Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington

• White Knuckle Ride

  -- to be released in 2012 ...
  High atop Mt. Haleakala, one of the world's tallest volcanoes, a vacationing couple seeking to heal their crumbling marriage encounters a sight so terrifying it catapults them down the slope on a white knuckle bike ride for their lives.

• How to Train Your Dragon

  -- 2010,
  an animated movie about a young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons who becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed. The dragons live in a volcano.

• Looking for Palladin

  -- 2008,
  starring Ben Gazzara, David Moscow, and Talia Shire, the movie was filmed in Antigua, Guatemala, a beautiful city surrounded by volcanoes.

• Supergator

  -- 2007, While monitoring a volcano, geologist Scott Kinney ends up fighting the "Supergator", a prehistoric alligator re-created from fossilized DNA, who escaped from a secret bio-engineering center. Views of a volcano, plus a man-made volcano erupting at a tourist attraction, and the trailing footage in the movie shows flowing lava, most likely (but not verified) Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Filmed in Kaua'i, Hawai'i.

• Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York

  -- 2006, made-for-TV movie staring Costas Mandylor and Alexandra Paul. A volcano erupts in New York City after an illegal experiment to produce geothermal energy drills into a magma reservoir.

• Supervolcano

  -- 2005, and Emmy-nominated made-for-TV movie about a "supervolcano" erupting in Yellowstone National Park. Billed as "A true story of global disaster... it just hasn't happened yet."

• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

  -- 2005, Director: George Lucas. Darth Vader was born after being burned by lava. Mount Etna, Italy, was one of the filming locations.

• Man on Fire

  -- 2004, Director, Tony Scott; Stars, Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony, and a cast of others. This movie was filmed in Mexico City and has great views of a steaming Popocatépetl Volcano in the background.

• Ice Age

  -- 2002, Director, Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge
  Animation. During the Ice Age, a sabertooth tiger, a sloth, and a wooly mammoth (Ray Romano, voice) find a lost human infant and they try to return him to his tribe. Volcanoes erupt, rivers of lava, and an early ancestor of "Old Faithful" geyser.

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King

  -- 2001, 2002, 2003, Director, Peter Jackson.
  The Tongariro National Park, located in the central North Island region just south of Lake Taupo, was used for the scenes of Mordor and Mount Doom. Most of the filming was shot on the Tongariro volcanic complex, and Mount Ngauruhoe was depicted as Mount Doom. The Whakapapa ski-field on Mount Ruapehu was used for additional filming. (information courtesy Matthew Carrier)

• Volcano

  -- 1997, a thriller produced by Donner/Schuler-Donner Productions and Fox 2000 Pictures. Starring Jennifer Bill, Tommy Lee Jones, and Michael Rispoli. Filmed in Torrance, California. A volcano (Mount Wilshire) erupts along an earthquake fault near the La Brea Tar Pits, sending lava flows through the streets and subway tunnels of Los Angeles.

• Volcano: Fire on the Mountain

  -- 1997, made-for-TV movie, starring Dan Cortese and Cynthia Gibb, a scientist attempts to convince his boss and the residents of a California town that a nearby volcano is about to erupt.

• Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie

  -- 1997, a childrens action movie by 20th Century Fox, Sabin Entertainment, and Toei Company, Ltd. Rated PG. The Power Rangers must stop the release of an evil space pilot from his imprisonment on a volcanic island.

• Dante's Peak

  -- 1997, starring Pierce Brosnan as Harry Dalton, a vulcanologist, and Linda Hamilton as Rachael Wando, the town mayor. The two manage to convince the town that a long-dormant peak is about to explode, meanwhile they must rescue her kids who have gone up the mountain to get their grandmother. -- (MORE)

• Eruption

  -- 1997, a.k.a. "Volcano Run", starring F. Murray Abraham, Carlos Carrasco, Cyril O'Reilly, and Patricia Velazquez. An American photojournalist faces a revolution and erupting volcano in the South American country of San Pedro.

• Austin Powers--International Man of Mystery

  -- to be released in 1997, with Mike Myers (from Wayne's World) as the film's hero who saves Earth from volcanic destruction.

• DNA

  -- 1997, staring Mark Dacascos. In a tropical rain forest, a DNA expert and a CIA agent try to stop a scientist and the monster he created. In one scene there is a "perfectly symmetrical" volcano "smoking" in the background.

• Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Volcano Mystery

  -- 1997, a 30-minutes video starring the Olsen twins.

• Congo

  -- 1995, an adventure, directed by Frank Marshall, starring Bruce Campbell, Tim Curry, Grant Heslov, Ernie Hudson, Laura Linney, and Dylan Walsh. The plot includes mutant apes, lost diamonds, and jungle safaris, with great scenes of a volcano (shot at Mt. Arenal in Costa Rica) erupting during an earthquake.

• MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis

  -- 1994, made-for-TV movie with McGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) and his former college professor getting involved with artifacts from the lost city of Atlantis. While filmed in the U.K., some scenes are "taking place" on Thera/Santorini, the volcanic island thought to have once been Atlantis, before a massive eruption destroyed the island.

• Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

  -- 1993, Disney-adventure movie where two dogs and a cat trek across the Sierra Nevadas in search of their family. Outdoor scenics were actually shot in the Oregon Cascades. One scene has a great view of South Sister volcano.

• Nemesis

  -- 1992, starring Tim Thomerson and Deborah Shelton. The movie was shot in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

• Sliver

  -- 1992, staring Sharon Stone. Filmed at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

• Joe Versus the Volcano

  -- 1990, an adventure/comedy, rated PG, with Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Abe Vigoda. Joe Banks must jump willingly into a live volcano.

• Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

  -- 1987, staring Christopher Reeve (Superman/Clark Kent), Gene Hackman (Lex Luther), and Margot Kidder (Lois Lane). Inbetween fighting Nuclear Man, "Superman helps rebuild the Great Wall of China, save a crew of Soviet cosmonauts and stop up an erupting volcano." (The Washington Post, July 25, 1985)

• Warrior Queen

  -- 1987, a color film also known as "Pompeii".

• Black Widow

  -- 1986 (1987?), a thriller, with Debra Winger, Tom Berenger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey, and Dennis Hopper. Shot in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - has scenes of Pu'u O'o erupting.

• King Solomon's Mines

  -- 1985, with Sharon Stone and Richard Chanberlain. The characters search for a legendary African treasure and encounter cannibals, soldiers, and an erupting volcano.

• Under the Volcano

  -- 1984, Directed by John Huston. Popocatépetl and Ixtaccihuatl Volcanoes, Mexico.

• St. Helens

  -- 1981, with Art Carney, David Huffman, Tim Thomerson, and Cassie Yates. 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens.

• Continental Divide

  -- 1981, an American romantic comedy, produced by Steven Spielberg and staring John Belushi and Blair Brown. Scenes of Mount Rainier in the background.

  The Shining

  -- 1980, with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, directed by Stanley Kubrick. Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood, Oregon, was used for the exterior shots, with the interior scenes being shot on a specially built soundstage in London, England. According to the "Internet Movie Database" website (2004) "The management of the Timberline Lodge requested that Kubrick not use room 217 (as specified in the book), fearing that nobody would want to stay in that room ever again. Kubrick changed the script to use the nonexistent room number 237."

  When Time Ran Out

  -- 1980, with Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Veronica Hamel, Alex Karras, and James Franciscus. An oil driller leads a dash for high ground when time runs out on a resort island's dormant volcano. Includes scenes of Halemaumau, Hawai'i.

  Close Encounters of the Third Kind

  -- 1977, staring Richard Dryfuss and Teri Garr, movie was filmed at Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

  Volcano

  -- 1976, directed and narrated by Donald Brittain.

  The Godfather, Part II

  -- 1974, In a scene flashback to 1917, there is a play going on about immigration to America. The backdrop for one scene has the Statue of Liberty and New York City on the left, a large body of water in the center (Atlantic Ocean), and an erupting volcano on the right. Assuming this is depicting Sicily, could it possibly be Mount Etna ??? ... According to Simkin & Sieber, 1994, Volcanoes of the World, Mount Etna was erupting in 1912, 1913, and 1917.

  Lost Horizon

  -- 1973, remake of a 1937 film, this 1973 musical version stars Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, Sally Kellerman, George Kellerman, Michael York, and Olivia Hussey. Early scene shows Mount Baker, Washington, in the distance. Some filming was done at Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood, Oregon.

  Nippon chinbotsu (Tidal Wave)

  -- 1973, a Japanese Thriller involving earthquakes and volcanoes, staring Lorne Green, Keiju Kobayashi, and Rhonda Leigh Hopkins. Racked by earthquakes and volcanos, Japan is slowly sinking into the sea. A race against time and tide.

  Volcano

  -- 1973, a documentary

  Idaho Transfer

  -- 1972, staring Peter Fonda. Filmed at Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

  Easy Rider

  -- 1969, with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson. The movie was shot in Wupatki/Sunset Crater Volcano, Arizona.

  Krakatoa, East of Java

  -- 1968-69, a disaster film, a.k.a. Volcano, with Maximilian Shell, Diane Baker, Barbara Werle, John Leyton, Rossano Brazzi, Sal Mineo, and Victoria Young Received Academy Award Nomination (1969) for "Special Visual Effects". Interesting note - Krakatoa is actually WEST of Java.

  The Fear Chamber

  -- 1968, Sci-Fi/Horror movie featuring Brois Karloff as Dr. Carl Mandel. Theplot involves a living rock underneath a volcano

  Dr. Doolittle

  -- 1967, staring Rex Harrison. "Floating Island" has its very own smoking volcano.

  You Only Live Twice

  -- 1967, a James Bond movie staring Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, and Donald Pleasence. There is a secret rocket-launching base hidden inside an extinct volcano off Southern Japan.

  It Happened at the World's Fair

  -- 1963, An Elvis Presley movie in which Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World's Fair, plays a major role. Many views of Seattle, Washington. Views of Mount Rainier.

  Monster of the Volcano

  -- 1962, a Mexican black and white film, in Spanish. A yeti-like monster roams the mountains of rural Mexico.

  Mysterious Island

  -- 1961, a Sci-Fi/adventure film by Columbia Pictures. Based on a novel by Jules Verne, with Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill, and Herbert Lom as Captain Nemo. A volcano erupts destroying the island.

  The Devil at 4 O'Clock

  -- 1961, a black/white film by Columbia Pictures, starring Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracey. Two priests and 3 convicts try to evacuate a doomed volcanic island in the South Seas.

  Journey to the Center of the Earth

  -- 1959, starring James Mason, Pat Boone, and Diane Baker. by 20th Century Fox and High Productions. Scientists use a volcano in Iceland as their route for an expedition to the center of the earth. Also includes monsters and other hazards.

  Strategic Air Command

  -- 1955, starring James Stewart and June Allyson. Great footage of Mount Shasta in-the-background while in-air refueling.

  Drums of Tahiti

  -- 1954, starring Dennis O'Keefe and Patricia Medina. Taking place in 1877, plot contains gun-runners, sailing ships, hurricanes, restless natives, and restless volcanoes.

  Track of the Cat

  -- 1954, filmed at Mount Rainier National Park, although the movie setting is California. A family, trapped by snow, is up against a panther. Starring Theresa Wright, Beulah Bondi, Robert Mitchum and Tab Hunter.

  Fair Wind to Java

  -- 1953, starring Virginia Brissac and Fred MacMurray. Set in the Dutch East Indies at the end of the 19th century, an American merchant vessel is looking for a sunken Dutch vessel containing 10,000 diamonds, while on the nearby island of Krakatau, the volcano is preparing to erupt.

  Volcano

  -- 1953, a.k.a. Vulcano, an Italian film in black and white.

  Road to Bali

  -- 1952, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. An erupting volcano provides the finale to the script. Trivia note -- the volcano footage was taken from the 1941 production "Aloma of the South Seas", also starring Dorothy Lamour.

  Bend of the River

  -- 1952, starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, and Julia Adams, directed by Anthony Mann. Filmed in Oregon, with NUMEROUS views of Mount Hood.

  Hello Aloha

  -- 1952, a short 6-minute color animation staring Goofy, the tropics, and a volcano

  Bird of Paradise

  -- 1951, Same plot as the 1932 version, with a different means to get there. In this "remake", Andre Laurence (Louis Jourdan) accompanies his college roommate, Tenga (Jeff Chandler), back to Tenga's Polynesian island home. There, Andre, assumes the native life and, after many trials with the native customs and their suspicions, marries his friend's sister, Kalua (Debra Paget). Their marriage is barren of children. A final blow to Andre comes with the eruption of a volcano and island's holy man, The Kahuna (Maurice Schwartz), decides that the volcano can only be appeased with the sacrifice of Tenga.

  The Lost Volcano

  -- 1950, a black and white film produced by Monogram Pictures Corporation, with Johnny Sheffield, Donald Woods, and Marjorie Lord. There's a lost city hidden in the center of an active volcano, which is about to erupt.

  Cobra Woman

  -- 1944, a color film, produced by Universal Pictures [aka MCA/Universal Pictures], with Jon Hall, Sabu, Edgar Barrier, Mary Nash, Lois Collier, Samuel S. Hinds, Moroni Olsen, and Lon Chaney Jr. Island inhabitants are frequently sacrificed to an angry volcano god.

  Volcano

  -- 1942, an annimated short (8 min) color film produced by Fleischer Studies and Paramount Pictures, starring Bud Collyer as the voice of Clark Kent/Superman.

  Alona on the Sarong Seas

  -- 1942, a 7-minute black and white short animation involving Popeye and Bluto, Olive Oyl, and a local volcano. A spoof of the 1941 "Alona of the South Seas" starring Dorothy Lamour.

  Alona of the South Seas

  -- 1941, Paramount Pictures remake of the 1926 animation "Aloma of the South Seas". This 1941 film stars Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall. It is a South Seas epic which ends with the the local volcano erupting. Scenes from this movie were again used in the 1952 Bing Crosby/Bob Hope movie "The Road to Bali".

  One Million B.C.

  -- 1940, a black and white film produced by Hal Roach Studios, with Victor Mature, Carole Landis, and Lon Chaney Jr. A volcano erupts.

  Hawk of the Wilderness

  -- 1938, a black and white film. An expedition arrives on an uncharted jungle island to rescue the local natives, led by a jungle boy, from a volcano that is about to erupt.

  King Solomon's Mines

  -- 1937, the first movie version, starring Paul Robeson. The characters search for a legendary African treasure and encounter cannibals, soldiers, and an erupting volcano.

  Thin Ice

  -- 1937, "Thin Ice" was set in the Alps, but filming was done at Mount Rainier National Park. Starring Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power. Sonja plays a skating instructor at a Swiss hotel who falls in love with a guest, who is a secret, real life prince. Bad weather plagued "Thin Ice". The film people were stuck at Paradise for nine days before the weather cleared. But after a day it got stormy once more, and "the director sent everyone except a handful of cameramen back to Hollywood."

  Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island

  -- 1936, a black and white film produced by Republic Pictures, part of a 14-episode serial with George Chesebro, Mamo Clark, and George Cleveland. Includes spies, sabotage and an erupting volcano.

  The Great Air Mystery

  -- 1935, a black and white film produced by Universal, part of a 12-episode serial with Clark Williams, Noah Beery Jr., and Helen Brown. Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells, and time bombs.

  The Last Days of Pompeii

  -- 1935, an RKO Radio Pictures black/white film, starring Preston Foster, Halan Hale, and Basil Rathbone. Gladiators and and erupting Mount Vesuvius.

  Bird of Paradise

  -- 1932, Johnny Baker (Joel McCrae) falls overboard and is saved by Luana (Dolores Del Rio). Their love is thwarted when the local volcano erupts and local custom is to sacrifice a young woman to the volcano gods.

  The Mysterious Island

  -- 1929, based on the Jules Verne novel, this MGM part silent and part talking film stars Lionel Barrymore as a ruler of a volcanic island who is also a scientist who invents the submarine and a diving suit.

  The Trail of '98

  -- 1928, The Mount Rainier National Park Centennial information says this movie, about the Klondike Gold Rush, was filmed at Mount Rainier. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) however, says it was filmed in Alaska and Colorado. Directed by Clarence Brown and starring Ralph Forbes and Doloris Del Rio. One of the last epic silent films, MGM spared no expense and filmed largely on location. Although almost forgotten today, this is a wonderful movie full of romance and adventure. Its most famous scenes involve the hideous climb over Chilkoot Pass, which separated the disembarkation point of Skagway from the Yukon River, where the gold seekers had to build their own boats and run the rapids down to Dawson.

  Heart of the Yukon (working title: Raw Country)

  -- 1927, staring John Bowers, Anne Cornwall, and Edward Hearn ... filmed in Mount Rainier National Park. The film was shot in three weeks, with the first week on location about 1 mile from the Paradise Inn, Mount Rainier National Park. To get to the filming site, the crew motored as far as Narada Falls and then hiked to the Paradise Inn, using dog teams and sleds to transport props and film equipment. The remainder of the silent melodrama was shot at Weaver Productions studio in Tacoma, Washington. Distribution problems halted the release of the film until the summer of 1927. By that time, "talkies" were on their way and Weaver Studios was on its way out of business.

  Volcano

  -- 1926, a black and white film produced by Paramount Pictures, starring Bebe Daniels and Wallace Beery.

  Black Paradise

  -- 1926, In San Francisco, Sylvia Douglas (Madge Bellamy) and her fiancée, James Callahan (Leslie Fenton), a reformed crook, make their getaway after Jim, disgusted with his inability to find a job, un-reforms and steals a diamond necklace. Graham, a detective (Edmund Lowe), gives chase to a desolate island in the South Pacific where a rum-running gangster, Murdock (Edward Peil Sr.), holds him captive. Callahan becomes infatuated with a native girl, Leona (Marcella Daly), and Sylvia turns to Graham for protection against the offensive Murdock. A volcano eruption causes problems for all.

  The Lost World

  -- 1925, The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel "The Lost World", by director Harry O. Hoyt. At one point in the action-packed plot a volcano erupts causing a stampede of pre-historic creatures.

  Balto's Race to Nome

  -- 1925, filmed in Mount Rainier National Park. About the original dyptheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska, and the Iditerod Trail. Hollywood movie producer Sol Lesser, 30-minute silent film, "Balto's Race to Nome."

  The Golden Bed

  -- 1925, a silent, black and white film, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. While the story plot takes place in the Alps, filming was done in Mount Rainier National Park. An October storm took the great director and his crew by surprise, and they had to be rescued. Femme fatale Flora marries a titled European to save the family planation. Her husband and a rival fall to their deaths in a glacier. Starring Lillian Rich.

  Adventures of Tarzan

  -- 1921, a black and white film produced by: Numa Picture Corporation, with Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan and Louise Lorraine as Jane. A volcano splits the ground, dropping Tarzan into a pit.

  The Volcano

  -- 1919, a black and white silent movie directed by George Irving and starring Leah Baird.

  Kilauea: The Hawaiian Volcano

  -- 1918, a silent-movie documentary on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, 35 mm film, released December 29, 1918.

  The Wrath of the Gods

  -- 1914, a black and white silent film about the destruction of Sakura-Jima, Japan.

  The Last Days of Pompeii

  -- 1913, an Italian black/white silent film.

  
  

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