Ellyna I really wish "real" disaster movies like Dante's Peak, Volcano e.t.c would be more like this - and this was supposed to be a documentary/movie combination. Awesome special effects, especially the victims being burned by the pyroclastic cloud. The acting was superb!The only thing that didn't look "good" was when the Captain saved the ship by "riding" the Tsunami. I'm quite sure that's now what really happened without the boat "falling over" or breaking in half, it just looked... unbelievable. I guess they went with a "special effects" bravery scene, since this movie was already heavy on special effects. There's also a scene where two men tie themselves to a pole to survive a tsunami flood, which also looked a bit fake.

artwk I taped this long-winded docu-drama, and intended to watch it right through. I found much of it moderately interesting, but unfortunately the black-and-white footage of eruptions did not sit well with the technicolor narrative. Was this old footage from the 1930s? If so, why didn't the producers bother to use computer technology to add some colour?The first action sequence leading up to the tsunami was marred by the waving about of a hand-held camera. This amateurish attempt at realism never, repeat NEVER, approximates to real-life vision, as our eyes flick from one focus to another. They don't pan across a scene, blurring everything in sight.I struggled on until the ridiculous scene of the ship riding the slow-moving giant wave. This was utter nonsense. A tsunami wave travels at several HUNDRED miles an hour, and over deep ocean is very very very long but quite low in profile. It is only when it approaches land and shallow water that it becomes a high wave. The depiction of the ship somehow remaining on the 45 degree slope of water with its bow pointing up at the sky, without sliding back, was so ludicrous that I gave up and switched off.

mram16 A fact-based account of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait near Java, an Indonesian island. The eruption and its effects (including tsunamis and a super-hot ash cloud) took over 36,000 lives. The story follows several characters throughout the ordeal, including a Dutch official, his family, and his native clerk; a ship captain, his passengers and crew; a lighthouse keeper and his family; and a Dutch scientist in Indonesia to study the regions volcanoes. Included are narrations from diaries and journals of the survivors. The special effects are pretty good for a film of its kind, and unlike most made-for-TV fare, this docudrama actually has some good acting.

mechanoman I've just watched the American release of this movie ("Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction") on the Discovery Channel. Another reviewer commented on the visuals. I agree with him. All the scenes of the volcano, eruptions, ash, fire, pyroclastic clouds and tidal waves looked very convincing. In fact, I really found myself wondering how they did it. The stories chosen to dramatize this historical event, of real people who lived through the disaster, were well told and interesting. Semi-documentary in style, this TV movie manages to weave in a lot of scientific fact along with the history and drama. I was riveted to my TV. Another well done to BBC.