it starts getting to protecting the museum versus. I do feel like there is a really nice arc that happens in Dante's where you really see it just continues the story in a great way where there's no fat in that sequence at all. [00:46:15] Speaker A: No. And to your point, in Volcano, there's also a great little tidbit. 2 minute, 3 minute sequence where Anne Hesch and Tommy Lee Jones character, Mike Roark, they have to save the guy who's about to get hit by the lava. And they put him up on, like, the fire truck ladder. And they kind of like start going around, but then the ladders. [00:46:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:46:38] Speaker A: And then he's on fire. And then the ladder starts, like, breaking and bending because of the weight on it. Like, there are a lot of really great moments during that whole sequence, but it's interrupted by all the other things that are going on. That kind of breaks up the flow. [00:46:53] Speaker C: Beginning part like that. That, to me, that's the most intense. Like when it first starts and he's with his daughter up through, like, when the two firefighters die in the truck. Yeah, like that. That whole, like, two, three minute sequence is really intense. And I think lava just. Yeah, I think it's excellent because you don't really know what's going on yet. And then they start feeling, oh, we gotta cover these other storylines. And I just kind of loses me a little bit. [00:47:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. And so that. That, for me, gives Dante's peak the edge. I like what you said. The whole sequence has a nice arc to it, and it all progresses quite nicely. Beam, what do you. Do you have any additional thoughts on this? [00:47:25] Speaker B: I mean, I mean, if we're gonna talk about, like, the initial scene where it's like, expect exploding, which I think that's what we're covering. Yeah. I mean, my main issue actually is I feel as though Pierce Brosnan, or should I say Harry Dalton, his character becomes in conflict with himself. Now, here's why I'm saying that the entire time he's trying to ring the alarm, hey, we need to be paying more close attention to this. Who the is he? When the earth starts, like, moving and shaking and to tell everyone to please stay calm. [00:47:59] Speaker A: I feel he's the professional. [00:48:01] Speaker B: The exact opposite of what he's been doing behind the scenes. What hypocrites. Going to go and be like, all right, everyone stay calm. I've been freaking out. You guys all need to stay calm. That's that. [00:48:10] Speaker C: I would say he's not freaking out, though. He's just trying to get everybody to take it serious. [00:48:14] Speaker B: I don't know, he was being a little dramatic about it. I feel like in a lot of [00:48:17] Speaker A: instances, I mean, he was using scientific evidence, however, and no one was listening to him. It's got to be frustrating. [00:48:23] Speaker B: Like, you know, he didn't br. Bike. [00:48:25] Speaker C: He's British, though, so you're fine. [00:48:28] Speaker B: All I'm trying to say is like, look in the mirror here. Harry telling everyone else, you're beautiful. [00:48:34] Speaker C: Look in the mirror. [00:48:35] Speaker B: Yeah, you are beautiful. [00:48:36] Speaker C: Act. [00:48:36] Speaker A: I mean, he's being the Prof. He's being the professional in this situation. [00:48:41] Speaker C: It's just too good looking. [00:48:42] Speaker B: I'm sorry. I think everyone was within their right with how much it was shaking to get the out. [00:48:47] Speaker A: Totally. Granted, like, I would also freak out in this situation, but Harry's doing the right thing. [00:48:51] Speaker C: I will give up too. [00:48:52] Speaker A: He's like, ah, it. I'm out of here too. [00:48:56] Speaker C: Yeah. Then he's just like all these guys who don't have snorkels, they're. [00:48:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I need to drive through all of them right now. [00:49:02] Speaker C: I will say there's two moments. [00:49:04] Speaker A: Well, also with the snorkel thing, he kind of gets bailed out a little bit because that one, he gets stuck [00:49:09] Speaker B: and then the other car twice in this movie. [00:49:12] Speaker A: And then the other car just knocks him loose. [00:49:14] Speaker C: It's like, bro, great sequence, Great sequence. [00:49:17] Speaker B: What I do appreciate about though is that he's like super confident. Like we got this in both instances it felt like where with the another scene coming up at the lava, but where he drives over it. [00:49:30] Speaker C: Well, that's. [00:49:31] Speaker A: We're gonna talk. [00:49:34] Speaker C: I will say though, there's, there's two things with Dante's. This has one of my favorite shots in the movie and one of my least favorite shots in the movie. This sequence, all within like 20 seconds. [00:49:41] Speaker A: Okay, hit us. [00:49:42] Speaker C: It's one of the best effects is the initial eruption with the, with the pyroclastic cloud in the air. Awesome looking great miniature. Then in that same exact shot right afterwards, they do a reflection of, of like trying to see what you'd see from inside the car where it's Linda Hamilton's face and they're trying to pretend it's like glass. [00:50:00] Speaker B: But it's like, oh, I noticed always [00:50:03] Speaker C: sucked me out of the movie because it's like a, they just took another shot and like took the opacity down on it. But it's one of the weirdest looking shots and like with an effect that they probably spent like a million dollars [00:50:13] Speaker B: on like a budget that came for a Lifetime movie. [00:50:17] Speaker C: No, it was super weird. I, I, that one always stood out [00:50:19] Speaker A: to me as being weird, but I never noticed that. But now that you say it, definitely. [00:50:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it's, it's really odd because I just remember are they trying to be this like her looking from the glass? [00:50:28] Speaker C: Yeah. Reflection thing. Yeah, it was a Weird post choice for sure. I don't know. But that was. That one always took me out of it. But I, I would say fitting for [00:50:35] Speaker B: a 90 grunge music video. [00:50:38] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Still good, though. Yeah. [00:50:41] Speaker A: You would say you're scoring this round. [00:50:43] Speaker C: I would say if I was scoring the first minute, I would have said 10, nine, volcano. But overall, I'm giving 10, eight, Dantes. Oh, I do think it really does doc much. I do. I'm going to drop it that much if. Just because of how the sequence goes. [00:50:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:59] Speaker A: And I, I, I, I don't think I'm, I'm going to go 10, nine, Dantes. But I hear what you're saying because, like, it does detract from the movie quite a bit the way that Volcano keeps cutting around to all these other things. Like, if you keep, if you kept that sequence super lean and just like progressing and focused on that one thing. And then let's go on to this other thing that's happening in this other location and we'll focus on that instead. When we're constantly cutting around, it's taking you out of it. So, like, I hear you. I'm gonna go 10, nine. Because I do like a lot of parts about volcanoes. [00:51:31] Speaker C: I would. I dock an additional point because they literally shoehorn that entire, like, racial justice thing. [00:51:37] Speaker A: Yeah, fair enough. [00:51:39] Speaker C: Like, it's a full on studio note. Just like, hey, let's toss this in there. [00:51:42] Speaker A: Hey, we're in LA in the 90s. We gotta, we gotta include some of this stuff. [00:51:45] Speaker B: Don't think you make a reference to, like, the LA rise. [00:51:48] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. Yeah. That's what the, the looting's happening and. [00:51:53] Speaker B: All right. That was a weird one. No, so I would have to. I think I have to go. I think I'm gonna go a little against the grain here. Only because I'm gonna give it to Volcano. And the reason why. And 10, nine, volcano. And the reason why is I, I understand in terms of, like, I guess if we're going to talk about technical prowess, yes, I would give it to a Dante's peak. But the reason why I'm going to give it to Volcano here is because I felt like, yes, it was all over the place. It didn't take me out of it. It just made me feel frantic. And I feel like if that's effective, I felt like if I was in the middle of LA and a volcano just continually, like, was popping up out of the ground to reach its full being, I would be frantic too. So I would say, just in terms of How I would feel in a [00:52:42] Speaker A: volcano and how the scene made you feel. [00:52:44] Speaker C: Fair enough. [00:52:45] Speaker B: How the film actually made me feel. I'm going to go with volcano. [00:52:47] Speaker A: Okay, I respect that. [00:52:49] Speaker B: Fair. [00:52:49] Speaker A: All right, so we're going to go to round four now. This is probably my favorite round of any of it. This is where we get a character who does not respect the volcano making the ultimate sacrifice. In Volcano it is John Carroll lynch, also in Zodiac as potentially the Zodiac killer. Arthur Reality, he's a great character, great character actor, tremendous. He is playing Stan, chairman of the mta. He sacrifices himself in order to save the subway driver on the plane or on the train rather. And in Dante's Peak we have Grandma Ruth. She goes not so merrily into the long good night. It is bonkers that they are singing merrily, merrily, merrily while she is being burned by ass. [00:53:44] Speaker B: She was singing along too. [00:53:45] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:53:47] Speaker B: Just burned alive. Which. Good God, that was such a dramatic. Anyway. [00:53:51] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:53:51] Speaker A: Wild shit. So I want to talk about volcano first. This. I'm very conflicted about this scene as well. Like you were about the Dante's Peak scene because it has one of my favorite little things where he is taking the subway driver. He's carrying him off the train, but then the, the lava's there and he can't really get across so he just jumps himself into the lava. Heroic act. And then just throws him and full [00:54:20] Speaker C: on chest just presses this like human over his head and then chucks him. It's nuts. [00:54:26] Speaker A: And that's fucking crazy. And it is wild and like I have so much respect for that because he is being burned alive from his feet and he just chest press this dude over the lava, saves his life [00:54:38] Speaker B: unconscious, catches fire and somehow doesn't wake up from that. Yeah. [00:54:42] Speaker A: And then, but right after that shots, that shot when he's like human melting, it is so bad. It looks so atrocious. So like I am very conflicted about this scene because of that like little bit. [00:54:56] Speaker C: It's the fairest. It's wild. [00:54:58] Speaker B: I was gonna say the same thing in comparison. Yeah, I know. She's burning alive and she's doing this heroic thing of like pushing along the boat, like sacrificing herself for the great good. But then it's just the enemy. [00:55:11] Speaker C: Also like get the. [00:55:13] Speaker B: But just that over and over, like [00:55:15] Speaker C: also like fucking get the fuck out of the water. You walk around a 20 foot dock and you walk down it. Like get onto the dock. Like I just. It makes sense. [00:55:23] Speaker B: Well, they had to get to the dock is part of the issue. She had to go. [00:55:28] Speaker C: She does this, like, weird Wade thing where she's no longer holding the boat, and she's like, think about it at length. [00:55:34] Speaker B: The lower half of your body is getting, like, chemically burned also. [00:55:38] Speaker C: My first thought is, get out of this burning liquor. [00:55:41] Speaker A: She's, like, also 80. How's she going to. Like, she can't just mantle up onto this dock. Like, that's gonna be different. [00:55:46] Speaker C: The fact that she doesn't even try. All right, fair enough, dude. [00:55:49] Speaker B: Imagine that scene, though. [00:55:51] Speaker C: It's just like a slow walk towards. [00:55:53] Speaker A: So. So real quick, let's just back up for a second. In this scene, yeah, they're in the boat. They have to go up and rescue Grandma Ruth because the kids have gone up there. They have stolen a car, driven up the mountain, but also drive through. [00:56:09] Speaker C: Great character development because they are infuriating. But you just, like, you're supposed to be annoyed. [00:56:12] Speaker A: Yeah, you're supposed to be annoyed with them. [00:56:14] Speaker C: But, like, you know, Joseph Gordon Levitt. [00:56:16] Speaker A: Yeah, knock off, Joseph. And then so they go up the mountain. Harry and Marwando go to, you know, chase after them. They get in a boat that's crossing. The acid in the water eats the propeller of the boat. [00:56:31] Speaker C: Insane. [00:56:32] Speaker A: They're all scared. So they start singing merrily, merrily, merrily down the stream. Harry tries this move where he wraps his arm in his jacket and starts putting it in the water and, like, trying to paddle that way. That doesn't really work. [00:56:46] Speaker B: How does that not hurt him? Is it the cloth? [00:56:50] Speaker A: Well, it does hurt him, and that's why he eventually takes it out. He's like. He kind of shakes it out a little bit. [00:56:56] Speaker C: This is [00:56:58] Speaker B: just. Imagine this, though. She keeps wading through. [00:57:01] Speaker C: I appreciate the enthusiasm of. Fuck. [00:57:05] Speaker B: She just keeps wading through, just doing the screaming. And as she's lifting herself up a dock, I mean, the entire time. [00:57:11] Speaker C: I will say, if we're giving props to Dante's peak for realism, this is. It goes a little bit out the window from, like, this. This scene for the next, like, 20 minutes or so. Because pretty much anything with her for a minute because, like, I mean, the boat prop can be the hardest metal on the boat. That melts through faster than. Faster than the itself itself, which is just sheet metal. [00:57:33] Speaker A: There's that. And then, like, it's also. [00:57:35] Speaker C: Acid doesn't. It's like. It would never be high enough that it would burn you. [00:57:39] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:57:39] Speaker A: This. [00:57:39] Speaker B: This. [00:57:40] Speaker A: The PH level on this would be like three, which is the same as lemon juice. Like, it's A mild skin irritant. It's not burning you alive even if [00:57:47] Speaker C: like you have like actual sulfuric acid. [00:57:49] Speaker B: Saying that grammar. Ruth was overreacting. [00:57:52] Speaker C: Yes, well, and then die. [00:57:54] Speaker B: But really go for it. [00:57:56] Speaker A: No, but what we're saying is we've been giving props to Dante's peak for its realism. This is where it starts to go the window a little bit. [00:58:03] Speaker C: And even if it was sulfuric acid, like, that's not something that lands on you and is like holy. Like this burns. It's like five minutes later. [00:58:10] Speaker A: It takes time. [00:58:11] Speaker C: Like crazy. [00:58:12] Speaker B: They all seemed fine after. They were then hugging Grandma Ree, who's covered in it. So I was like, that was the one thing that I also was trying to think about. I'm like, wow, you guys are all around her and holding her now. She's clearly got to be passing this on to you. Y' all seem fine. [00:58:25] Speaker C: I was going to be analytical about this for a second. I will me is. But John Carroll Lynch, I feel like has the hero moment. Has like, that's a better hero moment where it actually warrants the move that he does. As wacky as it is. Like, the lava is way past. There's no way for him. There's no scenario where there's like. Like there's some dubious elements with Ruth, but I also feel like she's been [00:58:48] Speaker B: a bit of self chassis. [00:58:49] Speaker C: But Ruth is like really teed up throughout this movie to be like. Like you don't like her. She is like really actively annoying, putting everyone in danger and then like, this is, I feel like earns the moment a little bit more. John Carroll lynch is like, he isn't really that bad of a guy. Like, they don't really like, he's just in a situation where like, he's like, oh, I don't want to shut the thing down. But like, that's about it. [00:59:09] Speaker A: No, it's. It's really weak in. In the not respecting the volcano. It's really just like, I don't want to shut down the subway. Yeah, that's about it. Like the roof thing is teed up throughout. So like the moment for her feels better and like more earned story wise. But like the moment itself where he is chest pressing an entire grown human being over lava is sweet. [00:59:34] Speaker C: Also, like, clearly a great actor that has not been given much in this movie. So he's like, oh, I'm gonna be. This is. [00:59:39] Speaker A: This is my moment. Yeah, absolutely. [00:59:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:59:42] Speaker B: I do appreciate too the moment where he's in the office and it's like, well, it's going down. Light him up and just start smoking a cigarette. [00:59:48] Speaker C: And everyone's like, melting sneakers. Melting sneakers. Yeah. Also like not teed up at all where he just started. [00:59:58] Speaker A: Just ripping pokes. [00:59:59] Speaker B: No, no one says a word. But definitely gets shot a glance. [01:00:02] Speaker C: I do appreciate the melting sneakers. It's also a solid shot. [01:00:04] Speaker A: The melting human though. Is it? It's terrible. It's the worst shot of the old movie. [01:00:10] Speaker C: Horrible capper. [01:00:11] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, really horrible capper. To a great hero. [01:00:13] Speaker C: That is something that's often lost. In general, I feel like unlike lava, magma is like. It's the same density as rock. So like, actually one thing I do like about within Volcano is like when it hits the. I don't know what those are called. Like those concrete. [01:00:28] Speaker A: The concrete barrier actually do move, which [01:00:30] Speaker C: is like, oh, that's actually probably. Yeah, that's what happened because so much weight. [01:00:34] Speaker B: But here we are knocking Volcano. [01:00:36] Speaker C: I know. Always the most realistic film. No. Yeah. I don't know. It's a mixed bag on. Both of these are both great moments though. They are like, I would say two of the more iconic moments in both of the films. [01:00:47] Speaker A: Absolutely. So when I said it earlier, like the volcano, my two favorite scenes are this scene and the Dr. Amy Barnes scene and Dante's peak, it's this. And when the volcano initially erupts, like those are both dynamite. And in Dante's peak, they come back to back like this. This 30 minute stretch of the movie. Just unassailable. Incredible stuff. [01:01:10] Speaker C: Agree. [01:01:11] Speaker A: I mean, even though it does have some flaws, but like really great. [01:01:16] Speaker C: BB you were talking about like horror elements and Dante's. While it's not really a horror movie that like talking about those like almost leaping in the thing, I would argue that this is also same level of a moment. Like this is kind of a horror movie vibe for this. Like this was scared. Scared the shit out of me as a kid. [01:01:32] Speaker A: Oh, dude. Same. Like I watched this movie for the first time when I was like 8 or 9 at like a sleepover. And when they cut to her legs, like I felt sick to my stomach in that moment. I was like, oh, damn, this is fucking. [01:01:43] Speaker C: Whoa. [01:01:44] Speaker A: So like there's some. There's some gore elements to it as well. Yeah, really good. So I don't know as far as scoring this round, like, I'm really torn. I want to hear from you guys first and then I'll kind of make my decision. I'm not going to. I want to hear. I want to hear what you guys have to say. How Are you scoring this? [01:02:01] Speaker B: I think I got to go 10, 9, volcano. Now. Here's why. [01:02:04] Speaker A: Okay. [01:02:05] Speaker B: It's as much as I could say that. And I'm sorry. His name again? [01:02:11] Speaker C: John Carroll Lynch. [01:02:12] Speaker B: John Carroll Lynch. I think that with him, the dying slowly in the magma thing, it didn't take me out of as much as Grandma Ruth. Just. Do you want me to do it again? Sex? [01:02:25] Speaker C: Please. [01:02:26] Speaker B: No, I'm just kidding. [01:02:27] Speaker A: Please don't scream again. [01:02:30] Speaker B: Yeah, his Grandma Ruth screaming bloody murder while she walks through that. I just. That took me out of it more. It's like, wow, what if Valley never. Oh, my God. Why is she screaming like that? And I, I. It just. It took me out of it to the point where I was laughing and I shouldn't be laughing at grandma. Roots, legs. [01:02:45] Speaker A: Fair enough. [01:02:46] Speaker C: Laughable at. At times, though. [01:02:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:48] Speaker C: So you said 10, nine. You're doing 10. [01:02:50] Speaker B: I gotta go 10, nine, volcano. [01:02:52] Speaker C: I'm gonna be a little bit weird on this. We don't. We don't have to be at 10 on any of these, right? Like, no. [01:02:56] Speaker A: You can deduct a boy from either. [01:02:58] Speaker B: You don't have many rules. [01:03:00] Speaker C: I'm gonna rock an 8 to 8 high because 8, 8 for two reasons. I think they both have massive pros. You have. So Ruth gets the better arc, better setup, and I get a scarier premise. Like, more, like, more insidiously scary because it's like, more. It seems like something that could, like, it's something that, like, followed me as a kid where I was like, that actually scared me. Like, oh, what happens if my boat, like, is in a weird scenario? Like, I was never scared of lava. [01:03:27] Speaker B: You think so much. [01:03:28] Speaker C: But, yeah, so I would rock points there. But also infuriate because she didn't have to do what she did. Like, there was ways. [01:03:37] Speaker A: There was other ways to get out. [01:03:38] Speaker C: If maybe they set it up a little bit further from the dock when she jumped off, I would have given a credit, but, like, you're almost there at this point. [01:03:44] Speaker A: Like, it was like five feet. [01:03:46] Speaker C: Yeah. Like, so, like, just stand up, like, get it on your shoes or something for a second. [01:03:49] Speaker B: I know they were going to get 100. [01:03:50] Speaker C: I'm just saying, if we're getting the semantics. That's. That's my nose. And then. But she also gets a boost for. Because, like, she doesn't die right after. They have a nice little, like, realistic end to her. She, like, that's nice. John Carroll Lynch. Worse setup, better hero moment. Like, one of the better parts of the film. Great. Like Sacrifice moment, horrible end shot. So I think both of them get knocks on points, but I'm not willing to dock it any lower than an 8 because I do feel like they're both like hero moments of the film. So eight, eight tie for me. [01:04:23] Speaker A: Almost stags, but I'm going. I'm going 99 tie for this round just because I'm not going to dock them two points each. I'm just going to dock them one because there's a lot of great moments. But they each have kind of a fatal flaw there. [01:04:35] Speaker C: So, yeah, see how it goes up. Tiebreaker. [01:04:38] Speaker A: Yeah, we have to have a tiebreaker if it gets to a tie. All right, so round five. There are multiple similarities here. The first is that this is where the volcano has its kind of second eruption, the big one. And shit really hits the fan now. Shit hit the fan, like, initially, but now shit's, like, everywhere. And shit is that. The other thing that happens here is after the finale is over, both of our heroes emerge victorious from the rubble. They are both emerging from literally rubble. And then there are helicopters flying around in both movies after they emerge from the rubble. So there's a lot of things here. Dante's peak. Let's go through it. After the kind of Grandma Ruth thing, they drive over lava. It lights the car on fire. And in one of the best line deliveries, Marwando, Linda Hamilton goes, harry, we're on fire. [01:05:40] Speaker B: Fire. [01:05:41] Speaker A: Like, oh, you think we are driving through lava right now? [01:05:45] Speaker B: Kids didn't like, one moment of this. They're like that. I missed everything about this spec. [01:05:50] Speaker C: This is like the peak only time where it gets, like, real goofy. [01:05:53] Speaker A: Real goofy. [01:05:54] Speaker C: Like, it's not realistic at all. [01:05:57] Speaker A: Not that lava flow would not be there. They are driving on it with a vehicle. [01:06:01] Speaker C: They drive out of it and then, like, they're still in the same vehicle. [01:06:03] Speaker A: They're still in the same vehicle. [01:06:04] Speaker C: Yeah, they. [01:06:05] Speaker A: They saved the dog. The dog jumps on hero dog. [01:06:09] Speaker C: Just a side little asterisk for this. Both films, because they don't really have it at the same time, but both of These movies have classic 90s hero dog moments. Absolutely. [01:06:17] Speaker B: What the fuck did Scruffy do? I feel like Scruffy was a problem. [01:06:21] Speaker A: It was Ruffy, actually. No Sc. Just Ruffy. Great name for a dog. So he jumps in the car. [01:06:28] Speaker B: I feel like that was more of a cool. You finally fucking listened, bro. Like, thanks for running away, causing the kids to follow you and cause that whole issue. So hero dog moments. [01:06:40] Speaker A: Don't disparage the dog Nipper's listening. All right. He's very offended right now. So Ruffy jumps into the car. They are now driving in the same vehicle where the tires got melted. The pyroclastic cloud really happens now. This is the big eruption. Shit is avalanching. Harry takes this vehicle with no fucking tires on it. He's just driving on rim. [01:07:03] Speaker B: It's fucking Tokyo. Drifting it through the ash. [01:07:05] Speaker A: And he drives it directly into an abandoned mineshaft that was set up earlier as the Sun's kind of hangout lair where he was definitely smoking weed with his friends. [01:07:15] Speaker C: Yeah, this also is when. This is also when all the trucks get swept away. Like right before this whole sequence. [01:07:22] Speaker A: The lahar happens right before that. Or kind of intercut with that because they're watching the pyroclastic flow from afar in Volcano. The whole sequence is kind of wild. The demolition of the building to make it fall down to stop the lava, which seems like a. [01:07:40] Speaker B: So many city codes also. [01:07:43] Speaker C: Well, that's part of the office character for like. They don't really talk to him very much. That's real weird. [01:07:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So they try and destroy a building. They try and bring it down so that the building's rubble will stop the volcanic flow. So that's a thing. But then the daughter is chasing after a small child who ran off from the hospital and she's now in that building. So Mike Roark is trying to stop it while also doing it. And then the building goes down. He saves the daughter and the small child. They emerge from the rubble. I'd say Volcanoes is about a 15 minute sequence. And Dante's peak is like a good solid 20 minutes. Because there's also like a. A coda to Dante's peak when they're five minutes inside. Five minutes inside the mine shaft. Whereas also where we get the rubble that falls on the car and you get the compound fracture with the bone sticking out of the elbow. [01:08:38] Speaker C: That was also epic. [01:08:39] Speaker A: Gnarly. [01:08:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:08:40] Speaker B: We have to 100. [01:08:41] Speaker C: Should have had 15. Absolutely. [01:08:43] Speaker A: Should have happened. [01:08:44] Speaker C: Should happen many times. I know, it's great. [01:08:47] Speaker A: Also when I was 8, like in addition to the Grandma Roo thing, that stuck with me. That's the first time I saw that in a movie. [01:08:53] Speaker C: Was wild. I don't know if I've seen that in another movie with the same level [01:08:57] Speaker A: of like just no country for Old Men with Javier Bardem at the end. There's that one. [01:09:02] Speaker B: Any NBA game. [01:09:05] Speaker A: I've seen it a lot of NBA games and soccer games as well, with some dirty studs up tackles. [01:09:11] Speaker B: But Conor Gregers, like I think had a bit of that. [01:09:15] Speaker C: Yeah, I was, I meant movies, movies, movies. [01:09:19] Speaker A: The only other one that comes to mind is no country for Old Men. But nothing around that time, like, am [01:09:23] Speaker B: I going to be so aggressive? [01:09:24] Speaker A: And that stuck with me when I was a kid for sure. [01:09:28] Speaker C: Peak aggression beam. [01:09:30] Speaker A: How do you feel about the comparison of these kind of finales? What's sticking out in your mind? [01:09:36] Speaker B: What's sticking out in my mind with the end of these movies is where the fuck is Tommy Lee Jones diving and pushing both his daughter and this kid out of the way. I don't understand how they end up in the rubble. [01:09:48] Speaker A: The geography of this scene is very confusing. [01:09:51] Speaker B: I don't know where he's diving, where he's pushing them, where they are in relation to the building. All you see is building following them, just screaming, not moving the kid. And the kid in the. [01:10:02] Speaker A: Like she is a teenager. She could have done more like get away from that building, man. [01:10:08] Speaker B: It was. [01:10:08] Speaker C: What are you doing? [01:10:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I. It just, it felt like, you know. Yeah, you guys, you guys aren't pulling your weight here. Maybe the building needs it. No, no, I think that I don't understand where he's pushing them. And the scene where they go into the mineshaft gives me all the anxiety in the world. [01:10:25] Speaker A: Uh huh. Very claustrophobic. Very effective. Like when the, the rubble starts falling down in the mineshaft on the vehicle. [01:10:33] Speaker C: So good. [01:10:33] Speaker A: And then he's inside of the vehicle and then he's like crunched down in the tiniest little fucking space. [01:10:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:10:40] Speaker A: And then they just say after like, you know, he turns on the, the beacon so that they can find him. [01:10:46] Speaker C: They're for a long ass time, dude. [01:10:47] Speaker A: They say how long has that light been blinking? A day or two. He was stuck in there with his elbow fucking hanging out this much space with like two days. Oh my God, dude. [01:10:58] Speaker B: Do you want to know what I thought about? [01:10:59] Speaker C: Not that immediately. Bone infections. Bone infections. Bone. [01:11:03] Speaker B: No. Where the. Was he peeing? How are they not pulling? [01:11:07] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [01:11:07] Speaker B: And when they pull, easy to hydrate [01:11:10] Speaker C: as at this point. [01:11:12] Speaker A: But he absolutely had to have himself is. [01:11:15] Speaker C: Is poison. They don't have water for two days. I mean I bet you the guys get some like the kids got some like Capri sun station. [01:11:21] Speaker A: The kids got some, got some snacks and stuff, some chips. [01:11:24] Speaker B: He needs something. But like I do. You know it's funny those that you say like oh, the water. Like what is it the scene where they. Before they go to the cafeteria. [01:11:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:11:32] Speaker B: To bring Us back. [01:11:33] Speaker C: That was so good. [01:11:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Should they bring out the dirty water and what the, that water they're drinking during the meeting? They got it. They got a pitcher of water sitting right next to them. [01:11:40] Speaker A: Ah, that starts to shake. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's like that one. [01:11:46] Speaker C: You don't want to know why the [01:11:47] Speaker A: budget was higher that Poland Spring. John Dog. [01:11:51] Speaker B: They just sat there with water bottles, emptying them out of this picture like, I can't drink the tap. But no, I, I, I think I got to say that volcanoes didn't make any sense to me whatsoever. [01:12:01] Speaker A: The geography did not make sense to me at all. And like, it's a, the plan also seems, but it's a dangerous event. Collapse a building so that the, when it falls down, divert that stuff will divert the lava towards the ocean. [01:12:19] Speaker C: But then like down the other channel that they just create down the other [01:12:21] Speaker A: channel that they created towards the ocean and then it'll flow into the ocean. [01:12:24] Speaker B: That I thought, like, they abandoned that idea at some point. [01:12:27] Speaker C: I don't know the difference. A different channel. When they realized that it was going to go towards like Cedar Sinai or whatever. [01:12:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:33] Speaker C: Because of the, there was a topography underground. Like, I don't know if it was like one of the subway, the new subway, I think. [01:12:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:39] Speaker C: So they decided to demo that so it would all fall in. [01:12:41] Speaker B: So to me, like, that, that, that channel just came out of nowhere. I was like, oh, there that is. That worked out. [01:12:46] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I would say to me, like, the biggest difference between these two things is definitely like, like Dante's Peak is like the ultimate payoff script movie wise. Like, every single beat that they set up, they have the mine shaft was set up. They, they have the pyroclastic flow as the big threat is, was was set up. They have the machine that sends a signal was set up with the NASA connection of like NASA the whole time. [01:13:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you, NASA. [01:13:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:15] Speaker C: It's a great moment. And like, you know, it has that deep sea fishing thing that was like, everything is there is there and teed up. I feel like Volcano has two, again, two minutes of like really great action. Being super freaking intense running during that sequence. But again, where the hell does he go? It also has that crazy shoehorned line where the kids, like everyone looks the same. Was like this was not a social movement that was even part of the theme. [01:13:41] Speaker A: Yeah, they're all covered in ash and we have this weird social justice coda where he's like, look at everybody. In the wake of this disaster, we're all the same. And it's like, dude, what the is happening? [01:13:51] Speaker C: And it's also, like, 80 white people in the scene. [01:13:53] Speaker A: 80 white people who are, like, covered in ash and are now darker. Like, what is happening? Like, it is a bonkers little code. [01:14:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:14:03] Speaker B: Correct me if I'm wrong, too. And. And this kind of took me out of it before that. That part which I had forgotten about because I'd seen this movie before. And then that came. I'm like, oh, my God. [01:14:11] Speaker A: But, like, I also forgot about it. And then this time, it was like, [01:14:15] Speaker B: the part that I got taken out of it when he was absolutely, like, where's your mom? Do you know what she looks like? Wasn't his mom, like, suffering from internal bleeding? And then that's why. [01:14:25] Speaker A: That's why they were in the hospital. [01:14:29] Speaker B: Where's your mom? And he's looking around. She looks like a woman. He's internally bleeding. It's just. Dead. She's dead. Actually, she died from her injury. [01:14:36] Speaker C: It's just payoffs. I just. I feel like that whole. Like, all that stuff is fine, but it's not set up at all. It just, like, comes out of nowhere. [01:14:42] Speaker A: No. [01:14:42] Speaker B: And, like. [01:14:42] Speaker A: And like, you said, like. [01:14:44] Speaker B: And he emerges from the rubble, like, ah. And then, you know, credits. Yeah. [01:14:47] Speaker A: I mentioned earlier, like. [01:14:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:14:49] Speaker A: The way she delivers that line about the D.C. fishing. Like, that's great. It's so goofy and so stupid. But, like, they did spend time setting this up and it pays off. [01:14:57] Speaker C: So, like, one hobby that makes him. Like, he's talking about taking vacation the whole time. Like. Yeah, yeah. Like, it is. [01:15:02] Speaker A: It's all set up and it's all paid off in that finale. So, like, Volcano has some very strong scenes and strong moments, but, like, as a whole, it feels more stitched together rather than, like, a cohesive thing. So I gotta go. 10, 8. And it all kind of comes together in this moment. Like, like you said, stags. The payoffs are just dynamite. Like, chef's kiss at the end of this whole movie. [01:15:23] Speaker B: Volcano. Just stitching things together. [01:15:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Stitching things together to stop the lava. [01:15:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:29] Speaker A: I mean, fair. It did, but, like, not effective as a story. [01:15:33] Speaker C: That's weird because they don't even mention, like, it. Not to go back to it, but, like, they didn't even mention John Carroll Lynch's character. Like, to Tommy Lee Jones, after it happened. It was just like a side quest that was never talked about. It was just a really. It's like. I don't know. [01:15:46] Speaker B: I don't think Mike Roark actually Knew that anyone existed. [01:15:48] Speaker C: No, no. [01:15:50] Speaker B: He was like, this is me. [01:15:51] Speaker C: But he knew that they set the time up to know that they knew each other, and they talked to each other, and then we just see him dead. Like, there's no dying. Like, oh, he died. And he was like, that was more for us. Like, well, nobody happened like that. Talk about a direct comparison. Like, there's that exact moment in. In Dante's Peak where, like, Harry finds out that his boss. [01:16:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Where's Paul? Paul didn't make it. Like, yeah, yeah, definitely. [01:16:13] Speaker C: They. Everything that's, like, established is then paid off. So I don't know. I got to give it. I'll be nice. I'll say 10, 8. But I do think it might even be a bigger gap on this one. [01:16:23] Speaker A: It's big. Like, 10, 8. This is where it all comes together. [01:16:26] Speaker C: This is where. This is where Dante's Peak shines. And also, I will say, like, you have the same three. They raised the stakes in Volcano to. Like, now it's coming at the hospital where everyone was told to go, but again. And it is moving quicker now. But, like, they've established the entire time in Dante's Peak that there's going to be a pyroclastic flow. And, like, at this point, they've gotten everyone else out of there, but we are now so hunkered in on our main characters. [01:16:50] Speaker A: Yeah, we're just really focused in on the main characters. [01:16:52] Speaker C: They have no way of escaping except for all of a sudden. Oh, man. This thing that they teed up in the beginning of the movie just. It also feels believable, like, you could maybe do that. You can maybe survive that. But, yeah, I gotta give it definitely Dante's Peak. [01:17:03] Speaker B: You also think if you're emerging from the rubble, like, they were in Dante's Peak, like, and everyone's just like, literally, as you're. You haven't even gotten out of the tunnel yet. And everyone's just cheering. To me, I'd be like, can you just all shut the fuck up? I'm trying to see where's. Where is someone. I. That would be freaking me out. [01:17:18] Speaker A: It'd be a lot. After I just spent two days in the most cramped space. I'm probably covered in shit and piss. Pretty confident my bone is hanging out of my arm. [01:17:26] Speaker B: I meant more the kids. Yeah. [01:17:29] Speaker C: Solid chance he's septic at that point. [01:17:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. [01:17:31] Speaker C: So he's just. Gavin. [01:17:33] Speaker A: All right, Beam, how you scoring this? [01:17:34] Speaker B: Oh, it's 10, 8, 10 8, Dante. All right. Yeah, there's no. There's no question about it. Volcano makes no sense. [01:17:40] Speaker A: No sense. [01:17:42] Speaker B: No sense whatsoever. I want, I would love for the root for it, but just like having them emerge from the rubble and, you know, Tommy Lee Jones and the kid who's sobbing, just crying because he probably clicked with him, like, yeah, my mom's probably dead. Yeah, just. [01:17:57] Speaker A: And then it's just. [01:17:57] Speaker B: It's over. So, yeah, it's got to be 10, 8. [01:18:00] Speaker A: All right, so that last round was a wash. Probably seals it for Dante's Peak overall, but we don't know yet. We have to take a quick break. We gotta tabulate the scores and then we will be back in a few moments with the announcement of the winner. [01:18:15] Speaker B: The judges scored the contest 48, 45, 47. 43, and 47. 47 for your winner and new champion of the movie about a volcano that without notice erupts in your neighborhood. By majority decision, Dante's Peak. [01:18:35] Speaker A: Well, there you have it, folks. Dante's Peak wins in a majority decision. Before we get out of here, we have to thank some people. First of all, thank you to John Stegman for joining us as our guest judge. [01:18:47] Speaker C: Thanks for having me. [01:18:48] Speaker A: Before we get out of here, Stags, anything that you want to plug for the people? [01:18:53] Speaker C: Sure, yeah. Check out, check us out at Super Scouts, Super Scout TV online or check it out, Instagram's the same thing. Super Scout, Fun shit going on there. And APB Film. Got some fun stuff coming up with John Yost and a couple other local directors and just fun stuff. Thanks for having me, guys. [01:19:13] Speaker A: Absolutely. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for your expertise. Appreciate it. We're also going to give a shout out to the behind the scenes folks. Thank you to Alec Lewis, our audio engineer. Thank you to Nick Besch for his video production and thank you to Noah Scannel for being the best boy and for production supervision. [01:19:34] Speaker B: We're also going to thank the Job Hub, which is where we are recording, for letting us be in their studio and also for the production of. Well, by all the aforementioned people as well. So. And then also we have to give a big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Metroland. [01:19:52] Speaker A: Now, indeed, we are part of the Metroland Podcast network. To learn more about that, head over to metrolandnow.com or you can follow Metroland now on Instagram or Facebook. [01:20:03] Speaker B: And because I don't really know or can remember offhand what the order of these are going to be released to see what's happening more with this podcast. We may or may not have created any sort of social media handles for them, but I can tell you, at the very least my Instagram account, which is where we're probably going to be announcing it, is Beam O and Corey, [01:20:23] Speaker A: you can find me at bedstybear. And what about Stags? [01:20:29] Speaker B: I feel like he should. [01:20:29] Speaker A: Yeah, Staggs, do you have, do you have social media? [01:20:32] Speaker B: Do you even do anything on social media? [01:20:34] Speaker C: Other than my entire job? For me personally, no. No. Yeah, on the Stegs on Instagram. And like I said, Super Scout TV on Instagram is probably the best way to check us out. [01:20:48] Speaker A: Absolutely. And so make sure you join us next week. We will be exploring a couple of 90s movies about 12 year old children becoming a part of a major league baseball franchise. So join us next week. As for now, we are out of here. Thank you and goodbye. [01:21:04] Speaker C: Peace. Sam.