Dante's Peak

This neo-disaster flick's volcanic sound and fury are unavoidably tepid on video — and Dante's Peak's human element isn't so hot either. As a scientist who warns a sleepy Northwest town of an impending eruption, Pierce Brosnan adequately fills the standard hero-who-takes-his-natural-disasters-personally role. But aside from Linda Hamilton, the single-mom mayor, and her kids, there's hardly anyone else to give a damn about. We don't even get the usual kick out of watching greedy developers and obtuse politicians meet their doom: We've hardly gotten to know 'em, much less hate 'em. In any body-count catastrophe scenario, that's a fatal flaw. C