Lava Storm (2008 TV Movie) User Reviews (26)

Dullest disaster movie ever

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 3 April 2015]

This is poor, even by the standards of a typical Asylum or SyFy Channel disaster flick. The problem with LAVA STORM isn't with the nonsensical storyline or the bad acting - hell, we expect both of those, some of us EMBRACE them - but it's with the almost entire lack of incident. A lava storm threatens to engulf a US city, and it's up to a dedicated team of scientists and researchers to stop it. Aside from a ridiculous climactic 'blow up the dam' set-piece, nothing happens here.

A bunch of characters end up getting trapped underground so have to navigate subterranean passages for what seems like hours on end. The po-faced protagonist must race to stop things above ground, but his journey is so dull that the film-makers are forced to insert lots of stock footage of lava into their movie to try to make it interesting. There are the requisite CGI shots as well and yes, they're very poor.

It's hard to believe that SHARKNADO was a step up for actor Ian Ziering but after seeing his efforts in this mess that's the honest truth. There are no other familiar faces, and why an annoying teenage daughter was added to the character list I don't know; it just makes LAVA STORM all the worse. Dull, dull, dull, and one to avoid even for FANS of this genre.

So so bad...

[critic2000-479-96373 · 2/10 · 17 September 2012]

I know, I know... Then why did I watch it? Well I'm a sucker for disaster movies so the name in itself drew me in, then of course I recognized the lead. Ian Ziering. Back in the day I liked Ian Ziering on 90210 so figured I had nothing else to watch so why not? All I have to say is you know a movie is bad when the director pulls out all the stops to try and improve the story by using every camera angle and trick in the book. Sadly, it just makes it look like a film student playing at being a director and does nothing to improve such a poorly written story. What you end up with is lame, predictable and something hardly watchable.

One of the worst...

[mustang5201 · 2/10 · 28 July 2016]

This is one of the worst movies I have ever watched. I have seen almost every disaster movie created. From SyFy TV movies, to major blockbusters, to everything from the Asylum, I really don't think any of them are as bad as this. I only watched it because I like Ian Ziering. But it just wasn't worth wasting 2 hours of my life. The plot was horrible. It made no sense. Lava every where, apparently all over the world, but no explanation as to why. The acting is horrible, some of the worst ever. The graphics are equally bad. I have to wonder who wrote this and why. The flashback scenes were not only horribly done but unnecessary. The whole movie just made no sense. That's all I can really say about it. It made no sense! Don't waste your time. It's not even worth a watch to laugh at. Luckily Ian Ziering is doing better now. And yes shark movies are better than this abomination.

Even my 13 yr old niece could see massive plot holes!

[pixiedaisy · 1/10 · 12 April 2009]

I don't usually comment, but this one outdid itself for ignorance. SPOILERS:

1. tying a tourniquet below a wound doesn't make sense... even for the untrained person, any idiot knows that wounds need to have the flow of blood staunched. 2. how people can get their feet stuck when their body has managed go through a tunnel is beyond me. 3. best idea ever... blow up a dam with your son standing at the bottom of it...

This movie is pathetic in everything it attempts to do... it won't bring families closer together, no one in their right mind would hand an avalanche bazooka to a teenager with a chip on their shoulder, and 4 shells when you mess up two means that there is a lot of Hollywood fairy dust sprinkled liberally to make it split "just so"

so let me get this straight... these are the last 5 people on earth? if so, it's a sad, strange, lonely world.

when a 13 yr old says "oh come on" you know it's pretty bad.

Possibly the worst movie i've ever seen

[alexjbab · 1/10 · 2 January 2010]

Its like a car crash, it is so terrible that you just can't look away. It was nearly 2 hours that i will never get back. The constant negative attitude of the daughter just made me want to slap her. There is no way they should even be alive with all the waiting around and slow moving that they all do. I just don't see how the actors could have looked at the script and agreed to do this movie. It is like an even more terrible version of Dante's Peak, and that was a bad movie, and the little blurb at the the end of the movie saying its based on what could really happen just makes it all that much better. If that boy put his hat on and off one more time I would have jumped off the nearest cliff. I'd love to know how the avalanche blaster survived in that building when the rest of it was totally destroyed by fire. All of the photo flashbacks were a pointless waste of time. The fact that these people never once hurried to do anything, even though lava was rushing at them at unrealistic speeds, just about made me lose my mind. It's also amazing that all those lava meteors that were crashing around them never managed to blow up their truck. It was all TERRIBLE.

A very, very terrible film.

[aliway · 1/10 · 23 July 2010]

I really don't know what to say, apart from repeating the summary.

First of all, the bit at the end saying the film's events could happen, now, I'm not an expert, but I find it hard to believe one volcano going off could destroy the world. That segment didn't even try to make me believe, more telling me off than reasoning.

Then we have so many boring scenes. The photograph montage, the looking at each other for a few minutes without saying anything, a scene of them driving, these are just a few of them.

And there's very bad special effects, for example a very fake dam, and they couldn't even be bothered to show us the house exploding properly, just in a reflection. Also, when lava hits the bottom of the house, it does not cause the top of it to explode it seconds. It may rupture a gas pipe and cause the whole house to explode, but not the top.

Also, where the Hell is everyone? We see a town but apparently only 7 people live there; the five family members and the two dead people at the start.

Speaking of which, the son and daughter. Now, I was glad to find they were step-related after what I saw, but it was still creepy when they referred to each other as blood related, for example 'sis', it's just creepy!

But you can't blame the actors, they did the best of their situation. With the exception of Valérie Valois since she appeared to lose it at the end. Seriously, there was one point where everyone else in the scene had an expression of, what's the word, worried anticipation, cut to Valois' blank expression, before thinking 'oh yeah, need emotion here'.

So many bad things I want to talk about but thankfully the memory of the film is leaving my mind. Seriously people, unless every single other channel out there is just static, and only this was on, go read a book.

And on a final note, this film tells us that the best place to blow up a dam with a rocket launcher (don't ask me where it came from, I blanked out), is at the bottom.

It was quite bad

[qdixon-649-71792 · 1/10 · 9 April 2010]

Story and writing was horrible...Where on earth do you have relationships as depicted in this story. The acting seemed delayed and unresponsive in many parts as if the actors lost touch with the storyline... I wish more writers and directors would use facts and consult experts. The main problem with movies like this is that money takes priority over quality...

I don't blame the actors in this but they did what they could with a bad script.

I guess that is what you get when you have a first time director and an executive producer who is also the writer.

Words of advise to the public, don't waste your time with this film.

To the actors - choose your scripts, directors and producers more carefully.

Absolute Worst Ever~!!!

[oneshot-7 · 1/10 · 16 August 2008]

This was a total waste of my time...it's almost 2 hours of my life that God will never let me have back~! Our regular blend of horrific Canadian acting and bad FX~! But as an even worse ache in my lower intestine was the script and directing...imagine a town where absolutely nobody else comes into contact with anyone other than the main characters~! Imagine a time when a volcanic eruption doesn't attract the help and aid of emergency services across the country or even from another country~! Someone should have done something to at the very least make this script some what believable.... It's only use I can see would be a painful wipe when I run out of toilet tissue~!

Bad even for a TV movie!!!!!!!

[tsushoboy · 1/10 · 31 January 2009]

I gave this movie a chance, because I am a sucker for disaster movies. I am sorry to say that I should have passed on this one. Right off the bat the relationship with the brother and sister is so stiff and forced that you wonder if these two even said hello to each other before shooting. The mother and father have a little better on screen chemistry but divorce is thrown up in bro and sis's convo's that you know something is wrong. That is all you ever find out that something is wrong never what it is, so you don't ever feel a connection with either one. The Grandpa is about as useless as any character has ever been, to the point of being a comical side kick. The constant back flashes with pictures were a good idea, but utilized for story it was not. It was the characters in Walmart poses and cheap photo tricks that added not one thing to the movie except filler. I have seen better sfx on the side of cereal boxes, and emotions do not flare in this movie. The teenage boy and girl find their friends dead that they react as if finding a piece of trash on the side of the road. This movie should have been called " The world without tears" In my world it bored me to tears

An atrocious movie and one with no redeeming values

[TheLittleSongbird · 1/10 · 3 May 2014]

Even if a movie is bad, usually disaster or creature movies, you can still see if you get any entertainment value even if unintentional. There are movies out there that are not believable for a second and are too inept to really enjoy or get sucked in, and Lava Storm is one of them and of the worst kind. Visually Lava Storm is very choppy especially in the editing and the drab look of the production is not appealing at all. Likewise with the substandard at best special effects, the worst of them are an insult to the term amateurish. Yes, it is low budget but that doesn't excuse the quality being as poor as it is here. The music has no energy or intensity, it's completely lifeless with sluggish tempos, intrusive orchestration and misplacement (parts having music that jars with the mood) throughout. The direction is sloppy with no character or enthusiasm, not sure whether to put it down to inexperience or just plain amateurism and lack of enthusiasm. The acting is universally bad, especially from Ian Ziering who is wooden and annoying. Vlasta Vrana has been decent before but here gives a performance that is one-note and with no subtlety of any kind. The characters range from obnoxious to cardboard ciphers complete with relationships between them being constantly forced and awkwardly played, at no point do we relate to them and we end up being infuriated with them instead due to the stupid things and decisions they do and make. The writing is the worst culprit here, the dialogue is stiff, underwritten and cheesy as well as delivered to the extent that you can't take it seriously. In short the script is so bad that it makes the toes curl, some of the worst dialogue I've heard in a while. The story falls into ridiculousness (with continuity errors and holes so numerous it'd fill a book equalling the length of the longest Stephen King novel) and ham-fisted melodrama far too much and has a complete lack of suspense and thrills. Don't expect to be entertained, moved or biting your nails, you won't find any of that in Lava Storm, any emotions you'll most likely have are annoyance and anger. The constant going-through-the-motions quality in the production and performances is a major part of why, nobody seems to be aware or bothered about what's happening to them, if they have that whatever quality to them the viewer will certainly be like that too. To conclude, Lava Storm was truly atrocious with not one shred of a redeeming quality, and this is coming from somebody who nearly always look out for and points out redeeming qualities in bad movies. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Good movie

[samoil99 · 10/10 · 29 July 2010]

I'm very skeptical of disaster movies. Since this is an independent low budget movie I wanted to give it a try. And I'l glad I did because I really enjoyed it. I'm glad to see an action/disaster movie where the main characters are actually human with real emotions and problems. I was glad to see an actual plot under all the noise, the fire and the explosions. My experience with disaster movies is that they are usually cheap, with no plot and macho super men. The plot is always the same, so if you see one you've seen them all. But this movie was different. The female characters were strong and equal to the man. Unlike the standard disaster/action movies where the women are usually brainless bimbos with big breast that are saved by the male hero. Good job.

A waste of 2 hours

[john-4316 · 1/10 · 29 November 2010]

Nothing I could write could spoil this movie. The filmmakers and writers have already done that simply by making this horrible movie. Obviously the writer did not pass a 5th grade science class yet at the end of the movie they have the nerve to leave an "Ecological" message based on fact. Something about how this has happened in the pass and drilling may cause lava flows in the future.

This is idiotic as the deep well oil drilling is at 3-4 miles. The earth's crust runs from 15 – 40 miles thick. There is nothing man could due including use of nuclear weapons to cause lava to flow in this manner. They try to blow up a dam with a RPG which is impossible, and they are standing directly below the damn in the stream bed when they try to do it. I kept telling myself it only a movie. But it's a movie that is not even based in possible realm of reality. Don't waste 2 hours of your life skip this one.

So bad it is almost good

[tim-howley-678-582063 · 1/10 · 26 July 2010]

This is without doubt the worst of all the disaster/monster movies that are showing on cable at the moment. This makes Megashark v Giant Octopus look good, it even makes Komodo v King Cobra look like Oscar material. I am sure that all the actors (not that they were doing much of that) have conveniently erased this entry from their filmography. I didn't think Ian Ziering could cap his abysmally poor performance in Beverly Hills 90210 but he managed it. I gave it 1 out of 10 only because there is no option for a zero. Oh, and whoever ognena is, who gave the 2008 review for the film, he/she must be involved in it somewhere because he/she cannot possibly believe what he/she is writing.

Ugh

[linkev2764 · 1/10 · 9 August 2020]

One of the stupidest. lamest movies I have ever seen. Not even a place for inadvertent humor, nothing.. Depressing. It's weird it's so bad....

really wanted to like it but too annoying

[gracechocolateland · 1/10 · 21 July 2017]

I love disaster movies where people overcome the odds but here, to my dismay they were just stupid. I know its the script they are following but again (spoiler to come) i cringed when they locked themselves in an airtight basement, didn't check that the carbon dioxide remover machine worked first before falling fast asleep. Then when one of them woke up gasping (well little coughs) for breath, did she open the door to allow air in, which she clearly had the time and energy to do this because she spent time trying to wake the others up, then the old man says someot like we've gotta get out of here, so does she open the door? No. She tries wakes the other up then when she cant she falls asleep. She had plenty of time to open the door. Stupid script & effects.

Ridiculously Bad

[ROCKAFELLA71 · 2/10 · 22 May 2020]

Ok, I've seen some bad B Movies but this one here.... The story itself is just not good which is normal for most disaster movies but couple that with a bad script, longer than should be scenes, adult combative at the worst possible time, annoying teanagers who act like little kids. How many times can the mother get stuck before she stops climbing through mines, do you really think it's a good idea to stand in front of a damn you are trying to destroy with your son by your side, and you out run the water huh???. By the way in less the two minutes the son tells his father to piss off then says he wants to go with the only man he truly respects...his father. This movie smh...I'll never get that time back.

Worst film ever

[clairefinlay-16131 · 2/10 · 8 December 2019]

Don't waste ur time with this movie, it's a load of rubbish. The acting and effects are really bad and at some points the camera won't stop shacking. This is what u call a cheap film. This is as bad as sharknado.

natural disaster as a metaphor for a family coming apart

[ognena · 2 April 2008]

Lava Storm uses the lava storm as a metaphor for a family on a brink of destruction. The insightful dialog references the underlining problem well. The disaster makes the family members regain the trust and care for each other.

Great application of HD cinematography. The accomplished depth of field, contrast and application of multiple shades of warm colors indicate mastership on the cinematographer's side.

Cute and compelling cast. Ian and Valerie make a seductive couple. The locations and visual effects work well to depict the disaster. The visuals are nothing short of ones seen in big blockbuster movies depicting similar situations. It's great to see how much can be done on a 100 times lesser budget. If you are into the genre but also appreciate good plot, I recommend this movie.

Not really worth the time or effort...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 28 January 2020]

Granted, I didn't have much of any high expectations to the 2008 movie "Lava Storm" when I sat down to watch it here in 2020. In fact, I hadn't even heard of the movie. And given the synopsis, then chances were high that this was going to be another low budget disaster movie with a predictable plot and questionable CGI effect.

Turns out that it was exactly that. The plot and storyline was so generic that it was essentially pointless and non-existing. A volcanic eruption destroys an American city and it is up to the 5 members of a single local family to stop the forces of nature and put an end to the destruction. Questionable? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Predictable? Yes. This was as generic as it could possibly be. And you knew the outcome of the movie even before it started.

As for the special effects, well it was a combination of stock footage from what I assume was documentaries and some laughable CGI effects, which hardly fooled anyone into believing them to be real. And I loved the fact that they used footage of an ocean brushing against molten lava rock when the dam burst. If a dam bursts, the water flows continuously, and it doesn't ebb and flow. It was just so stupid. The props and sets were equally questionable as the special effects.

The acting in the movie was as you'd expect from a movie such as this. But people actually did fairly with their performances, given the fact that they had next to nothing to work with.

If you enjoy disaster movies, you shouldn't be wasting your time with "Lava Storm". Some of us suffered through it, so you don't have to.

I am rating "Lava Storm" a generous two out of ten stars.

When viewed as a stage play

[lowlanderr · 9/10 · 15 July 2019]

It's actually really quite decent if you don't think of it in blockbuster terms. As compared to a lot of films in the genre. You only have to think of it as something so far off a broadway play you're practically in Miami, and it's pretty good. You got your limited number of actors and scenery. But it's better than on a stage. And they chose to use decent quality stock footage instead of bad cgi. This type of zero pretentiousness is a fresh breath honestly.

Just don't do it too often...

Zero stars for the first half...

[bitbucketchip · 5/10 · 6 October 2021]

...ten stars for the second half? I don't know, I turned it off. Everything about this movie was substandard. The acting, in particular, was hopeless. As was the shaky cam. If no one is moving the camera shouldn't shake. Period. The script made no sense. The wife arranges to have divorce papers sent right over, hangs up, and smiles warmly as her husband comes in. What? The teenage boy and girl find their love interests dead and ignore them to hold a conversation. What? The kids make panicked phone calls to their parents for help, who hang up and discuss a remote forest fire. What? That's just the first few minutes.

Zero stars for the first half. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and ten stars for the half I didn't watch. Five stars.

lol..lame

[boob_luver · 16 August 2013]

Every now and then i see it on TV..I actually worked in transport dept of that move and i must say i met some good folk..A friend of mine who worked on it as well called me as a last min replacement,god luv here to..I had fun doin it.. Only got near ian zearing and he was a pompus ass just like he is on every other TV show and d rated movie..I said hello to him face to face and he just shrugged up his nose and brushed past me.. Oh yeah,the movie pppfffttt i just watched it to see the credits at the end and if anyone from the business/finance dept of this movie ever sees this "I STILL NEVER GOT PAID FOR MY TIME" Funny how they had my ph# twice to call me plus my info on paper work i filled out for them PLUS they knew who contacted me to work the movie but still forgot to pay me... Guess some of the upper management had to have their cozy cabins with assorted non legal adult enjoyment rather than pay at least this worker... Justto add salt(no pun) to ians work,that sharknado sucked to..

Held My Attention Sometimes

[ritasbailey · 3/10 · 4 September 2022]

(Spoiler alerts) Lori and John had chemistry. I've never seen such affection from a couple teetering on divorce. The daughter's attitude grated on my nerves, but the son was pretty cool. They gave the grandpa a solid role. The odds of carbon monoxide poisoning in the bomb shelter were preposterous. To leave the windows open in the truck during ash storm and to walk around without masks were oversights. For the daughter to race to and from the opening of the crawl space and not just carry her bag with her was not smart. And after letting the women and grandpa crawl in the mine for safety but letting the two guys waltz in from the other direction was lame. The special effects were cgi. Were the sporadic fired from lava gases? Did the rest of the town fry? The computer emergency software showed a global problem but the script at the end showed only North America.

Didn't try hard enough to make the movie worth it

[heatherndvntadmn · 2/10 · 9 January 2023]

The entire city is on fire and burning from the ground up...and they are upset that their son is smoking cigs. LET ALONE they never told anyone about the fires, lava or about the two dead teenagers. The town was screwed from the get-go with this family of CEC. 😑

There is a reason why IMDb gives this movie a 2.6/10 and Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 31%.

They stripped video footage of real-life explosions and eruptions and placed the footage randomly throughout the movie to show the 'movement' of the lava without really having the lava be a part of the main plot.

The underlining theme was about sticking together and relying on family the work together and get stronger...I get that they were trying to use the 'disaster' to bring them all together. But the 'disaster' wasn't even placed in the forefront of movie.

The plot for this movie is almost non-existent...like the families concern for the lives of others outside of their family.

The family would just suddenly stop in the middle of finally realizing that what is going on is serious to 'open up' and to 'talk things out' as if they were such a broken family.

The parents came off as selfish in their hopes to just try and 'figure whats going on' without calling in the National Guard, Government or just the Fire Department to help put out the forest fires (which were completely forgotten about 30 minutes into the movie).

To be honest, I had hopes that maybe the Director was just weak in their hook in the beginning of the movie and maybe once the volcano started up, things would get more interesting. I fast-forwarded through at least 80% of the movie and I can honestly say that I didn't miss anything and I still feel like I wasted my time watching this movie.

I feel like they were trying to pull some 'inspiration' from "Dante's Peak" and failed miserably!

Worth seeing

[dona-gray · 8/10 · 29 July 2010]

Who would think? A disaster indie movie competing with the big multi million budget movies studio? It's definitely a bold step to take. Unlike many plot less studio disaster movies,this film actually had a decent plot. I cared about the characters and the characters cared about each other. And I'm not talking only about a sexual interest here. The special effects are quite good and believable, the acting is little uneven but fine. I was impressed by the old man. He really did a great job.

If you're used to the usual plot less, testosterone, studio studio action movie, you may not like this movie. But if you have an open mind, and you like to see something different and unexpected this movie is for you.