| Director | Roger Donaldson |
|---|---|
| Genre | action film, adventure film, disaster film, drama film |
| Runtime | 105 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $116 million |
| Box office | $178.2 million |
In 1993, USGS volcanologist Harry Dalton and his partner-turned-fiancée Marianne attempt to escape an ongoing eruption in Colombia. As they venture out, a lava bomb smashes through the roof of the truck, killing Marianne.
Four years later Harry is assigned by his superior, Dr. Paul Dreyfus, to investigate seismic activity near the town of Dante's Peak, Washington, which borders a stratovolcano. Harry meets Mayor Rachel Wando with her children, Graham and Lauren. Rachel offers to take Harry with them as they see her former mother-in-law Ruth, an elderly hermit who lives near the lake at the base of the volcano.
While exploring, they find dead trees, dead squirrels and a couple of tourists boiled to death in a hot spring. Harry stops Graham from jumping into the spring upon seeing the bodies. Harry instructs Paul to bring a USGS team to monitor the volcano, but their initial survey finds no indications of volcanic activity. Paul advises against Harry putting the town on alert. Still, Harry tries to convince Rachel to prepare for a disaster.
One day, Harry examines the summit's crater until a rock slide traps his co-worker Terry, causing him to suffer a broken leg. Both men are rescued by a helicopter. A week goes by with no volcanic activity Paul decides that their job is finished, and the USGS team prepares to leave. When Harry says goodbye to Rachel, they discover that the town's water supply has been contaminated with sulfur dioxide. The following day, seismic readings and sulfur levels rise dramatically. Convinced that the volcano will erupt and with the National Guard unavailable until the next day, Paul permits Harry to put the town on alert.
As a town meeting occurs at the high school, an earthquake strikes, and the eruption begins. Harry and Rachel retrieve the children, but they discover that they have gone to get Ruth, who refused to leave her home. Just as they reach the children and Ruth, a lava flow engulfs her cabin and destroys the vehicles both parties used to get there. The five attempt to flee across the lake in a motorboat, but sulfur-containing volcanic gases react with the lake water to make sulfuric acid, which destroys the motor and corrodes the boat's steel hull, sinking it just meters from the shoreline. Ruth jumps out of the boat to help it to shore, suffering fatal chemical burns in the process. After Ruth dies, Harry and the Wandos take a truck from the ranger's station to continue down the mountain and save Ruth's dog Roughy while crossing a lava flow.
Meanwhile, the National Guard helps the remaining townspeople and the USGS team evacuate. As they leave, a lahar created by the melting ice breaks the upstream dam. While the rest of the team makes it across, Paul and his van fail to clear the bridge before it is washed away by the flood, throwing Paul overboard to his death.
Harry and the Wandos arrive at the remains of the town. Harry retrieves a distress radio beacon from the USGS workshop and learns from a laptop that the volcano is due for one last eruption. The volcano then undergoes a cataclysmic lateral blast, triggering a pyroclastic flow which obliterates everything in its path. With no way out of town, Harry and the Wandos reach an abandoned mine where Graham likes to hang out. Watching the eruption from afar, the USGS team presumes Harry to be dead. Back inside the mine, Harry realizes he left the beacon in the truck. When he goes back for it, aftershocks cause rocks to fall. Harry suffers a broken arm and is trapped in the truck, but he still manages to activate the beacon.
Days later, Terry notices that the beacon has been activated, and the USGS dispatches search and rescue teams. Harry and the Wandos are freed from the mine, reunited with Harry's team, and airlifted out by helicopter. As the credits roll, the camera pans over to the volcano, showing its upper half has been reduced to a Mount St. Helens–like volcanic crater.