I know that the word 'underrated' is thrown around a lot, but I just finished watching Dante's Peak. I had seen it before as a kid, and really enjoyed it. But I hadn't watched it in a very long time (20+ years).
Dante's Peak came out in 1997, and is a top notch set piece. The problem is one of the greatest disaster set pieces of all time, even to date, came out in 1997. The sinking 'scene' (entire latter half of the movie) on board a single vessel, the ship, has some of the most spectacular sets I have ever seen from Hollywood, eclipsed probably only by the LOTR trilogy and Harry Potter.
So, Dante's Peak pales in comparison. and was released 6 months before Titanic. That's bad timing for a disaster flick.
But, for the same reason Titanic is enjoyable to so many people (it's old enough now that it's okay to admit again that you liked it lol), so is Dante's Peak. Popular and attractive stars (Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton. Like come on.), big thing go boom (an entire mountain!), $$$$$$$, and damn good popcorn entertainment. Titanic is a clearly "better film", but just like not every book you read needs to be soaked in its own allegorical masturbation juices, not every film needs to be an A+. Then A+ wouldn't be special.
Movies are always reviewed with other films in mind. This happens when a year receives a slew of similar films. Dante's Peak is NOT as good as Titanic, and when compared side by side, it's more clear. One of the complaints is how slow Dante's Peak starts, but I disagree and I think the movie was very adept at having the eruption take you by surprise when it starts, and then it REALLY starts.
The set pieces are what truly make this fun to watch. The final hour is director who made lego houses only to destroy them with fake alien attacks as a kid, and was just giving millions of dollars to do it on a bigger scale. The final hour doesn't disappoint. Incredible amount of cliches in a short span of time, but instead of groaning and turning off the movie, groan and laugh. It's probably unintentional but I find Dante's Peak to disaster movies as Scream is to horror. The line between parody and just cliche is blurred, but it still makes for a damn enjoyable flake.
"You think we're gonna leave and miss God's big show?" Come on. What a line.
So, in sum, if you need a popcorn flick, Dante's Peak destroys a town with lava. A+.
Edit: so yes, when I saw underrated, I genuinely mean it needs a higher score than 42 on MetaCritic.