Joe Versus the Volcano
An average Joe. An adventurous comedy.
1990 | 102m | English
Popularity: 1 (history)
| Director: | John Patrick Shanley |
|---|---|
| Writer: | John Patrick Shanley |
| Staring: |
| Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor. | |
| Release Date: | Mar 09, 1990 |
|---|---|
| Director: | John Patrick Shanley |
| Writer: | John Patrick Shanley |
| Genres: | Comedy, Romance |
| Keywords | terminal illness, escape, orange soda, barefoot female |
| Production Companies | Amblin Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $39,400,000
Budget: $25,000,000 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 04, 2026 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
![Joe versus the Volcano (1990) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]](/extra_thumbs/Rqwz4LA_asM.jpg)
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Tom Hanks | Joe Banks |
| Meg Ryan | DeDe / Angelica / Patricia Graynamore |
| Lloyd Bridges | Samuel Harvey Graynamore |
| Dan Hedaya | Frank Waturi |
| Ossie Davis | Marshall |
| Barry McGovern | Luggage Salesman |
| Robert Stack | Dr. Ellison |
| Amanda Plummer | Dagmar |
| Lala Sloatman | Waitress |
| Abe Vigoda | Chief of the Waponis |
| Carol Kane | Hairdresser |
| Branscombe Richmond | Waponi |
| Jayne Haynes | Nurse |
| David Burton | Mike |
| Jon Conrad Pochron | Tony |
| Jim Hudson | Fred - Guard |
| Antoni Gatti | Italian Tailor |
| Darrell Zwerling | Underwear Salesman |
| Jim Ryan | Bellman |
| Karl Rumburg | Ralph |
| Brian Esteban | Emo - Waponi Lookout |
| Nathan Lane | Baw - The Waponi Advance Man |
| Wally Ruiz | Spanish Singer |
| Guillermo Guzman | Spanish Singer |
| Tommy Franco | Spanish Singer |
| Tony Salome | Clerk |
| Courtney Gibbs | Saleswoman |
| Jennifer Stewart | Statue of Liberty |
| William Ward | Salesman - Hammacher Schlemmer |
| Paul Michael Thorpe | God Woo |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Teri Schwartz | Producer |
| Steven Spielberg | Executive Producer |
| Kathleen Kennedy | Executive Producer |
| Frank Marshall | Executive Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Actor | Tom Hanks | Nominated |
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 21 | 31 | 16 |
| 2024 | 5 | 24 | 32 | 16 |
| 2024 | 6 | 19 | 30 | 10 |
| 2024 | 7 | 20 | 35 | 11 |
| 2024 | 8 | 15 | 27 | 8 |
| 2024 | 9 | 14 | 24 | 8 |
| 2024 | 10 | 14 | 23 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 7 |
| 2024 | 12 | 13 | 20 | 8 |
| 2025 | 1 | 14 | 25 | 9 |
| 2025 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 2025 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 2025 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 2025 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 2026 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2026 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Trending Position
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12 | 867 | 867 |
**_Good message, decent movie, albeit really odd_** That pretty much sums up this 1990 film starring Tom Hanks as a miserable man stuck in an uninspiring job. After learning he's going to die in six months, he accepts an offer to live it up for a couple of weeks and sacrifice himself in a volcano ... on some nondescript Pacific island. Right off the bat, the movie tips off that it's more fantasy than reality. There's a great message about not selling your life -- your dreams -- for whatever pathetic wage they're offering at the local factory or whatever the case. But the final act fizzles out in Giligan's Island cartooniness. Meg Ryan co-stars in a three-pronged role. GRADE: C+
Bare with me here, because things are hazy. I distinctly remember renting this at our old small town independent pre-Block Buster video rental establishment. Back when it stopped selling porn (for a few years) and devoted the back room to Betamax and Laser Disc before they moved on to a bigger bu ... ilding. I remember riding my bike there with my father when I was ten. I remember seeing the poster in one of the two small windows. I remember the other new releases on the shelf, and I remember renting this on VHS with a Beta Danger Mouse. And then I remember thinking it was a drama because of the start of the film, cracking up about the luggage, cracking up about the actual volcano climax, and that is about it. But I guess the point is that I remember laughing, and that is what matters.
"Joe Versus the Volcano" is a most off-beat and unusual film, but the central message it advocates is a common one. Life is worth living and this is never more relevant and meaningful than when life is slowly ebbing away and coming to an end and perhaps the circumstances leading up to that final ter ... minal breath allows for a period of reflection. How awful would it be if all you were to see is a succession of missed opportunities and the "what ifs...." stemming from the possiblities afforded by these lost opportunities. A life of poor choices and complete failures is hardly ideal, but when compared to a life wasted? A life of no accomplishments at all? A life lived on these terms of taking no risks is indeed a boring existence and hopefully none of us need to jump into a volcano to realise this.