Smell the fish
Since January 14, local time, the submarine volcanoes of the South Pacific island country of Tonga have erupted several times and triggered tsunamis, affecting the entire Pacific region, and many countries have issued tsunami warnings one after another. As volcanic eruptions damaged submarine cables, the whole of Tonga was directly in a state of "disconnection".
According to New Zealand media reports, the scale of the eruption is very large, releasing energy equivalent to about 1,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs, and sonic booms can be heard as far away as Alaska. The ash column forms a mushroom cloud with a diameter of 5 kilometers and a height of 20,000 meters, which hangs over the volcano and is spectacular. According to preliminary investigation reports, houses in the coastal areas of Tonga were badly damaged, but there were no mass casualties.
Judging from the exposed satellite image, the intuitive visual impact of the volcanic eruption is tight to see. Some people have ridiculed the volcanic eruption as the earth's "popping", but the wound of this pox is unimaginably tragic. Volcanic eruptions are one of the most devastating disasters on Earth, with massive eruptions that turn day into night and release no less energy than nuclear explosions; toxic lava flows, gases and volcanic ash rush down thousands of miles.
We have no way of knowing what the people who lived on the island went through at the moment of the eruption, and what kind of life they lived and will face before and after. But over the past few decades, there have been many films and documentaries that, in their own ways, have unveiled the mystery of the volcano from the inside out. Rigorous recorders have combed through the history of volcanoes, deduced the life cycle of volcanoes, and visited dangerous situations. On this basis, the creators of the sky use science and technology and humanity to jointly build the strong and indomitable light of humanity in the picture of the end of the world. Although we must admit that in the face of real nature, everything is so small.
Below, we comb through several volcano-related films and documentaries to express our reverence for nature and our blessings to humanity.
【Movie】
"The World Is Falling Apart"
Director: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, etc
Date: February 7, 1997
Synopsis: Volcanologist Dr. Harry Dalton (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to a small town near the dormant volcano, passing by the shores of the hot spring lake, he notices that the lake is too acidic, and finds two cooked floating corpses. Harrington felt that the situation was not good, but his boss Paul thought he was overreacting, and the town council refused to issue an early warning for various interests. At night, the water in the town is suddenly polluted with sulfur, and the volcano has erupted irrepressibly...
The director of the film, Donaldson, who wanted to become a geologist and knew all about the dangers of volcanoes, thought it was a subject worth digging into because of the public's lack of awareness of the dangers of volcanoes.
The creators saw almost every volcanic literature, film, documentary and photograph they could find, and in order to create the largest and most realistic volcanic eruption scene in film history, in addition to hiring volcano experts who witnessed the Colombian volcanic eruption in the mid-1980s as consultants, the 180 sets of special effects shots in the film were all handled by the digital field special effects studio nominated for the Oscar for the filming of "Apollo 13".
In addition to the ultimate and concrete performance of the whole process of volcanic eruption, the film also pays attention to the brilliance and ugliness of human nature in the face of disaster. Although the story inevitably tends to be clichéd within the framework of disaster films, in the 1990s, the cooked couple and the fear of sulphuric acid lake have impressed many people who have seen it to this day.
"Molten City of Living Fire"
Director: Mick Jackson
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Hatcher, Gaby Hoffman, Don Chandel
Screening date: April 25, 1997
Synopsis: A major earthquake erupts a volcano hidden deep beneath Los Angeles, and hot magma flows into the densely populated areas of the City of Angels, and a tragedy of destruction is about to happen.
In 1997, two months after "The World Breaks", another movie about volcanic eruptions was released. "Molten City of Fire" does not express the struggle of human nature in the face of danger like most disaster movies, most of the characters are united against disasters, there is no villain with ulterior motives, there is no bad guy who puts everyone in crisis for their own selfish desires, and there is no bold mouse generation that is scared to escape in the face of disaster. When the catastrophe comes, people work together to resist natural disasters and work together to save lives and help the injured, which can be described as a considerable main theme.
It was a nice idea to let the volcano erupt in the heart of the city. The foot-to-head shot of a person standing alive in lava and being melted is also a classic performance in this type of disaster. As an American main theme blockbuster, the captain of the subway rescue team carries the wounded, steps on the magma, sacrifices himself, and saves others, or quite emotional and tear-inducing.
《2012》
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring John Cusack, Sandy Newton, Amanda Pitt and Chevat Edgar Ford, among others
Screening date: November 13, 2009
Synopsis:
Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) takes his children on vacation to Yellowstone National Park and meets Charlie by chance at a nearby camp. Charlie told him that due to the long-term predatory destruction of the natural environment and resources by human beings, the earth's own equilibrium system has faced collapse, and humanity is about to face unprecedented natural disasters. Sure enough, the next day, disaster struck. Strong earthquakes and huge volcanic eruptions have turned the familiar home in front of us into a hell on earth.
"2012" was the culmination of visual effects in the history of cinema at that time, it was not only a volcanic eruption, it was a catalytic instrument of disaster. California sinks into the sea, the USS Kennedy crashes into the White House, the Yellowstone Volcano erupts, the sea floods the Himalayas and several other big scenes, the audience knows what to see, but in the moment they see it, they will still be deeply shocked.
Since the main storyline takes place in Yellowstone, and if this veritable supervolcano erupts, people within a thousand kilometers will be wiped out, and three-quarters of the United States will be shrouded in volcanic ash, and in a few months, volcanic ash will envelop the entire earth. In the movie, the romantic imagination of the protagonist driving through the picture of the fireball in the sky should be the innocence and stubbornness of human beings.
"Sky Fire"
Director: Simon West
Starring: Wang Xuexi, Kunling, Dou Xiao, Ji Lingchen, etc
Date: December 12, 2019
Synopsis: The film tells the story of Xanadu Tianhuo Island, attracting a young geologist Li Xiaomeng (Kun Ling), who developed the first volcano monitoring system "Suzaku". Li Wentao (Wang Xuexi), a volcano expert who has been in hiding for many years, rushes to the crater after learning about it and tries to persuade her to leave. Meanwhile, adventure expert Zheng Nan (Dou Xiao) dives in a beautiful underwater cave and prepares to give his girlfriend JiaHui a romantic marriage proposal. The volcano erupted, and the fates of these people were intertwined.
Although it is a co-production, "Sky Fire" was also known as the first volcano-themed visual effects action-adventure film on the Chinese screen. Of the more than 2,000 shots in the film, special effects shots account for 80%, and it is said that 500 kilograms of explosives alone are consumed. It can also be regarded as a positive attempt by Chinese films in this genre.
However, such a "hardcore" special effects production can not brush the existence of the Heavenly King's sister-in-law Kunling in the end. From the dead idea of building a hotel on an active volcano, to the choice of various unreasonable character action lines in the face of disasters and the aura of the protagonist in general, to the insurance implantation advertisement with no sense of existence without dead angle brushing... Yes, this is a rotten film made up of capital that volcanic eruptions cannot save. Put it in this film list and be a wake-up call.
【Documentary】
Pompeii: The Latest Declassified (2016)
Pompeii is located about 240 kilometers from Rome, near Naples in southern Italy, 10 kilometers southeast of Mount Vesuvius, and was founded in the 4th century BC. In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted. Pompeii was thus submerged in volcanic ash and has since disappeared, and almost 20,000 people were buried in the city at that time.
In the documentary Pompeii: The Latest Declassified, food wreckage unearthed is thousands of years old, with bread and seafood. Huge amounts of corpses were dug up underground, the posture was frozen in the moment of death panic, some regrets not only had a twisted posture, but also a strange smile, a family of four came to the basement to take refuge, but could not escape the doom, the baby born only a few months, forever frozen in the mother's arm bend...
On the last day of the disaster in Pompeii, the birds and beasts were abnormal, but the life of Pompeii was still functioning normally, and it could be seen that the Pompeii people did not understand the harm caused by the volcano at that time, which would lead to the tragic situation of the volcanic eruption and destruction of a city.
The Power of the Earth (2007)
Published in 2007, this enduring BBC documentary has been at the top of the "Most Popular Documentaries List" for many years. The film is divided into five parts: volcanic eruptions, atmospheric currents, melting glaciers, ocean surges, and rare planets.
The opening chapter, "Volcanoes", completely changed the misunderstandings about the geography of volcanoes in the past. Regarding the volcano, it has always been considered extremely destructive. Volcanic lava of thousands of degrees Celsius, volcanic shells falling randomly from high altitudes, volcanic ash that fills the sky, and various toxic gases all have a devastating impact on the atmosphere, on the surface vegetation, and even on the surrounding residents. But in fact, volcanic eruptions have promoted the evolution of life on Earth from the perspective of geological history.
Scene after scene makes the viewer immersed, first-class visual effects, so that people can feel the hot whistling out of the volcano across the screen.
Mount Sofrey (1977)
In 1976, on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Mount Sofrey could erupt at any moment, and 70,000 people were evacuated. Herzog inadvertently saw the news: a farmer refused to evacuate. "A very different attitude toward death," he called a cameraman and boarded the plane two hours later.
After "Volcano Sofrey", the enthusiasm for mountains led Herzog to make a documentary about the volcano again. Compared to "Volcano Sofrey", "Deep into the Volcano" (also translated as "Into Hell") go to more places to explore the charm of different volcanoes. On Mount Eribers in Antarctica, German documentary filmmaker Herzog met a group of volcanologists. This active volcano is one of only three volcanoes in the world that can look directly into the underground magma. At an altitude of 3,810 meters, scientists showed him how to escape: in case of a sudden eruption, be sure to face the volcano and avoid it when the magma is about to fall in front of you. For Herzog, the natural world is a combination of threat and awe, and when he photographs violent volcanoes and intimidating landscapes, he connects nature to us with an endogenous poetry.
Deadly Volcano (2017)
Volcanoes are like the breath emitted by the earth, allowing us to truly feel the life and vitality of the earth. There are now more than 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth, and some supervolcanoes are accumulating strength in their slumber. For example, one of the deadliest volcanoes in the world, Krakatoa Volcano. More than 100 years ago, its devastating eruption caused it to disappear from the earth's surface. According to historical records, it exploded the loudest sound ever recorded and killed more than 3,636,000 people.
The astonishing energy of volcanic eruptions can swallow up vast amounts of life and property, and in this PBS documentary, from Greenland to Antarctica, scientists study the tragic volcanic eruptions in history and analyze whether the next catastrophe that turns summer into winter will come.
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Yan Zhang