Certainly is a Disaster
Anyone choosing to watch "Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York" must do so not because it is a disaster movie but in the knowledge it will be a disaster. And in that sense it doesn't let you down because it is as bad as you would imagine, cliche action, shoddy special effects and a camera man with a nervous tick, unfortunately it doesn't then take the leap in to become self aware and so fails to be entertaining for being bad. What does that mean well "Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York" is just a bad movie, a made for TV disaster movie which never gets interesting and in truth becomes more boring the longer it goes on.
Construction workers building new water channels deep beneath New York come into trouble when the cool water pipes start spraying scalding steam and head engineer Matt McLaughlin (Costas Mandylor - Sub Zero) spots lava oozing from a crack in a tunnel wall. Whilst no one believes what Matt says he saw none of them know that a mad scientist trying to tap into geo-thermal energy is drilling deep down and it is his experiment which is causing a volcano to form in New York. It is up to Matt and his team of sand hogs along with ex wife Sarah (Alexandra Paul - Dragnet) to try and save New York by stopping a volcano.
Yes that synopsis sounds incredibly far fetched and in some ways familiar because "Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York" is just another disaster movie which gives us a group of people, a mad scientist, a dodgy politician who is trying to get rich oh and of course a disaster. In fact some of "Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York" feels like a copy of "Volcano" as we have people being killed by the sulphurous gas being let off from the magma. But what this basically means is that this is text book, one man who no one believes, the desperate attempt to prove the city is in danger and finally the attempt to save the city before it is too late.
This is where "Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York" is a real let down although strangely a predictable let down. What I mean is that for a TV movie you know that the budget is limited but with over the first two thirds devoted to Matt trying to convince others of impending doom you wonder whether we will get any action and danger from Matt and his guys trying to stop a volcano. And when it finally gets to saving the city it is visually poor, although surprisingly not as poor as watching lava tumble out a man's front door as if it had been an over full cupboard. That is not the worst of it and a series of gags about a man fishing are terrible.
Is there anything which redeems "Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York", in truth no because the characters are dull and mostly anonymous. I suppose watching Costas Mandylor delivering almost a Sylvester Stallone good guy performance is entertaining and Alexandra Paul always makes me smile, often for the wrong reasons but there really is nothing.
What this all boils down to is that "Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York" is not a disaster movie just a movie disaster and there is nothing which could make me recommend it even for those who are accustomed to the weakness of TV disaster movies. It wouldn't be so bad if it had crossed the line and become so bad it was entertaining but it can't even do that.
