ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

dsimmonsla I just saw this film again on TV after many years, i had forgotten how bad it really was........probably the most star studded cast in the worst movie i have ever seen.........full of third rate special effects and unintended comic moments.......poor Ernie Borgnine,now gone to that big studio in the sky, is forced to wander around blindfolded thru the whole film, looking embarrassed just to be there......and so much seemed to be borrowed from better films like "Poseidon Adventure" and "Towering Inferno" like the scene where the helicopter is hijacked and then predictably, crashes, killing all aboard....or the interminable crossing of the creaky wooden bridge, which proves to be a deathtrap for about half of the survivors...........and when the entire resort hotel explodes from a single fireball at the end of the film like a bomb, its just hilarious.

StuOz Cool explosive special effects, an okay Lalo Schifrin score, William Holden being pleasing as always and a well played sense of doom in the opening sections of the film. There are reasons to watch this for these things, but this is a film with problems and that is obvious right from the word go! Irwin Allen's other four 1970s disaster feature films began with some powerful theme music from John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith or Jerry Fielding but WTRO's Lalo Schifrin score is surprisingly low-key. This describes the film itself: it mostly lacks that Irwin Allen gusto seen in his past work! The theme music says it all! The gusto finally appears for a while when Paul Newman/James Franciscus go down in that craft to the very centre of the volcano. This scene alone makes the whole film worthwhile: very well done and full of suspense! All the scenes with William Holden and uncomfortable Franciscus together are well played.But this is sounding like a too positive review and I have to tell it like it is: What has happened to screen favourite Burgess Meredith? He looks and talks like he has just walked out of a retirement home! Just two years before this he appeared in Irwin Allen's The Return Of Captain Nemo looking and sounding a lot younger and more full of energy. I hate to say this: but I feel uncomfortable watching him in this film. I am guessing he had a contract with Irwin and he was required to do this film if he wanted to or not. Paul Newman ("that volcano movie was my worst movie") was in that situation I am told.If you viewed WTRO in 1980 or 1981, give it another chance in this century, it has actually improved over the years. In the 1990s we got two more volcano disaster movies - Dante's Peak and Volcano - both are good but perhaps a little too perfect with all that CGI all over the place. The less perfect effects work in WTRO is actually more pleasing to the eye as we all know some of it was done with REAL explosives...not computers! I wish Irwin ended with Beyond The Poseidon Adventure (1979) but When Time Ran Out is not too bad at all!

Michael_Elliott When Time Ran Out... (1980)* (out of 4) Irwin Allen had a string of disaster hits but things started to fall apart with THE SWARM, which was followed by the questionable BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. The final nail in the coffin came with this truly embarrassing work that managed to get several Oscar-winners cashing a check. What we basically have here is a reworked version of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE where a group of people must try and reach safety after a mammoth volcano goes off. The dummies stay back at a hotel, which we all know if going to kill them while the smart ones, led by Paul Newman, must try and reach safety across the island. Not only do we get Newman but the cast includes William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Jacqueline Bisset, Edward Albert, Alex Karras, Burgess Meredith and Pat Morita. I've heard that a majority of these stars were under contract to Allen for one final picture so that might explain why they put their name on this mess but of course it could be because of the paycheck. Either way, this disaster film is a complete disaster from start to finish and I must admit that I'm very happy to have only watched the 108-minute version on the DVD. I had previous seen the extended version but the shorter version is always going to work best because of how bad the film is. For starters, the story is pretty much a straight rip of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and features many of the same plot points including Meredith's character filling the shoes of Shelley Winters' from that film. We get Newman doing the Hackman role and we even have Borgnine playing a cop here. Even if the story wasn't so poor, the real shock here are the special effects, which are pretty bad. The blue screen is so obvious especially in scenes showing off the volcano. Just check out the tidal wave sequence, which is a real head scratcher because we don't see very much of it and what we do see appears to have the actors standing still and someone throwing a bucket of water on them. The director doesn't have any luck at building suspense even though we get three extremely long and at times laughable sequences. One happens towards the start of the film when three men, including Newman, go down in the volcano. Another happens during the tidal wave but the biggest and most questionable happens at the end when all the survivors must walk across a bridge that is falling apart as lava flows beneath it. This should have made for a great sequence but instead it goes on so long that you can't help but lose interest and hope that people start falling. The performances are among some of the blandest that the great cast have ever turned in but, according to legend, apparently Newman started up his Newman's Own brand with the money he made off of this. In the end, this is certainly one of the worst disaster movies out there but fans of the cast and genre will probably still want to check it out just so they can talk about how bad it is.

scott_59-1 I watched this movie when I was a kid and I was fascinated by the special effects and acting. I've heard some bad reviews about it but the critics who gave it bad reviews were probably time wasters. I would say the best part of the movie is when the hotel blows up at the end, HOW SPECTACULAR! The acting was good, the special FX were good and the plot was excellent. I haven't read the book but haven't been able to get hold of it. I think every-part of this movie counts and every scene is greater than the last. I like this movie because 1) it is a disaster movie, which I worship, 2) it is about a volcano, which is a recipe for disaster, and 3) the acting is just super.