Great Film overall

Excellent but underrated film

best movie i've ever seen.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This movie purports to be a true story, but other than some geographic references, it is true only in that Mount St. Helens erupted violently and two of the fatalities. While the differing perspectives of innkeeper Harry Truman and geologist David Johnston on the peril posed by the volcano could have made for a compelling human interest drama; but while the acting is generally acceptable, this isn't it. The special effects are laughably cheesy, even given the state of the art in 1981, and the music is screwy. Much of the geologic phenomena that the movie associates with the eruptions are pure fantasy, and the sequence of the eruptive events before the final blast is entirely wrong. The actions of the local logging industry as conditions became more dangerous are misrepresented, as is the response in towns affected by ashfall. The climactic line of the movie is yelled without any context to indicate what the actor is talking about. As someone who has studied the events at Mt. St. Helens, the only way I would recommend this fiasco is to fans of Art Carney, who valiantly tries to carry the film. The stock footage of the St. Helens eruption is better seen in a context that rightly explains the eruption, rather than exploiting it in such absurd terms.

Renegade geologist David Jackson (an excellent and engaging performance by David Houffman) tries to warn people about the impending eruption of the volcano Mt. St. Helens while crusty and stubborn old-timer Harry Truman (a wonderfully ornery portrayal by Art Carney) refuses to leave his lodge home despite the fact that he lives in the immediate proximity of the volcano. Director Ernest Pintoff, working from an absorbing script by Larry Ferguson and Peter Bellwood, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, ably creates and sustains an ominous atmosphere of slowly mounting dread, and presents believable characters who are firmly grounded in a totally plausible everyday reality. This movie further benefits from sound acting by a top-drawer cast: Carney and Huffman excel in the lead roles, with bang-up support from Cassie Yates as the sweet Linda Steele, Albert Salmi as mean and greedy local mill boss Clyde Whittacker, Ron O'Neal as tough Vietnam vet helicopter pilot Otis Kaylor, Tim Thomerson as the amiable Sheriff Wayne Temple, Bill McKinney as belligerent lumberjack Kilpatrick, and Henry Darrow as arrogant scientist Lloyd Wagner. The climactic eruption is genuinely exciting and makes effective use of actual newsreel footage. Jacques Haitkin's striking cinematography offers plenty of breathtaking aerial shots and equally stunning panoramic depictions of the ripely verdant sylvan landscape. The shivery score by Goblin does the shuddery trick. Only some shoddy optical special effects of the deadly billowing clouds of volcanic ash fail to impress. A worthwhile and enjoyable picture.

This film is pretty good for emotion and drama. I've been to St. Helens and love the region. It's largely grown back and is green and fertile again, dominated by the stark gray gutted monolith of the mountain. In a way, it's a tombstone of granite and pumice, still steaming and hot despite more than two decades of slumber. Very somber and impressive sight. I liked the movie the first time I saw it probably about 20 years ago on TV. It was cut a bit for commercials so I probably saw about 75 minutes so there were a few plot holes, but nothing to worry about. After all, it's a fictionalized docudrama. The only real characters? Harry Truman (Carney in a real departure from Ed Norton), the crusty old soldier who won't do what he don't want to. He's earned the right to die on his own land. And David Jackson (Huffman) who is based on the late David Johnston who died on the mountain in the eruption. He's portrayed as the antithesis of Truman, a calm dreamer who hates stupidity and bureaucracy (one and the same) in the local businessmen and NGS officials. He and Harry hit it off despite their differences and find common ground in the love of the mountain about to destroy everything. I rather liked Tim Thomerson, the sheriff, who's out of his usual stand-up routine but a 'stand up guy' in the local community, as he tries to keep peace as the drama unfolds. The Huffman/Yates love interest? Probably untrue, and in my opinion, unnecessary in the film. A bit of country-western 'local yokels' in the bar, getting to know one another is a decent way of helping us like the town and the folks, but one wonder something. For instance, why does Cassie Yates and her son, who have a car, get a helicopter ride out of danger? And when the news report of the eruption comes on, the first thing they say is that Harry Truman was at his lodge and David Jackson, the 'Young Geologist' was on the face of the mountain when it erupted. Fast work. The end theme, "Here's to You, Harry Truman," is a pretty good ballad, and catchy, even if old Harry himself would probably have scoffed at the overly maudlin lyrics. "Sounds like pigs being murdered." The film of the eruption and the later destruction are impressive and gut-wrenching. It was a huge disaster which flattened thousands of acres of forest and wilderness. Yet, if you go up to St. Helens, the thing you'll be most surprised by is the roadside attractions. "ST. HELENS: FEEL THE ERUPTION! EXPERIENCE THE DESTRUCTION, THE QUAKE, THE POWER, from the comfort of a chair. All over the place, you can see movies, buy lava chunks and explore houses buried under ash. What a country.

The movie St. Helens was a bit slow, especially how the film was drawing up the timelines. Simply I knew what I was waiting for during the whole time was May 18, 1980 at 8:32 a.m. for the "big explosion." Needless to say, the film was a bit dull but that is almost an unfair comparison when its compared to witnessing Mt. St. Helens unleash her fury in real life. What mountain is next?