Magma: Volcanic Disaster (2006) - full transcript
When a volcano expert becomes convinced that a cataclysmic natural disaster is about to unfold, a volcanologist Professor John Shepherd and his graduate students believes that recent unexplainable volcanic activity as all of the volcanoes in the world are going to erupt and kill every living thing on the planet! They try to convince the government that their theory is true not a joke while also trying to figure out how to stop it before time runs out!
(somber music)
(dramatic music)
- Tell me again why we're sitting
on top of this giant
rock called Trollsvotin?
Why couldn't I have got the job in Hawaii?
At least there's action there.
This volcano's been dormant for how long?
- Give it a rest, Jeff.
- All you two do is argue.
- There's nothing better
to do on this mountain.
Keeps me from yawning to death.
- Well, you could save your
energy and try not to talk.
- You'd like that wouldn't you?
- Oh, yeah.
- So would I.
- Fine.
(dramatic music)
(computer beeping)
- This whole mountain is gonna blow.
- Ryan and Fred,
they're still up at the
top collecting samples.
- Get them on the radio now.
We got to clear out!
(tense music)
- Ryan, this is base camp, copy.
(radio static)
Ryan, this is base camp, copy.
(earth rumbles)
Ryan, this is base
camp, get down here now!
Nothing.
These seem to have worken earlier.
You can't go up there.
- Lisa's coming with me.
- You won't make it.
- I'm not leaving them.
Call the helicopter evac team
and then pack up all our equipment.
We'll be back before your finished.
- Hurry.
Iceland Transport, copy
Iceland Transport, requesting
emergency evac, copy.
- This is Iceland
Transport, repeat request.
- This is USGO Survey Team Trollsvotin,
requesting immediate transport, copy.
- On our way.
ETA five minutes.
Emergency evac gives you
two minutes load time,
then we're out of there.
- Copy that Iceland
Transport, we'll be ready.
- Ryan, let's pack it up!
I can't get through to base camp
and these temperature readings
are rising pretty quick.
- [Ryan] Okay.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
- Jeff, Jeff, where's the evac team?
- The 'copter's on its way,
get down here now!
(men gasping)
(volcano erupting)
- The case!
(volcano rumbling)
(shouting)
- Oh no.
Let's get out of here!
(screaming)
(helicopter approaching)
(screaming)
(somber music)
- Just like that, in
the span of a heartbeat,
we see the earth go from
her most serene and bucolic
to her most violent and destructive.
Our planet was forged
out of this primordial
struggle of the elements,
earth, air, fire, and water.
And so volcanic activity
today, while less frequent,
tells us that the battle continues.
(volcano rumbles)
(student exclaims)
Mr. Taylor, welcome back.
These images were recorded
in Hualalai in 2000.
They are spectacular, beautiful,
but proof at the same time of how
unpredictable and
unmerciful nature can be.
All of these events remind us
that our survival as a species
is dependent upon our
ability to understand
and adapt to the planet's
ongoing evolution.
Hence volcanology,
despite Mr. Taylor's earlier
assertions to the contrary,
has nothing to do with Mr. Spock
or the Starship Enterprise,
(students laughing)
but rather is the study of
the earth's blood pressure.
Its life force carries
us from our distant past,
right up to the present
and tells us much about our future.
(bell rings)
I know I went over,
but I did want to give
you guys a sneak preview
of what you have to look
forward to next semester.
Remember to put your term papers
on the desk on your way out.
As always, I look forward
to being shocked and
awed by your brilliance.
- Dr. Shepherd,
sorry, do you have a sec?
- As of two minutes ago
I've got a whole week's worth of 'em.
What can I do for you, miss?
- Brianna Chapman,
I was in your thermodynamics
lab last semester.
- You're one of my grad students?
- I was, but then I sort of shifted gears.
- Is that so?
To what?
- Geochemistry actually.
- Well, that'd be here
and we can use all the help
we can get in that field.
- That is exactly why I
wanted to talk to you.
I heard about your expedition
that you're taking to
Iceland over the break.
- I don't suppose you
heard about that trip
from my illustrious TA did you?
- Christopher, did he tell you about me?
- No, but,
you're definitely his type.
(sighs)
- I want to come with you.
- Sorry, I've already filled
my quota of student volunteers.
- Oh, well I happen to know
that your chemist dropped out last minute.
- Do me a favor.
When you see your friend, Christopher,
tell him I'm going to wring his neck.
- I can do this job.
- It's not going to be some
clean, controlled environment,
you know, we're going
to be taking samples,
doing field analysis on the fly.
- And I'm not afraid
to get my hands dirty.
And I've spent time at volcanoes.
My family had a reunion
in Hawaii last year
and I spent the whole
entire time at Mauna Kea
and my Aunt Grace was not
very happy about that.
- Sorry, never get it past the trustees.
- Oh, but I'm not looking
for recommendation or credit.
I just, I just really want to get
some more field experience under my belt.
- Nobody can fault you
for a lack of enthusiasm.
Look, if I were to agree,
there would have to be conditions.
- Such as?
- No recommendations or credit.
I'd expect your very best at all times.
You'd have to buy your own plane ticket.
Okay, you win.
(Briana squeals)
- Thank you.
Oh, you will not regret this,
I could hug you right now.
And when I published my first book,
you are so getting a
shout out in the forward.
- Can I give you a tip?
- Don't hug you?
- And bring warm clothes
'cause it's very cold
and be on time
because we're leaving
first thing in the morning.
- Yes, yes, yes, yes,
yes, thank you. (whooping)
- I'm telling you this girl's amazing.
She's smart, she's funny, she's cool.
- She's a Hottie McNaughty.
What, that's what you said.
- By the way,
why don't you try
consulting with me next time
before using your job as
an excuse to pick up girls.
- That's unfair.
I honestly thought that
she's be a valuable member of the team.
- Meaning what?
She already shot you down once?
- Well, I kind of had a thing for her
and then I kind of had a
thing for her roommate.
It's complicated.
- Yeah, with you it usually is.
- But you're not upset, right?
- No, no.
I do have a few things
I'd like you to take a
look at during the break.
Tough but fair.
I'm gonna go check in with the pilot.
- Good to see you're still doing your part
in putting the T and A back in being a TA.
- Look, I know you're upset about
our little boys club getting busted up,
but I'm telling you, even
you will like this girl.
She's really smart.
- Well, given that
she's apparently managed
to resist your dubious charms,
I rather like her already.
- Damn, Phil, you weren't kidding.
- No, Phil, I wasn't.
- [Briana] Hi.
- Jacques, Kai, this is Brianna.
- Hi.
Nice to meet you.
- I'm Kai.
- Bri.
- Can I give you a hand with that?
- Sure.
- This way.
- Okay, no way she goes to Raven,
believe me, I'd have noticed.
- Maybe if you spent more time outside
and less time in your
room pirating porn DVDs.
- Hey, bro, that school ain't cheap.
Guy's gotta make a living.
- All right, we're all here,
let's get the show on the road.
(majestic music)
- So I don't understand, why Iceland?
- Yeah, man, all I know about
Iceland is that it's all,
well, ice.
- That's Greenland, Phil, you jackass.
- We're going to Iceland
because it's been estimated
that 1/3rd of all the lava
that's ever flowed upon the earth
has come from there.
- [CJ] And there was a team of geologists
exploring a crater there
that have gone missing.
- Well, that sounds more like a job
for the Icelandic Search and Rescue, Phil.
- Except seismic reports
show that apparently
there was a sudden eruption
when they disappeared.
- And the professor has a theory
that the volcano that we're visiting
is actually a few million years older
than the experts say it is.
The government gave him
a grant to prove it.
- So what if we prove it?
It's not like we win a car or something.
- Science is about the
search for truth, not glory.
- I didn't say they had to
name a national holiday after my ass.
All I'm saying is
if I'm gonna be spending my break
freezing my butt off in ass end of nowhere
instead of living in up in Miami or Cabo,
I at least want to see
some real action, you know?
- Well, it is
the most volcanically active
country on the planet.
Maybe you'll get your chance.
- I thought I read
somewhere that Grimsvotn
hasn't blown his top in like, 700 years.
- She hasn't.
(somber music)
- And we are a go for
geothermal and seismic, Phil.
Looks like she's sleeping like a baby.
- [Radio] Copy that, Phil.
(majestic music)
- Dr. Shepherd, this is amazing!
I feel like I'm in another
world or something.
- You and Jules Verne, "Voyage
to the Center of the Earth."
This was their point of origin.
You couldn't ask for
more pure, active example
of earth's ongoing evolution.
- And on that note, should
we get back to work?
Unless, of course, any of you fancy
spending the entire afternoon
basking in the stench of rotten eggs.
- Alright, Kai, you want
to hold down the fort?
We're gonna be taking some samples.
- [CJ] Yeah, try not to eat all the food.
- [Peter] Yeah, copy that.
- So let me ask you something.
What is the deal with you and
Kai and the Phil, Phil thing?
- It's just a thing.
- Oh, is it like a girl thing
or just haven't been in a
group long enough thing?
- Easy, Miss Insecurity.
No, I dated this PT major last year
and for some weird reason
she didn't like Kai.
So whenever he called the apartment
he called himself Phil.
So then I started calling
him Phil all the time.
And he started calling
me Phil all the time
and just sort of stuck.
- Jacques, check it out.
- It looks like an ammonite,
which would place this site
at the Mesozoic at least,
if not the Devonian,
which means bravo, professor.
- So what is the deal with Dr. Shepherd?
- What do you mean?
- I don't know, he's just kinda...
- He's married.
- Oh, he's married.
- Separated.
I guess she got tired
of chasing him into smoldering
holes in the ground.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
That definitely felt like a tremor.
- Kai, talk to me, was that us?
- No, I got a spike, but I
don't know where it came from.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
Hang on, we're offline.
Quake must have jarred the sensors loose.
- [CJ] There's definitely
some activity going on.
- What happened to the 700 years?
- I don't know, I guess
there's hope for Jacques yet.
- [Jacques] I, I can get it.
- Kai, contact the chopper,
I know this isn't the goal,
but I don't want to wait
around and find out.
CJ, Bri!
- Way ahead of you, doc.
(gentle music)
- Not again.
- [Kai] Mayday, mayday,
this is Exodus Expedition.
- Go ahead Exodus, what is your emergency?
- The volcano's become active.
We need immediate extraction, do you copy?
- Copy, Exodus, emergency
evac is on its way.
(dramatic music)
(earth rumbling)
- [Peter] All right, Jacques,
let's go, we're out of here.
- Wait a minute, sir.
- When are you gonna
know when to walk away?
Let's go.
It isn't worth it, now come on, move.
- [Jacques] I can get it.
- Let's go!
- [Jacques] I can get it.
I got it!
(computer beeping franticly)
(tense music)
(Bri gasping)
- Here.
- Team Exodus, Team Exodus,
This is Iceland Transport, do you copy?
- [Kai] Copy, Iceland Transport.
- Rescue chopper is in route,
ETA five minutes.
- [Kai] Copy that, Iceland Transport.
- Kai, what's the ETA on that chopper?
It's getting kind of hot down here.
- Guy said we're looking
at another five minutes.
Wind's been picking up big time.
(volcano exploding)
- Keep going, we're right behind you!
(dramatic music)
- The heat vents are
melting the glacier, sir.
That means-
- If it collapses
you and I are a permanent
part of the landscape
so keep climbing.
- We'll never make it.
- Yes, we will, now come on!
- [Kai] Come on, let's go!
- [Peter] Come on, Jacques,
it's just a little further.
Come on.
- We gotta get out of here!
- There's two more people down there!
- [Pilot] If we don't
get off this rock now
we'll never make it out alive!
- All right, guys, let's go!
You can do it!
That's it.
Come on.
Watch your step.
(lava bubbling)
(triumphant music)
- Thank you.
- You okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.
But since you're the one
looking for some action,
might I suggest that the next time
you go inside the volcano
and I'll stay at the
top with the equipment?
- Hey man, if it'd been my
fat ass out in that crater
it would've been a deep
fried pork rind right now.
- We should be so lucky.
- Oh my god.
Look at that, never seen anything like it.
- Nobody ever has.
The fact that I went off today
definitely supports
Vallian's Exodus theory.
- [Television] Volcanic
activity has subsided for now,
but the skies remained
choked with smoke and ash
and fall out has been experienced
as far away as Sweden.
With the death toll now
at an estimated 3,400
this eruption in Iceland is being called
the worst volcano related disaster
since the eruption of
Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
Meanwhile, scientists believe
they have traced the source of activity,
centered mainly on
Iceland's western peninsula,
to the apparent accidental rupturing
of several natural vents
by an off offshore drilling operation
in the North Atlantic late last week.
- She's pretty.
- Yes, she is.
- [Brianna] That your wife?
- For now.
- Sorry, Christopher told me.
- Is there anything he hasn't told you?
- Do you want to talk about it?
- No, what, my TA's
astounding ability to share
the intimate details of my
personal life with others?
- No, I meant your wife,
he told me that you guys are separated.
Then maybe I could help.
- I doubt it.
- Well, have you tried
calling and apologizing?
- I did actually try a couple of times,
but I just couldn't get past
the listening to her voice on
the answering machine part.
- So try again.
- Yeah, no, I know, you're right.
Hey, can I ask you something?
- Sure.
- Two dormant volcanoes,
I mean completely dormant,
erupt violently within days of each other.
Coincidence?
- Good luck with the phone call.
- Yeah, I didn't think so either.
(somber music)
Hey Melanie, is he here?
- He's inside.
Good to see you.
- [Peter] Good to see you, how are you?
- Good.
- How's Natalie?
- She's fine.
I guess she's fine.
I hear she's fine.
Actually, you'd have to
call and ask her yourself,
maybe then she'd pick up the phone.
- It's like I told you,
you can't spend the rest of your life
going down in those holes
without screwing everything up.
- You're one to talk.
I don't exactly see you slowing down.
- I lost some mobility,
you lost a marriage,
big difference.
- Some would argue that
marriage is a loss of mobility,
but I'm not saying that.
Anyway, how are things at USGS?
Kincaid still a jerk?
- Yeah,
he was a jerk when you
two were my students
and he was a bigger jerk
when I told him where he could stuff it,
so yeah, he's still a jerk.
- You what?
- I quit.
- You're kidding me.
- You remember what that place is like.
You get to be my age you ran
out of patience for politics.
It's a young man's game now.
And I could never get used to the idea
that one of my former
students was now my boss.
- Wow, I had no idea.
When did all this happen?
- Four months ago.
And you would have known
if you'd pick up the damn
phone once in a while.
- Me?
- You're the one whose
phone was disconnected.
- Oh, that.
- Yeah, that.
What's with the sheets,
you going somewhere?
- Yeah, we're flying
to Honshu on Wednesday.
- Wednesday, yes.
- Wednesday.
- Planning on staying awhile?
- As long as necessary.
- Hmm.
Well, with that in mind,
take a look at this.
- Grimsvotn, quite a mess, so I hear.
- It is, I was there.
- And the word is you took
along a team of rugrats.
- They're great scientists, Oskar.
- I'm sure they are.
You always could pick them.
What is this?
- You tell me, could Cotacachi, Ecuador.
Then 48 hours later,
five near simultaneous
eruptions in Iceland,
four of which hadn't made a peep in years.
It's the kind of thing
you've always talked about.
You were right about Exodus
and this is the start of it.
- No, it's not.
- What do you mean, no, it's not?
If these aren't the initial
indications of Exodus,
I'd love to know what the hell it is.
(tense music)
- First eruption happened here,
five weeks ago, off the coast of Spain.
Then here, two days later,
at Rarotonga in the South Pacific.
Then nothing, nothing for weeks
to the point where I began to think
that everyone else was right
and I was just grabbing at straws.
Then earthquakes here, here and here.
Of course I hadn't counted on Iceland
until sometime next week
and Cotacachi was a surprise.
- So?
- So this cannot be the start of Exodus
because Exodus already started.
- You gotta do something with it,
just take it to Kincaid.
Kincaid said the USGS
doesn't have the time
or the resources to prove some
old crackpot's hypothesis.
I'm done trying to prove anything
to people who don't want to listen.
- Isn't that what you're
going to Mount Fuji for,
to get proof?
Unless you're secretly hoping
that the myth of the fountain
of youth isn't a myth.
- You all already said it, Peter,
this was my life's work and no one cares.
- Then the hell with
Kincaid, go over his head,
take it to the Hill.
- It's the same game everywhere,
you of all people should know that.
- I understand if you don't want to do it,
but at least give me a shot,
you know what's at stake here.
- Take it.
Take all of it.
You and I both know
where I'm going and why.
I don't want to end my
life in some hospital room.
I'm going back to the front line.
Goodbye, Peter.
- CJ, I need you to
look up a number for me,
Stephen Daugherty
at the Bureau of Disaster
Relief and Awareness.
Call me back as soon as you can.
- [Stephen] Dr. Shepherd,
are you saying that you
can accurately predict
where and when these eruptions will occur?
- Given the proper resources, yes.
- Right now, all we're looking at
are generalities, probability.
The point here is what some
may see as a coincidence,
I think is the earth trying
to tell us something.
And in my experience, when that happens,
it's usually a good idea to listen.
- My apologies, gentlemen.
- [Stephen] Peter, I believe,
you know William Kincaid
from the US Geological Survey.
- Our paths have crossed, yes.
Would you like me to recap?
- Thanks, but I'm sure
I'll be able to catch up.
Please continue.
- Basically, we're seeing a
massive increase in activity
on a worldwide scale.
Now, I don't believe
that these are a succession
of random volcanic events.
I think they're part of a pattern
which, if ignored,
could have serious consequences
to the future of life on this planet.
- Peter, tell me you're not here
to sell us this Exodus crap again.
- What's Exodus?
- It's a halfback theory first put forth
by Dr. Shepherd's mentor, Oskar Vallian.
- It's anything but half baked.
- What Dr. Shepherd is suggesting
runs contrary to theories
the global scientific community
has unanimously subscribed
to for nearly half a century.
Volcanoes don't just erupt.
There are warning signs weeks,
sometimes months in advance.
- The global scientific community
unanimously subscribed to
the flat earth theory too.
I understand that this sounds farfetched,
but in order to understand Exodus,
you have to see the bigger picture.
Something has happened at the earth's core
causing it to expand.
The tremendous pressure
that has been displaced
is now working its way through the earth,
manifesting itself in these
accelerated eruptions.
The traditional warning
signs no longer apply,
not here, not to this.
- And what exactly is this something
that has caused the core's expansion?
Or does your theory not cover that?
- It could be any number
of different things.
What is causing the pattern
is beside the point.
Look, we can figure that out later,
right now we need to
figure out how to stop it.
- Dr. Shepherd,
I'm afraid I just don't see the emergency.
- How else can I put it?
There are 1,500 volcanoes
on the surface of the earth.
Some of them are active and
some of them are dormant.
Over 150 of them are located
in North America alone.
If they erupt, and I think they will.
We are looking at cataclysmic devastation.
- What's your worst case scenario?
- Gentlemen, I think
it's my duty to point out
that none of Dr.
Shepherd's so-called theory
has yet to be proven.
- [Stephen] Dr. Kincaid-
- He could be completely wrong.
- Please allow Dr. Shepherd
to answer the question.
- Worst case scenario,
the extinction of everything
living on the planet.
(dramatic music)
- How long do we have?
- Months?
- Thank you, Dr. Shepherd,
I believe I've heard enough.
I want you and your team
to go over his data,
see if there's anything to it.
If there is, come up with a
list of possible solutions.
- I'd be glad to.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
- You're an alarmist, Peter,
just like the old man.
Still, that was quite a
presentation you made back there.
The extinction of every
living thing on this planet,
compelling!
Oskar Vallian write that for you?
- You're not even going to
review my data, are you?
- Oh no, I'll review it.
I'll review it very carefully
and prove that your little
theory is complete crap.
And the amazing thing here is
that by doing that, I'll
be doing you a favor.
- How's that?
- Have you forgotten what tends to happen
whenever you start jumping the gun?
Tungurahua, Sakurajima.
- I was doing my job.
If those volcanoes had erupted
tens of thousands of
people would have died.
- Yes, and instead millions
of dollars were lost
and those same people
were placed in a state of
fear and panic for no reason.
- I guess I'm missing your point.
- My point is you have a
long history of being wrong.
I'd imagine by now you'd
be quite used to it.
(gentle music)
- [Harv] There she is, just in time.
- Morning, Harv.
Here you go.
There's a couple Danish in
here with your name on it.
- [Harv] Natalie, you know I shouldn't.
- Yeah, I know you will.
I don't care what Lorraine says.
I like a man with a few
extra pounds on him.
- Hey, you missed
all the excitement
around here this morning.
It seems like Old Faithful
decided she didn't like her name anymore.
- What do you mean?
- [Harv] Not so much as a burp
since yesterday afternoon.
(somber music)
- So what are they gonna do?
- In a word, nothing.
- Nothing?
- I guess the government's
decided to sit around
with their thumbs up their butts
till we're all knee deep lava
before they decide to do something.
- A little more eloquent explanation,
thank you, Kai.
Government wants proof.
I guess we have to get it for 'em.
Look, as you guys all know,
Oskar Vallian is the mind
behind this theory, right?
Well, guess what?
He thinks Mount Fuji is gonna erupt
within the next three weeks.
(gentle music)
- I want you and Konomi
to go back to Tokyo.
- Konomi, there's a car
waiting for you outside.
- Yes, but I'm not finished with my work.
- Just go.
- Yes, ma'am.
- I said both of you.
- [Melanie] Oskar.
- You're a young woman
and you have your entire
life ahead of you.
- You've been my entire life for 12 years.
I'm not going to leave you now.
- Melanie.
- Don't say anything,
I'm staying.
- And to that end, he's gone off to Honshu
to gather data directly.
In the meantime, I'll be going to Ecuador.
If our theory is correct
and these recent volcanic events
are like dominoes in a long chain,
each linked to a tectonic plate
through a series of
interconnecting fault lines.
Our job would then be to ascertain,
not only why all of this is happening,
but which faults are being affected
and which volcanoes are
likely to go off next.
I'm not gonna lie to you,
this is gonna be dangerous.
So if any of you have any reservations,
especially after what happened in Iceland,
believe me, I'll understand.
- It's not even an issue.
Count me in.
- Me too.
- Well, seeing that it's
the only chance we've got
of proving any of this,
we don't have much of a choice, do we?
- Yeah, if we're gonna
be working with you,
does that mean you're
exempt from everything else?
Because I got this major
biochem paper due next Tuesday.
What?
I'm just asking.
But I'm totally in.
- Good.
(thunder crashes)
(phone dialing, ringing)
(voicemail beeps)
Hi, sorry, I guess you're out.
Unless you're standing
there listening to this,
waiting for me to hang
up so you can hit delete.
Which I can only assume
is what you've done
the last three times-
- Hey.
- You answered.
- Right, shouldn't you be
climbing into some smoking
hole in the ground?
- Okay, I got it.
I guess this was a bad idea,
I shouldn't have called.
- Well, what did you expect
this to be like, Peter?
- Oh, I don't know.
I guess civil would have
been too much to hope for.
- Fine, let's start over.
How are you?
- Been better.
- Why? What's the matter?
- A little run in with Bill Kincaid today.
- Kincaid, how's he?
- Slimy as ever,
but look, I didn't call to talk about him.
- Then why did you call?
- To hear your voice,
to see how you're doing.
- Well, this is a little
out of character, Peter.
Are you sure that's the reason?
- Yeah, I...
So, how are you doing?
How's life at Yellowstone?
- Well, apparently
mother nature has decided
to make my life a living hell
with fire season in the middle of winter,
but other than that, everything's fine.
Peter, you sound weird.
Are you sure you're okay?
- What?
Yes.
Just worrying about you.
- Listen, I should really get going.
They have me supervising
these sunrise trail walks
three times a week, so.
- Well, great talking to you.
Nice to hear you finally say something
other than hello, this is Natalie,
please leave a message after the beep.
- Take care of yourself, Peter.
- You too.
- Goodnight.
- Bye.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music swelling)
(volcano exploding)
- [Phone] Hello, you've reached
the voicemail box of Peter Shepherd.
After the tone, please leave a message.
- Peter, I just want to
give you a last message.
It's good to be on the front line again.
- Oskar, we gotta go.
- No.
- Let's go, Oskar.
- It's too late, no.
(somber music)
- [Oskar] It's good to be
on the frontline again.
- Hi.
Try this instead.
I'm sorry about your friend.
Maybe he wasn't there, maybe he got out.
- No, he was there.
He knew what was gonna happen.
It was what he wanted.
- To die?
- He didn't have anything left to give.
He sacrificed everything,
family, career,
for a theory that nobody
would pay any attention to.
- Bet they're paying attention now.
- If it's not too late.
- Is that your wedding ring?
- Symbolic, huh?
Hanging in limbo.
- It's an interesting concept,
wedding ring purgatory.
I wanted to apologize for
what I said the other day
about your marriage, it
was none of my business.
There's this really serious
genetic condition in my family
called foot in mouth disease.
- You oughta get that looked at.
- Sorry, I was just trying to help.
- It's not that I don't appreciate it,
it's just that
I don't know if my failed marriage
is really appropriate
student teacher conversation.
- Well, technically we're
not really supposed to be
drinking beers together either.
But then again, I'm not
your student this semester,
so maybe we're in the clear.
Can I ask you what happened?
- Basically, I spent the first
two years of our relationship
chasing after her
and then I spent the first
three years of our marriage
chasing after volcanoes,
dragging her with me.
I was all pretty much about my world.
And I guess she got fed up with that.
Took off to go find a life of her own.
I screwed up.
- You really want it back?
- Nothing makes very
much sense without her,
but I haven't figured out how to fix it.
- Well, like I said before,
you can try apologizing.
- I have a hard time
admitting when I'm wrong.
Although, as someone
pointed out to me recently,
I should be used to it by now.
- You just admitted it to me.
I don't know, maybe if
you give it some time
and you admit it to her
you guys can have another chance.
- Maybe.
- But can I give you a tip?
- Don't hug you.
- No, don't wait too long.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- [Television] The sudden
eruption of Mount Fuji
has not only destroyed much of the island,
but has triggered several tsunamis,
the biggest in this part
of the world since 2004,
placing an estimated 60% of
the coast of China under water.
The death toll is likely to be
in the hundreds of thousands.
And breaking news from Africa.
- [Reporter] The first major
eruption of Mount Kilimanjaro
since the last ice age.
Many fear the danger from these eruptions
may be compounded by storm clouds,
creating a highly concentrated
form of acid rain.
- He never said anything about Africa.
And he told us Fuji wouldn't
go off for another month,
- But he did say it would erupt.
- He's grabbing at straws.
- Well, maybe you should consider
grabbing a handful or two for yourself.
(sweeping music)
- There's definitely some
major rocking and rolling
going down the lithosphere,
but it ain't from this site.
- He's right, it looks
like the epicenter's
maybe a mile, mile and a
half northwest of here.
- That would place us
somewhere in the vicinity
of this area here.
According to this,
there appears to be a series
of mines, copper mostly.
- Let's do it.
- What is it?
- It says this site is
closed until further notice
per order of the Auracona mining company.
- [Jacques] Well, it works for me.
I guess we're leaving then?
(gun fires)
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!
(speaking in a foreign language)
- [CJ] What'd you say to him?
- I said we're scientists,
that the company sent us.
- For heaven's sake, tell
him we're not trespassing!
- Well, we sort of are, dude.
- Ask him what happened.
(speaking in a foreign language)
- He said that there were
some men working at the mine
a few weeks ago when the
earth began to bleed fire.
Worse than fire, it
was like it was poison.
- Poison?
- Oh, we're not going in.
(speaks in a foreign language)
(ominous music)
- [Peter] Go ahead and set up, Kai.
Everyone else, stay close.
- [Brianna] So this is what hell is like.
(tense music)
- Guys, this is definitely it.
I'm showing hot spots all
over the place down here.
- [Brianna] Which way do we go?
- [Jacques] I'm not sure,
the map doesn't seem to show
this particular juncture.
- [Peter] Heat's definitely
stronger in this direction.
- [Jacques] Anyone else feel
like these walls are closing in?
- [CJ] Definitely getting tighter in here.
- [Brianna] It's also getting hotter.
(magma sizzling)
- [Peter] This is it.
- [Brianna] Wow, it's a magma chamber.
(magma bubbling)
- [CJ] Looks like it's rising pretty fast.
- [Peter] Yeah, a little too fast.
Let's get some rock and vapor samples
then get the hell out of here.
- [Jacques] That's the best
idea I've heard all day.
(tense music)
- [Brianna] Do you think the radiation's
coming from the magma?
- [Peter] We won't know until
they run the core samples,
but the levels are extremely high.
It's no wonder they
closed this place down.
- Guys, just as an FYI,
I'm starting to pick up some major burps
on the seismal.
- [Peter] Copy that, Kai.
Bri and I are already
making our way back to you.
Jacques and CJ are wrapping it up.
- Wait a moment, CJ.
- What is it now?
- You know, I'm not so certain
this tunnel is supposed to be here.
Our location is nowhere to be found.
This just doesn't make sense.
According to this map, this
tunnel simply does not exist.
- Okay, Magellan,
how do you explain the fact
that we're standing in it?
- I can't explain it.
Unless. - Unless what?
- Well, I'm just beginning to wonder
if this isn't a tunnel,
but rather-(shouting)
This isn't a tunnel, it's a lava tube!
(tunnel collapsing)
(screaming)
- Where's Jacques?
- He's gone.
- [Peter] He didn't make it, Kai.
(birds singing)
- Doctor said that the burns
were mainly superficial,
except for on his leg.
They're going to have to set
it before the skin graft,
but it's gonna be okay.
- Good.
- You can't blame yourself
for what happened down there.
Jacques and CJ knew the risks, we all did.
- The point is
I never should have put anybody
at risk in the first place.
- But that's the job, right?
Look, Kai is upstairs right now
analyzing the samples we got.
We have a better handle on where and how
magma flow is affecting the fault network.
He didn't die for nothing.
None of this is worth nothing.
I believe that, have to.
- [Peter] Oh my god.
- [Reporter] Much of the historic
city of Rome lies in ruins
following the reawakenings
of Mount Etna and Vesuvius.
The pope has proclaimed that he believes
this global devastation may be
the beginning of the end of days.
- Well, it's all happening
just like you said it would.
They wouldn't listen.
- No, matter of time.
Where is this one?
- Crater in San Sebastian,
that's from down in the mine.
Numbers threw me off at first, too.
Math is constant and
crystallization levels.
I ran the test twice, they're for real.
- That's what this trace
levels of radioactive material,
43.7, 48.4?
- Those too,
whole chemical compositions
in both samples
were out of whack.
I mean, it looks more like,
- Like it would have been taken
directly from the Earth's core.
- There's something else.
Who do we know at the USGS?
- Why?
What's happened?
- When I went online
to compare all this stuff
to our databases from Raven,
I had problems getting into the server.
It looked like someone had
hacked into our system.
I did some backhacking
and they got copies of everything we had.
- While I can understand how
you might feel somewhat angered
by whatever injustice you
may feel has occurred-
- You're damn right I'm angry,
you had no authority to do this.
- I assure you it was
done for the common good.
- Look, there's still time.
If you just listen to
me, I could help you.
- Your help will no longer be necessary.
My people have compiled
everything into a workable theory,
which we will be presenting
in Washington tomorrow.
- So that's it?
Last week you didn't believe in Exodus,
now you're stealing it.
- Goodbye, doctor.
- So now what?
- Listen, Dr. Shepherd and Kai
need you more than I do at this point.
- I know, I just-
- I'll be fine, trust me.
- Bri, we gotta to go now if
we're gonna catch that plane.
- Okay.
Make sure you don't
hook up with any hot Columbia
nurses while I'm gone.
(somber music)
- Yes, I'd like to speak with
Stephen Daugherty please.
- Based on what we have seen so far
with regard to these eruptions,
while indeed the problem
is dire, Mr. President,
it is not insurmountable.
The key will be to relieve pressure
from within those volcanoes
that have yet to go off.
Excuse me, this is a closed meeting.
- Stephen, this meeting been
going on for half an hour now,
who are these people?
- Mr. President,
I like to introduce you to the man
who first brought the Exodus
theory to our attention.
- Dr. Peter Shepherd, sir.
And these are two of
my research associates,
Brianna Chapman, and Kai Senakoia.
- I was under the
impression that Dr. Kincaid
was the leading authority in all this.
- With all due respect, sir,
Dr. Oskar Vallian is the
leading authority on Exodus.
He and I worked very closely
together for many years-
- I assure you, Dr. Shepherd,
the problem is in capable hands.
Now, may I suggest
you take the science club
field trip elsewhere?
- Mr. President, Dr. Kincaid's
evidence is incomplete,
I can prove that.
- Ridiculous.
- You stole it off our server
in the first place, remember?
- Kai.
Excuse me, Mr. President,
There've been some new developments,
developments that Dr.
Kincaid knows nothing about.
As a result he's likely to
draw the wrong conclusions
and this is not a situation
we can afford to make mistakes with.
- All right.
We'll adjourn.
We'll meet back here in five minutes.
- Thank you, sir.
- Don't thank me yet.
I don't know what you've got,
but boy, it better be damn good.
Now I don't know what the
hell is going on here.
But I want to talk to the
two of you immediately.
- [Peter] There you are,
thought we lost you for a sec.
- [Kai] Is everything okay?
- Fine.
- Okay, Kai,
why don't you run ahead and
get things set up for us,
be right with you.
- Sure thing.
- Sure you're okay?
- I don't know, that depends.
Is it normal to throw up before you're
about to present your theory
on how the world is gonna end
to the president of the United States?
- I don't know, it's the
first time for me too,
but I will say I made a point of
steering clear the chicken
Florentine on the flight up.
Alright, ready to go knock
this one out of the park?
- Yeah.
- So these layers
surrounding the earth's core
serve as both filters and conductors
for the heat and radiation
that are essentially the fuel
that makes the planet run.
And it's been running pretty
well for a very long time,
but there is one variable
that earth hadn't counted on.
Us.
By releasing toxins and radiation
in ever increasing quantities
on the surface of the earth,
man has sped up the internal
processes of the planet,
generating an excessive heat at the core.
It's caused an expansion to take place.
It's pushing its way out
into the molten outer core.
It's leading to these
large-scale volcanic events.
- Basically it's like the
earth is trying to get rid of a
really bad case of double
burrito indigestion.
- Now her explanation I understand.
(men chuckling)
- As fascinating as all
this may be, doctor,
I'm afraid the purpose of this meeting
isn't to determine how this began,
rather how and when it's going to end.
- Sooner than you might think.
- That's a pretty bold statement
considering we haven't seen anything
remotely resembling what
you've been talking about,
I mean, not here, not in this country.
- I'm afraid that's about to change.
And not just in this country.
If you look here,
you'll see fault lines radiating
out from the earth's core,
coursing through the planet,
linking together with tectonic plates
like veins and arteries.
These points indicate where
eruptions have already occurred.
You might notice that
they've all taken place
along a major fault line,
which puts pressure on various plates,
particularly the Pacific
and the North American.
- What does that mean to us?
- That we can expect
increased eruption patterns
in Hawaii within the next 24 hours,
followed by both volcanic
and seismic activity
along the Rockies, all
the way up into Alaska.
And that's just for starters.
- This is a recent satellite
image of the atmosphere.
Now, based on the current rate
at which these eruptions are occurring,
here's a projection of how
it will look in two days,
one week,
two weeks.
- Are you trying to tell me
that we could be looking
at another ice age?
- If these eruptions
continue unabated, yes.
- And how are we supposed to shut down
every volcano on Earth?
- Believe it or not,
I actually have a plan.
- We're all ears, doctor.
- The planet is going to
continue to discharge
this volcanic material.
The question is, where do you want it,
on the land or under the ocean?
- And what are you suggesting, doctor?
- Rather than letting the planet decide
where and when to erupt,
we released the pressure for her.
- How?
- We would need to develop
a somewhat more sophisticated
oceanographic floor plan.
But we would pick strategic
geological targets
to detonate a series of charges along,
creating vents in the
subaquatic lithosphere
that would release the rock and magma,
reducing the pressure
and allowing the plates
to realign themselves.
- And that would work?
- It's just a theory, but-
- And a rather poorly
thought out one, at that.
- Look, I'm not saying it would be easy.
Even with precision detonations,
there would be aftershocks,
significant wave activity.
The eruptions aren't just
going to stop overnight.
The change would be gradual but steady.
(muffled whispering)
But given the depths
of the thermally active
regions I have in mind,
I believe that the
aftereffects would be minimal,
especially when you
consider the alternatives.
- Wait a minute,
Dr. Shepherd,
are you seriously
proposing the global launch
of nuclear warheads to stop a
bunch of volcanic eruptions?
- Which goes against everything
I've ever believed in.
But when your back is against the wall,
you have to fight fire with fire.
- Mr. President, with all due respect,
I strongly advise against-
- Look, Professor Plagiarism,
you had your chance.
Now whether you want to admit it or not,
we are running pretty damn
low on options and time.
So if you have a better idea,
I'm sure we'd all love to hear it.
- Atlas has shrugged, gentlemen.
Now, what are we gonna do about it?
(tense music)
- Sorry about that, I
just couldn't help myself.
That guy is a first class tool.
- No, that's,
hey, I couldn't have
said it better myself.
- [Natalie] You want me to leave?
- Yes.
- Oh god, Peter, and go where?
Look, if this is your way of convincing me
to go back to New York-
- Natalie, I just told you
everything I've been through.
I don't want to argue with you.
That's not why I called.
- Nothing is going to happen here.
- [Peter] You don't know that.
- There hasn't been
a major eruption at Yellowstone in years.
- That doesn't change the fact
that it's sitting right on top
of the largest fault
line in North America,
the same one that I've been
tracing volcanic activity
over the last three days.
Oskar's dead, Nat.
So is one of my students.
- What?
- Oskar was at Mount
Fuji when it went off.
Jacques was with me.
- Oh my god, Peter.
I'm so sorry.
Are you okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.
I'd just feel a lot better
if I knew that you were too.
- Peter, I don't know
what you expect me to do.
I don't know what to say.
- Listen, I'm sorry,
about everything.
I was wrong.
What happened between us was my fault,
I know that.
- Peter.
- Look, I don't know
how you feel about me at this point.
I don't know if we have another chance.
I just need you to believe me
about this, if nothing else.
- [Television] FEMA has so
far failed to comment on-
- Are you watching what's going on?
They're showing footage of Hualalai.
I almost don't recognize it anymore.
- [Television] The governor has authorized
the National Guard to
begin mass evacuations
following the eruption
of virtually all the
island chain's volcanoes.
- [Natalie] It's gonna
get worse, isn't it?
- Yeah, it is.
(beeping)
- [Woman] Dr. Shepherd,
there's an urgent call for
you from a Stephen Daugherty.
- Yeah, tell him I'll be right there,
just one second.
Natalie?
- [Natalie] Yeah.
- I'm sorry, I gotta run.
But I'll call you back
soon as I can, okay?
- Peter.
- Yeah?
- Just be careful.
Please.
- I will.
Stephen?
- Peter, how long would
it take you and your team
to create your floor plan?
With the resources we have at the moment,
at least a week.
- Naval Intelligence is
expecting you within the hour.
They've been told they're working for you
and you're to have full
access to whatever you need.
You have 24 hours.
- So the president accepted the plan.
- You're good to go, Peter.
Good luck.
- Okay, I'll be there.
(tense music)
So this is it, huh?
Now, unfortunately
we're not gonna be able to
go with satellites today
because of the cloud cover
so if we can get detailed maps
of the Atlantic and Pacific
basins, that'd be great.
- Okay.
- That looks like the sea
project NOAA was working on.
- It is.
- Wasn't that scrapped in the late '80s
because of security concerns?
- It was, officially.
So, officially, you've never seen it.
(quiet chattering)
- Yeah, right, understand,
we should get initial data back
in about the next 30 minutes.
- I hope they understand
the time constraints
we're working under here.
- Yeah, the certainly do.
(dramatic music)
(electronics beeping)
(quiet chattering)
- All right, here's what we've got.
- Okay, submarine fleets
throughout the Pacific
and Atlantic are being armed
and moving into position as we speak.
- Okay, well, we're closing in on it.
I just want to make
sure all the coordinates
are 100% accurate.
- And that's why you're
going to be working
hand in hand with the Navy
throughout this operation
aboard two of its flagships,
the Hyperion and the Reprisal.
- Wait a minute, you want us to actually-
- Transportation's already been arranged.
I'll let you decide who goes where.
- Alright, you're going
to be our go between.
Kai and I will relay information
back to you and the techs
to verify any potential hot spots.
- Got it.
- Listen, if something goes wrong-
- Dr. Shepherd, no.
- Yes.
I want you to give this to my wife.
Tell her I'm sorry.
That I, I didn't have time,
couldn't figure out how to,
just tell her I'm sorry, okay?
- Okay.
- Thank you.
(exciting music)
Is this absolutely necessary?
- [Officer] It is if you
want to reach the Hyperion
inside of this week.
- How long until we land?
- [Officer] We don't.
- You're sure this is a good idea?
(shouting)
(splashing)
Captain Holloway, Dr. Peter Shepherd.
- It's a pleasure.
You tell us where you want 'em,
we'll do our best to hit the target.
- Yes, sir.
- We've set you up over here.
Show me what you've got.
- Well, this is definitely
a work in progress,
but we've detected serious
thermal and vent activity in here
as well as along this ridge.
So according to our calculations,
the explosions should start taking place
somewhere in this general area here.
- That's gonna put us
smack in the middle of
the Marianas Trench.
- I realize that, sir.
- I hope you know what
you're doing, Doctor.
- That makes two of us.
(birds singing)
- Excuse me.
(groaning)
Excuse me.
(gasping)
I'm sorry for the disturbance,
but we have a situation developing
and we need you folks
to proceed to the South
exit as soon as possible.
- Can we get dressed first?
- Yeah, that would be a good idea.
- [Man] Babe, who was that?
Why you getting dressed?
- [Radio] Natalie, you there?
- Go ahead, Harv.
- [Radio] You want to explain to me
why I'm getting reports
from all over the place
that you're telling people back
to evacuate the camp ground?
- Because I am.
- Listen, I'm up here at Old Faithful
with some guys from the university.
They tell me we have
some ground declination,
but I don't think that's
any reason to panic.
- No, it's deformation, Harv,
which means there's magma
moving beneath the earth
and we do have reason to panic.
- [Harv] Natalie, why
don't we just wait and see?
- Trust me on this one, Harv.
I'm headed over to Canyon campgrounds,
I sent a couple of
families there yesterday.
Get everyone is far away
from the geyser as possible,
I'll be in touch.
(tense music)
- Approaching a large
hydrothermal field now.
160 by north 20.
- Any chimneys out there?
- Take a look.
Have your pick, black or white.
- Iron saturation levels
must be off the charts.
Definitely closing in on it.
- Dr. Shepherd,
someone on the comm line for you.
You can patch in right here, sir.
- Thank you.
Hello?
- Hey, doc, how're things
in the Pacific rim?
- Cold and dark,
but it looks like that's
starting to change.
How are things on your end?
- Like I'm playing sub commander
in the world's biggest bathtub, man.
You should've seen the
look on the captain's face
when he realized he'd be entrusting
the navigation of $6 billion
worth of Navy equipment
to a joker.
- Why don't we try
and keep that a secret
for a while, all right?
And remember, we've got the Russians
and the UK waiting in the wings.
So as soon as you sync up with Bri
and finalize your coordinates,
I want you to forward 'em
all around, all right?
- Aye, aye, sir.
Always wanted to say that.
- Okay, Kai, target coordinates
are good on one and two,
waiting for confirmation on three.
- [Kai] Copy that, standing by.
- What's the minimum safe distance
from these kinda detonations?
- Two nautical miles.
- Hope we make it.
- This is either the smartest
plan in the history of mankind
or the dumbest.
- If it's the latter
we won't be around long
enough to regret it.
(explosions) (alarms beeping)
(dramatic music)
- What the hell was that?
- Sir, we've got multiple thermal spikes
popping up all over the trench.
- Looks like they want to
beat us to the punch, huh?
- Load specials in tube one and two,
flood and standby.
- Load specials in tube one and two,
flood and standby, aye.
- Come on, Peter, pick up.
Oh my god.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
- Damage report.
- We're gonna need a hell of an overhaul
when we put into port, captain.
I wouldn't advise that we stay
in the trench much longer.
- Noted, XO, maintain course and speed.
- Maintain course and speed, aye.
- Open tubes one and
two, standby for launch.
- Hyperion has her tube doors open.
She's ready to fire.
- Torpedoes armed and ready.
Tubes one and two are flooded.
Tube doors are open.
Ready to fire your command, sir.
- Fire torpedo one and two.
- Torpedoes away.
(exploding)
- What was that?
- Torpedo two went off track, sir.
- Number two torpedo has
impacted with the trench wall.
- Now what?
- Now we hope the first one
penetrated deep enough to get the job done
and the next ones don't miss.
- Load specials, tubes three and four.
- Torpedo one on track, sir.
Time to target,
T minus three, two, one.
(exploding)
Signatures are weakening, sir.
Sea water's already cooling off the magma,
looks like our plan is actually working.
- Let's not pat ourselves
on the back just yet.
We've still got our two
biggest targets coming up.
- I just wanted to let you
know Operation Heal the Earth
has officially commenced
here in the Atlantic.
Hope they got a crap load of champagne
ready on ice back in DC, the good stuff.
- Torpedoes three and four are away.
(alarm blaring)
- Kai, what happened?
Kai!
(alarm blaring)
(electricity crackling)
- Transmitting SOS on high frequency.
This is the United States
Submarine Reprisal-
(somber music)
- Maintain port side
clearance, full right rudder!
- Captain, I've lost all contact
with my man on the Reprisal.
- It's gonna have to wait.
Fire tubes three and four.
- Fire tubes three and four, aye.
- My fellow Americans,
as you are well aware
for the past several weeks
our planet has been besieged
by a series of unusual volcanic eruptions.
These geological events
have caused untold damage
and loss of life all across the globe.
The world's top scientists
have concluded that the earth
will continue to release magma
at an increased startling rate.
(lava bubbling)
However, there is hope,
a possibility to bring an end
to the devastation and
destruction of our planet.
Earlier this morning,
acting with the full cooperation
of the United Nations,
I authorized a plan of action
intended to counter the
effects of these eruptions.
(shouting)
(somber music)
(fire roaring)
At this very moment
several American submarines in
the Atlantic and the Pacific
are working in conjunction
with submarine fleets from other nations,
22 countries, coordinating efforts
to launch 44 nuclear tipped torpedoes
at various targets beneath
the world's oceans.
(exploding)
If we are successful in our joint mission,
and I have every
confidence that we will be,
our way of life will be
preserved for future generations.
However, planet Earth, as we know it,
will be forever changed.
I ask you, regardless of your faith,
to join me in a prayer
for our families, for our friends,
for our heroes,
and most of all for our future.
(fire crackling)
Will we survive?
I believe we are destined to do so.
May God bless us all.
(cheering)
(mild cheering)
(gentle music)
- Hey, I didn't hear you come in.
- Just got back.
- You okay?
- Yeah,
I'm really glad you're here.
- Me too.
- Are you having second
thoughts about USGS?
- I don't want Kincaid's job.
I'm a teacher, not an administrator.
I only want to be with you.
(romantic music swells)
As scientists we study
recent volcanic activity
in the hopes of better understanding
the way our world functions
and to prevent the loss of life
by eventually being able
to predict these eruptions.
Shared knowledge among
the nations of the world
will prevent future loss of life.
Today, we are capable of
learning more about Earth
than ever before,
but without our humanity,
our scientific progress helps no one.
The next time nature rebels,
will mankind be ready?
Have we learned from our past,
in order to protect our future?
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
- Tell me again why we're sitting
on top of this giant
rock called Trollsvotin?
Why couldn't I have got the job in Hawaii?
At least there's action there.
This volcano's been dormant for how long?
- Give it a rest, Jeff.
- All you two do is argue.
- There's nothing better
to do on this mountain.
Keeps me from yawning to death.
- Well, you could save your
energy and try not to talk.
- You'd like that wouldn't you?
- Oh, yeah.
- So would I.
- Fine.
(dramatic music)
(computer beeping)
- This whole mountain is gonna blow.
- Ryan and Fred,
they're still up at the
top collecting samples.
- Get them on the radio now.
We got to clear out!
(tense music)
- Ryan, this is base camp, copy.
(radio static)
Ryan, this is base camp, copy.
(earth rumbles)
Ryan, this is base
camp, get down here now!
Nothing.
These seem to have worken earlier.
You can't go up there.
- Lisa's coming with me.
- You won't make it.
- I'm not leaving them.
Call the helicopter evac team
and then pack up all our equipment.
We'll be back before your finished.
- Hurry.
Iceland Transport, copy
Iceland Transport, requesting
emergency evac, copy.
- This is Iceland
Transport, repeat request.
- This is USGO Survey Team Trollsvotin,
requesting immediate transport, copy.
- On our way.
ETA five minutes.
Emergency evac gives you
two minutes load time,
then we're out of there.
- Copy that Iceland
Transport, we'll be ready.
- Ryan, let's pack it up!
I can't get through to base camp
and these temperature readings
are rising pretty quick.
- [Ryan] Okay.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
- Jeff, Jeff, where's the evac team?
- The 'copter's on its way,
get down here now!
(men gasping)
(volcano erupting)
- The case!
(volcano rumbling)
(shouting)
- Oh no.
Let's get out of here!
(screaming)
(helicopter approaching)
(screaming)
(somber music)
- Just like that, in
the span of a heartbeat,
we see the earth go from
her most serene and bucolic
to her most violent and destructive.
Our planet was forged
out of this primordial
struggle of the elements,
earth, air, fire, and water.
And so volcanic activity
today, while less frequent,
tells us that the battle continues.
(volcano rumbles)
(student exclaims)
Mr. Taylor, welcome back.
These images were recorded
in Hualalai in 2000.
They are spectacular, beautiful,
but proof at the same time of how
unpredictable and
unmerciful nature can be.
All of these events remind us
that our survival as a species
is dependent upon our
ability to understand
and adapt to the planet's
ongoing evolution.
Hence volcanology,
despite Mr. Taylor's earlier
assertions to the contrary,
has nothing to do with Mr. Spock
or the Starship Enterprise,
(students laughing)
but rather is the study of
the earth's blood pressure.
Its life force carries
us from our distant past,
right up to the present
and tells us much about our future.
(bell rings)
I know I went over,
but I did want to give
you guys a sneak preview
of what you have to look
forward to next semester.
Remember to put your term papers
on the desk on your way out.
As always, I look forward
to being shocked and
awed by your brilliance.
- Dr. Shepherd,
sorry, do you have a sec?
- As of two minutes ago
I've got a whole week's worth of 'em.
What can I do for you, miss?
- Brianna Chapman,
I was in your thermodynamics
lab last semester.
- You're one of my grad students?
- I was, but then I sort of shifted gears.
- Is that so?
To what?
- Geochemistry actually.
- Well, that'd be here
and we can use all the help
we can get in that field.
- That is exactly why I
wanted to talk to you.
I heard about your expedition
that you're taking to
Iceland over the break.
- I don't suppose you
heard about that trip
from my illustrious TA did you?
- Christopher, did he tell you about me?
- No, but,
you're definitely his type.
(sighs)
- I want to come with you.
- Sorry, I've already filled
my quota of student volunteers.
- Oh, well I happen to know
that your chemist dropped out last minute.
- Do me a favor.
When you see your friend, Christopher,
tell him I'm going to wring his neck.
- I can do this job.
- It's not going to be some
clean, controlled environment,
you know, we're going
to be taking samples,
doing field analysis on the fly.
- And I'm not afraid
to get my hands dirty.
And I've spent time at volcanoes.
My family had a reunion
in Hawaii last year
and I spent the whole
entire time at Mauna Kea
and my Aunt Grace was not
very happy about that.
- Sorry, never get it past the trustees.
- Oh, but I'm not looking
for recommendation or credit.
I just, I just really want to get
some more field experience under my belt.
- Nobody can fault you
for a lack of enthusiasm.
Look, if I were to agree,
there would have to be conditions.
- Such as?
- No recommendations or credit.
I'd expect your very best at all times.
You'd have to buy your own plane ticket.
Okay, you win.
(Briana squeals)
- Thank you.
Oh, you will not regret this,
I could hug you right now.
And when I published my first book,
you are so getting a
shout out in the forward.
- Can I give you a tip?
- Don't hug you?
- And bring warm clothes
'cause it's very cold
and be on time
because we're leaving
first thing in the morning.
- Yes, yes, yes, yes,
yes, thank you. (whooping)
- I'm telling you this girl's amazing.
She's smart, she's funny, she's cool.
- She's a Hottie McNaughty.
What, that's what you said.
- By the way,
why don't you try
consulting with me next time
before using your job as
an excuse to pick up girls.
- That's unfair.
I honestly thought that
she's be a valuable member of the team.
- Meaning what?
She already shot you down once?
- Well, I kind of had a thing for her
and then I kind of had a
thing for her roommate.
It's complicated.
- Yeah, with you it usually is.
- But you're not upset, right?
- No, no.
I do have a few things
I'd like you to take a
look at during the break.
Tough but fair.
I'm gonna go check in with the pilot.
- Good to see you're still doing your part
in putting the T and A back in being a TA.
- Look, I know you're upset about
our little boys club getting busted up,
but I'm telling you, even
you will like this girl.
She's really smart.
- Well, given that
she's apparently managed
to resist your dubious charms,
I rather like her already.
- Damn, Phil, you weren't kidding.
- No, Phil, I wasn't.
- [Briana] Hi.
- Jacques, Kai, this is Brianna.
- Hi.
Nice to meet you.
- I'm Kai.
- Bri.
- Can I give you a hand with that?
- Sure.
- This way.
- Okay, no way she goes to Raven,
believe me, I'd have noticed.
- Maybe if you spent more time outside
and less time in your
room pirating porn DVDs.
- Hey, bro, that school ain't cheap.
Guy's gotta make a living.
- All right, we're all here,
let's get the show on the road.
(majestic music)
- So I don't understand, why Iceland?
- Yeah, man, all I know about
Iceland is that it's all,
well, ice.
- That's Greenland, Phil, you jackass.
- We're going to Iceland
because it's been estimated
that 1/3rd of all the lava
that's ever flowed upon the earth
has come from there.
- [CJ] And there was a team of geologists
exploring a crater there
that have gone missing.
- Well, that sounds more like a job
for the Icelandic Search and Rescue, Phil.
- Except seismic reports
show that apparently
there was a sudden eruption
when they disappeared.
- And the professor has a theory
that the volcano that we're visiting
is actually a few million years older
than the experts say it is.
The government gave him
a grant to prove it.
- So what if we prove it?
It's not like we win a car or something.
- Science is about the
search for truth, not glory.
- I didn't say they had to
name a national holiday after my ass.
All I'm saying is
if I'm gonna be spending my break
freezing my butt off in ass end of nowhere
instead of living in up in Miami or Cabo,
I at least want to see
some real action, you know?
- Well, it is
the most volcanically active
country on the planet.
Maybe you'll get your chance.
- I thought I read
somewhere that Grimsvotn
hasn't blown his top in like, 700 years.
- She hasn't.
(somber music)
- And we are a go for
geothermal and seismic, Phil.
Looks like she's sleeping like a baby.
- [Radio] Copy that, Phil.
(majestic music)
- Dr. Shepherd, this is amazing!
I feel like I'm in another
world or something.
- You and Jules Verne, "Voyage
to the Center of the Earth."
This was their point of origin.
You couldn't ask for
more pure, active example
of earth's ongoing evolution.
- And on that note, should
we get back to work?
Unless, of course, any of you fancy
spending the entire afternoon
basking in the stench of rotten eggs.
- Alright, Kai, you want
to hold down the fort?
We're gonna be taking some samples.
- [CJ] Yeah, try not to eat all the food.
- [Peter] Yeah, copy that.
- So let me ask you something.
What is the deal with you and
Kai and the Phil, Phil thing?
- It's just a thing.
- Oh, is it like a girl thing
or just haven't been in a
group long enough thing?
- Easy, Miss Insecurity.
No, I dated this PT major last year
and for some weird reason
she didn't like Kai.
So whenever he called the apartment
he called himself Phil.
So then I started calling
him Phil all the time.
And he started calling
me Phil all the time
and just sort of stuck.
- Jacques, check it out.
- It looks like an ammonite,
which would place this site
at the Mesozoic at least,
if not the Devonian,
which means bravo, professor.
- So what is the deal with Dr. Shepherd?
- What do you mean?
- I don't know, he's just kinda...
- He's married.
- Oh, he's married.
- Separated.
I guess she got tired
of chasing him into smoldering
holes in the ground.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
That definitely felt like a tremor.
- Kai, talk to me, was that us?
- No, I got a spike, but I
don't know where it came from.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
Hang on, we're offline.
Quake must have jarred the sensors loose.
- [CJ] There's definitely
some activity going on.
- What happened to the 700 years?
- I don't know, I guess
there's hope for Jacques yet.
- [Jacques] I, I can get it.
- Kai, contact the chopper,
I know this isn't the goal,
but I don't want to wait
around and find out.
CJ, Bri!
- Way ahead of you, doc.
(gentle music)
- Not again.
- [Kai] Mayday, mayday,
this is Exodus Expedition.
- Go ahead Exodus, what is your emergency?
- The volcano's become active.
We need immediate extraction, do you copy?
- Copy, Exodus, emergency
evac is on its way.
(dramatic music)
(earth rumbling)
- [Peter] All right, Jacques,
let's go, we're out of here.
- Wait a minute, sir.
- When are you gonna
know when to walk away?
Let's go.
It isn't worth it, now come on, move.
- [Jacques] I can get it.
- Let's go!
- [Jacques] I can get it.
I got it!
(computer beeping franticly)
(tense music)
(Bri gasping)
- Here.
- Team Exodus, Team Exodus,
This is Iceland Transport, do you copy?
- [Kai] Copy, Iceland Transport.
- Rescue chopper is in route,
ETA five minutes.
- [Kai] Copy that, Iceland Transport.
- Kai, what's the ETA on that chopper?
It's getting kind of hot down here.
- Guy said we're looking
at another five minutes.
Wind's been picking up big time.
(volcano exploding)
- Keep going, we're right behind you!
(dramatic music)
- The heat vents are
melting the glacier, sir.
That means-
- If it collapses
you and I are a permanent
part of the landscape
so keep climbing.
- We'll never make it.
- Yes, we will, now come on!
- [Kai] Come on, let's go!
- [Peter] Come on, Jacques,
it's just a little further.
Come on.
- We gotta get out of here!
- There's two more people down there!
- [Pilot] If we don't
get off this rock now
we'll never make it out alive!
- All right, guys, let's go!
You can do it!
That's it.
Come on.
Watch your step.
(lava bubbling)
(triumphant music)
- Thank you.
- You okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.
But since you're the one
looking for some action,
might I suggest that the next time
you go inside the volcano
and I'll stay at the
top with the equipment?
- Hey man, if it'd been my
fat ass out in that crater
it would've been a deep
fried pork rind right now.
- We should be so lucky.
- Oh my god.
Look at that, never seen anything like it.
- Nobody ever has.
The fact that I went off today
definitely supports
Vallian's Exodus theory.
- [Television] Volcanic
activity has subsided for now,
but the skies remained
choked with smoke and ash
and fall out has been experienced
as far away as Sweden.
With the death toll now
at an estimated 3,400
this eruption in Iceland is being called
the worst volcano related disaster
since the eruption of
Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
Meanwhile, scientists believe
they have traced the source of activity,
centered mainly on
Iceland's western peninsula,
to the apparent accidental rupturing
of several natural vents
by an off offshore drilling operation
in the North Atlantic late last week.
- She's pretty.
- Yes, she is.
- [Brianna] That your wife?
- For now.
- Sorry, Christopher told me.
- Is there anything he hasn't told you?
- Do you want to talk about it?
- No, what, my TA's
astounding ability to share
the intimate details of my
personal life with others?
- No, I meant your wife,
he told me that you guys are separated.
Then maybe I could help.
- I doubt it.
- Well, have you tried
calling and apologizing?
- I did actually try a couple of times,
but I just couldn't get past
the listening to her voice on
the answering machine part.
- So try again.
- Yeah, no, I know, you're right.
Hey, can I ask you something?
- Sure.
- Two dormant volcanoes,
I mean completely dormant,
erupt violently within days of each other.
Coincidence?
- Good luck with the phone call.
- Yeah, I didn't think so either.
(somber music)
Hey Melanie, is he here?
- He's inside.
Good to see you.
- [Peter] Good to see you, how are you?
- Good.
- How's Natalie?
- She's fine.
I guess she's fine.
I hear she's fine.
Actually, you'd have to
call and ask her yourself,
maybe then she'd pick up the phone.
- It's like I told you,
you can't spend the rest of your life
going down in those holes
without screwing everything up.
- You're one to talk.
I don't exactly see you slowing down.
- I lost some mobility,
you lost a marriage,
big difference.
- Some would argue that
marriage is a loss of mobility,
but I'm not saying that.
Anyway, how are things at USGS?
Kincaid still a jerk?
- Yeah,
he was a jerk when you
two were my students
and he was a bigger jerk
when I told him where he could stuff it,
so yeah, he's still a jerk.
- You what?
- I quit.
- You're kidding me.
- You remember what that place is like.
You get to be my age you ran
out of patience for politics.
It's a young man's game now.
And I could never get used to the idea
that one of my former
students was now my boss.
- Wow, I had no idea.
When did all this happen?
- Four months ago.
And you would have known
if you'd pick up the damn
phone once in a while.
- Me?
- You're the one whose
phone was disconnected.
- Oh, that.
- Yeah, that.
What's with the sheets,
you going somewhere?
- Yeah, we're flying
to Honshu on Wednesday.
- Wednesday, yes.
- Wednesday.
- Planning on staying awhile?
- As long as necessary.
- Hmm.
Well, with that in mind,
take a look at this.
- Grimsvotn, quite a mess, so I hear.
- It is, I was there.
- And the word is you took
along a team of rugrats.
- They're great scientists, Oskar.
- I'm sure they are.
You always could pick them.
What is this?
- You tell me, could Cotacachi, Ecuador.
Then 48 hours later,
five near simultaneous
eruptions in Iceland,
four of which hadn't made a peep in years.
It's the kind of thing
you've always talked about.
You were right about Exodus
and this is the start of it.
- No, it's not.
- What do you mean, no, it's not?
If these aren't the initial
indications of Exodus,
I'd love to know what the hell it is.
(tense music)
- First eruption happened here,
five weeks ago, off the coast of Spain.
Then here, two days later,
at Rarotonga in the South Pacific.
Then nothing, nothing for weeks
to the point where I began to think
that everyone else was right
and I was just grabbing at straws.
Then earthquakes here, here and here.
Of course I hadn't counted on Iceland
until sometime next week
and Cotacachi was a surprise.
- So?
- So this cannot be the start of Exodus
because Exodus already started.
- You gotta do something with it,
just take it to Kincaid.
Kincaid said the USGS
doesn't have the time
or the resources to prove some
old crackpot's hypothesis.
I'm done trying to prove anything
to people who don't want to listen.
- Isn't that what you're
going to Mount Fuji for,
to get proof?
Unless you're secretly hoping
that the myth of the fountain
of youth isn't a myth.
- You all already said it, Peter,
this was my life's work and no one cares.
- Then the hell with
Kincaid, go over his head,
take it to the Hill.
- It's the same game everywhere,
you of all people should know that.
- I understand if you don't want to do it,
but at least give me a shot,
you know what's at stake here.
- Take it.
Take all of it.
You and I both know
where I'm going and why.
I don't want to end my
life in some hospital room.
I'm going back to the front line.
Goodbye, Peter.
- CJ, I need you to
look up a number for me,
Stephen Daugherty
at the Bureau of Disaster
Relief and Awareness.
Call me back as soon as you can.
- [Stephen] Dr. Shepherd,
are you saying that you
can accurately predict
where and when these eruptions will occur?
- Given the proper resources, yes.
- Right now, all we're looking at
are generalities, probability.
The point here is what some
may see as a coincidence,
I think is the earth trying
to tell us something.
And in my experience, when that happens,
it's usually a good idea to listen.
- My apologies, gentlemen.
- [Stephen] Peter, I believe,
you know William Kincaid
from the US Geological Survey.
- Our paths have crossed, yes.
Would you like me to recap?
- Thanks, but I'm sure
I'll be able to catch up.
Please continue.
- Basically, we're seeing a
massive increase in activity
on a worldwide scale.
Now, I don't believe
that these are a succession
of random volcanic events.
I think they're part of a pattern
which, if ignored,
could have serious consequences
to the future of life on this planet.
- Peter, tell me you're not here
to sell us this Exodus crap again.
- What's Exodus?
- It's a halfback theory first put forth
by Dr. Shepherd's mentor, Oskar Vallian.
- It's anything but half baked.
- What Dr. Shepherd is suggesting
runs contrary to theories
the global scientific community
has unanimously subscribed
to for nearly half a century.
Volcanoes don't just erupt.
There are warning signs weeks,
sometimes months in advance.
- The global scientific community
unanimously subscribed to
the flat earth theory too.
I understand that this sounds farfetched,
but in order to understand Exodus,
you have to see the bigger picture.
Something has happened at the earth's core
causing it to expand.
The tremendous pressure
that has been displaced
is now working its way through the earth,
manifesting itself in these
accelerated eruptions.
The traditional warning
signs no longer apply,
not here, not to this.
- And what exactly is this something
that has caused the core's expansion?
Or does your theory not cover that?
- It could be any number
of different things.
What is causing the pattern
is beside the point.
Look, we can figure that out later,
right now we need to
figure out how to stop it.
- Dr. Shepherd,
I'm afraid I just don't see the emergency.
- How else can I put it?
There are 1,500 volcanoes
on the surface of the earth.
Some of them are active and
some of them are dormant.
Over 150 of them are located
in North America alone.
If they erupt, and I think they will.
We are looking at cataclysmic devastation.
- What's your worst case scenario?
- Gentlemen, I think
it's my duty to point out
that none of Dr.
Shepherd's so-called theory
has yet to be proven.
- [Stephen] Dr. Kincaid-
- He could be completely wrong.
- Please allow Dr. Shepherd
to answer the question.
- Worst case scenario,
the extinction of everything
living on the planet.
(dramatic music)
- How long do we have?
- Months?
- Thank you, Dr. Shepherd,
I believe I've heard enough.
I want you and your team
to go over his data,
see if there's anything to it.
If there is, come up with a
list of possible solutions.
- I'd be glad to.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
- You're an alarmist, Peter,
just like the old man.
Still, that was quite a
presentation you made back there.
The extinction of every
living thing on this planet,
compelling!
Oskar Vallian write that for you?
- You're not even going to
review my data, are you?
- Oh no, I'll review it.
I'll review it very carefully
and prove that your little
theory is complete crap.
And the amazing thing here is
that by doing that, I'll
be doing you a favor.
- How's that?
- Have you forgotten what tends to happen
whenever you start jumping the gun?
Tungurahua, Sakurajima.
- I was doing my job.
If those volcanoes had erupted
tens of thousands of
people would have died.
- Yes, and instead millions
of dollars were lost
and those same people
were placed in a state of
fear and panic for no reason.
- I guess I'm missing your point.
- My point is you have a
long history of being wrong.
I'd imagine by now you'd
be quite used to it.
(gentle music)
- [Harv] There she is, just in time.
- Morning, Harv.
Here you go.
There's a couple Danish in
here with your name on it.
- [Harv] Natalie, you know I shouldn't.
- Yeah, I know you will.
I don't care what Lorraine says.
I like a man with a few
extra pounds on him.
- Hey, you missed
all the excitement
around here this morning.
It seems like Old Faithful
decided she didn't like her name anymore.
- What do you mean?
- [Harv] Not so much as a burp
since yesterday afternoon.
(somber music)
- So what are they gonna do?
- In a word, nothing.
- Nothing?
- I guess the government's
decided to sit around
with their thumbs up their butts
till we're all knee deep lava
before they decide to do something.
- A little more eloquent explanation,
thank you, Kai.
Government wants proof.
I guess we have to get it for 'em.
Look, as you guys all know,
Oskar Vallian is the mind
behind this theory, right?
Well, guess what?
He thinks Mount Fuji is gonna erupt
within the next three weeks.
(gentle music)
- I want you and Konomi
to go back to Tokyo.
- Konomi, there's a car
waiting for you outside.
- Yes, but I'm not finished with my work.
- Just go.
- Yes, ma'am.
- I said both of you.
- [Melanie] Oskar.
- You're a young woman
and you have your entire
life ahead of you.
- You've been my entire life for 12 years.
I'm not going to leave you now.
- Melanie.
- Don't say anything,
I'm staying.
- And to that end, he's gone off to Honshu
to gather data directly.
In the meantime, I'll be going to Ecuador.
If our theory is correct
and these recent volcanic events
are like dominoes in a long chain,
each linked to a tectonic plate
through a series of
interconnecting fault lines.
Our job would then be to ascertain,
not only why all of this is happening,
but which faults are being affected
and which volcanoes are
likely to go off next.
I'm not gonna lie to you,
this is gonna be dangerous.
So if any of you have any reservations,
especially after what happened in Iceland,
believe me, I'll understand.
- It's not even an issue.
Count me in.
- Me too.
- Well, seeing that it's
the only chance we've got
of proving any of this,
we don't have much of a choice, do we?
- Yeah, if we're gonna
be working with you,
does that mean you're
exempt from everything else?
Because I got this major
biochem paper due next Tuesday.
What?
I'm just asking.
But I'm totally in.
- Good.
(thunder crashes)
(phone dialing, ringing)
(voicemail beeps)
Hi, sorry, I guess you're out.
Unless you're standing
there listening to this,
waiting for me to hang
up so you can hit delete.
Which I can only assume
is what you've done
the last three times-
- Hey.
- You answered.
- Right, shouldn't you be
climbing into some smoking
hole in the ground?
- Okay, I got it.
I guess this was a bad idea,
I shouldn't have called.
- Well, what did you expect
this to be like, Peter?
- Oh, I don't know.
I guess civil would have
been too much to hope for.
- Fine, let's start over.
How are you?
- Been better.
- Why? What's the matter?
- A little run in with Bill Kincaid today.
- Kincaid, how's he?
- Slimy as ever,
but look, I didn't call to talk about him.
- Then why did you call?
- To hear your voice,
to see how you're doing.
- Well, this is a little
out of character, Peter.
Are you sure that's the reason?
- Yeah, I...
So, how are you doing?
How's life at Yellowstone?
- Well, apparently
mother nature has decided
to make my life a living hell
with fire season in the middle of winter,
but other than that, everything's fine.
Peter, you sound weird.
Are you sure you're okay?
- What?
Yes.
Just worrying about you.
- Listen, I should really get going.
They have me supervising
these sunrise trail walks
three times a week, so.
- Well, great talking to you.
Nice to hear you finally say something
other than hello, this is Natalie,
please leave a message after the beep.
- Take care of yourself, Peter.
- You too.
- Goodnight.
- Bye.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music swelling)
(volcano exploding)
- [Phone] Hello, you've reached
the voicemail box of Peter Shepherd.
After the tone, please leave a message.
- Peter, I just want to
give you a last message.
It's good to be on the front line again.
- Oskar, we gotta go.
- No.
- Let's go, Oskar.
- It's too late, no.
(somber music)
- [Oskar] It's good to be
on the frontline again.
- Hi.
Try this instead.
I'm sorry about your friend.
Maybe he wasn't there, maybe he got out.
- No, he was there.
He knew what was gonna happen.
It was what he wanted.
- To die?
- He didn't have anything left to give.
He sacrificed everything,
family, career,
for a theory that nobody
would pay any attention to.
- Bet they're paying attention now.
- If it's not too late.
- Is that your wedding ring?
- Symbolic, huh?
Hanging in limbo.
- It's an interesting concept,
wedding ring purgatory.
I wanted to apologize for
what I said the other day
about your marriage, it
was none of my business.
There's this really serious
genetic condition in my family
called foot in mouth disease.
- You oughta get that looked at.
- Sorry, I was just trying to help.
- It's not that I don't appreciate it,
it's just that
I don't know if my failed marriage
is really appropriate
student teacher conversation.
- Well, technically we're
not really supposed to be
drinking beers together either.
But then again, I'm not
your student this semester,
so maybe we're in the clear.
Can I ask you what happened?
- Basically, I spent the first
two years of our relationship
chasing after her
and then I spent the first
three years of our marriage
chasing after volcanoes,
dragging her with me.
I was all pretty much about my world.
And I guess she got fed up with that.
Took off to go find a life of her own.
I screwed up.
- You really want it back?
- Nothing makes very
much sense without her,
but I haven't figured out how to fix it.
- Well, like I said before,
you can try apologizing.
- I have a hard time
admitting when I'm wrong.
Although, as someone
pointed out to me recently,
I should be used to it by now.
- You just admitted it to me.
I don't know, maybe if
you give it some time
and you admit it to her
you guys can have another chance.
- Maybe.
- But can I give you a tip?
- Don't hug you.
- No, don't wait too long.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- [Television] The sudden
eruption of Mount Fuji
has not only destroyed much of the island,
but has triggered several tsunamis,
the biggest in this part
of the world since 2004,
placing an estimated 60% of
the coast of China under water.
The death toll is likely to be
in the hundreds of thousands.
And breaking news from Africa.
- [Reporter] The first major
eruption of Mount Kilimanjaro
since the last ice age.
Many fear the danger from these eruptions
may be compounded by storm clouds,
creating a highly concentrated
form of acid rain.
- He never said anything about Africa.
And he told us Fuji wouldn't
go off for another month,
- But he did say it would erupt.
- He's grabbing at straws.
- Well, maybe you should consider
grabbing a handful or two for yourself.
(sweeping music)
- There's definitely some
major rocking and rolling
going down the lithosphere,
but it ain't from this site.
- He's right, it looks
like the epicenter's
maybe a mile, mile and a
half northwest of here.
- That would place us
somewhere in the vicinity
of this area here.
According to this,
there appears to be a series
of mines, copper mostly.
- Let's do it.
- What is it?
- It says this site is
closed until further notice
per order of the Auracona mining company.
- [Jacques] Well, it works for me.
I guess we're leaving then?
(gun fires)
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!
(speaking in a foreign language)
- [CJ] What'd you say to him?
- I said we're scientists,
that the company sent us.
- For heaven's sake, tell
him we're not trespassing!
- Well, we sort of are, dude.
- Ask him what happened.
(speaking in a foreign language)
- He said that there were
some men working at the mine
a few weeks ago when the
earth began to bleed fire.
Worse than fire, it
was like it was poison.
- Poison?
- Oh, we're not going in.
(speaks in a foreign language)
(ominous music)
- [Peter] Go ahead and set up, Kai.
Everyone else, stay close.
- [Brianna] So this is what hell is like.
(tense music)
- Guys, this is definitely it.
I'm showing hot spots all
over the place down here.
- [Brianna] Which way do we go?
- [Jacques] I'm not sure,
the map doesn't seem to show
this particular juncture.
- [Peter] Heat's definitely
stronger in this direction.
- [Jacques] Anyone else feel
like these walls are closing in?
- [CJ] Definitely getting tighter in here.
- [Brianna] It's also getting hotter.
(magma sizzling)
- [Peter] This is it.
- [Brianna] Wow, it's a magma chamber.
(magma bubbling)
- [CJ] Looks like it's rising pretty fast.
- [Peter] Yeah, a little too fast.
Let's get some rock and vapor samples
then get the hell out of here.
- [Jacques] That's the best
idea I've heard all day.
(tense music)
- [Brianna] Do you think the radiation's
coming from the magma?
- [Peter] We won't know until
they run the core samples,
but the levels are extremely high.
It's no wonder they
closed this place down.
- Guys, just as an FYI,
I'm starting to pick up some major burps
on the seismal.
- [Peter] Copy that, Kai.
Bri and I are already
making our way back to you.
Jacques and CJ are wrapping it up.
- Wait a moment, CJ.
- What is it now?
- You know, I'm not so certain
this tunnel is supposed to be here.
Our location is nowhere to be found.
This just doesn't make sense.
According to this map, this
tunnel simply does not exist.
- Okay, Magellan,
how do you explain the fact
that we're standing in it?
- I can't explain it.
Unless. - Unless what?
- Well, I'm just beginning to wonder
if this isn't a tunnel,
but rather-(shouting)
This isn't a tunnel, it's a lava tube!
(tunnel collapsing)
(screaming)
- Where's Jacques?
- He's gone.
- [Peter] He didn't make it, Kai.
(birds singing)
- Doctor said that the burns
were mainly superficial,
except for on his leg.
They're going to have to set
it before the skin graft,
but it's gonna be okay.
- Good.
- You can't blame yourself
for what happened down there.
Jacques and CJ knew the risks, we all did.
- The point is
I never should have put anybody
at risk in the first place.
- But that's the job, right?
Look, Kai is upstairs right now
analyzing the samples we got.
We have a better handle on where and how
magma flow is affecting the fault network.
He didn't die for nothing.
None of this is worth nothing.
I believe that, have to.
- [Peter] Oh my god.
- [Reporter] Much of the historic
city of Rome lies in ruins
following the reawakenings
of Mount Etna and Vesuvius.
The pope has proclaimed that he believes
this global devastation may be
the beginning of the end of days.
- Well, it's all happening
just like you said it would.
They wouldn't listen.
- No, matter of time.
Where is this one?
- Crater in San Sebastian,
that's from down in the mine.
Numbers threw me off at first, too.
Math is constant and
crystallization levels.
I ran the test twice, they're for real.
- That's what this trace
levels of radioactive material,
43.7, 48.4?
- Those too,
whole chemical compositions
in both samples
were out of whack.
I mean, it looks more like,
- Like it would have been taken
directly from the Earth's core.
- There's something else.
Who do we know at the USGS?
- Why?
What's happened?
- When I went online
to compare all this stuff
to our databases from Raven,
I had problems getting into the server.
It looked like someone had
hacked into our system.
I did some backhacking
and they got copies of everything we had.
- While I can understand how
you might feel somewhat angered
by whatever injustice you
may feel has occurred-
- You're damn right I'm angry,
you had no authority to do this.
- I assure you it was
done for the common good.
- Look, there's still time.
If you just listen to
me, I could help you.
- Your help will no longer be necessary.
My people have compiled
everything into a workable theory,
which we will be presenting
in Washington tomorrow.
- So that's it?
Last week you didn't believe in Exodus,
now you're stealing it.
- Goodbye, doctor.
- So now what?
- Listen, Dr. Shepherd and Kai
need you more than I do at this point.
- I know, I just-
- I'll be fine, trust me.
- Bri, we gotta to go now if
we're gonna catch that plane.
- Okay.
Make sure you don't
hook up with any hot Columbia
nurses while I'm gone.
(somber music)
- Yes, I'd like to speak with
Stephen Daugherty please.
- Based on what we have seen so far
with regard to these eruptions,
while indeed the problem
is dire, Mr. President,
it is not insurmountable.
The key will be to relieve pressure
from within those volcanoes
that have yet to go off.
Excuse me, this is a closed meeting.
- Stephen, this meeting been
going on for half an hour now,
who are these people?
- Mr. President,
I like to introduce you to the man
who first brought the Exodus
theory to our attention.
- Dr. Peter Shepherd, sir.
And these are two of
my research associates,
Brianna Chapman, and Kai Senakoia.
- I was under the
impression that Dr. Kincaid
was the leading authority in all this.
- With all due respect, sir,
Dr. Oskar Vallian is the
leading authority on Exodus.
He and I worked very closely
together for many years-
- I assure you, Dr. Shepherd,
the problem is in capable hands.
Now, may I suggest
you take the science club
field trip elsewhere?
- Mr. President, Dr. Kincaid's
evidence is incomplete,
I can prove that.
- Ridiculous.
- You stole it off our server
in the first place, remember?
- Kai.
Excuse me, Mr. President,
There've been some new developments,
developments that Dr.
Kincaid knows nothing about.
As a result he's likely to
draw the wrong conclusions
and this is not a situation
we can afford to make mistakes with.
- All right.
We'll adjourn.
We'll meet back here in five minutes.
- Thank you, sir.
- Don't thank me yet.
I don't know what you've got,
but boy, it better be damn good.
Now I don't know what the
hell is going on here.
But I want to talk to the
two of you immediately.
- [Peter] There you are,
thought we lost you for a sec.
- [Kai] Is everything okay?
- Fine.
- Okay, Kai,
why don't you run ahead and
get things set up for us,
be right with you.
- Sure thing.
- Sure you're okay?
- I don't know, that depends.
Is it normal to throw up before you're
about to present your theory
on how the world is gonna end
to the president of the United States?
- I don't know, it's the
first time for me too,
but I will say I made a point of
steering clear the chicken
Florentine on the flight up.
Alright, ready to go knock
this one out of the park?
- Yeah.
- So these layers
surrounding the earth's core
serve as both filters and conductors
for the heat and radiation
that are essentially the fuel
that makes the planet run.
And it's been running pretty
well for a very long time,
but there is one variable
that earth hadn't counted on.
Us.
By releasing toxins and radiation
in ever increasing quantities
on the surface of the earth,
man has sped up the internal
processes of the planet,
generating an excessive heat at the core.
It's caused an expansion to take place.
It's pushing its way out
into the molten outer core.
It's leading to these
large-scale volcanic events.
- Basically it's like the
earth is trying to get rid of a
really bad case of double
burrito indigestion.
- Now her explanation I understand.
(men chuckling)
- As fascinating as all
this may be, doctor,
I'm afraid the purpose of this meeting
isn't to determine how this began,
rather how and when it's going to end.
- Sooner than you might think.
- That's a pretty bold statement
considering we haven't seen anything
remotely resembling what
you've been talking about,
I mean, not here, not in this country.
- I'm afraid that's about to change.
And not just in this country.
If you look here,
you'll see fault lines radiating
out from the earth's core,
coursing through the planet,
linking together with tectonic plates
like veins and arteries.
These points indicate where
eruptions have already occurred.
You might notice that
they've all taken place
along a major fault line,
which puts pressure on various plates,
particularly the Pacific
and the North American.
- What does that mean to us?
- That we can expect
increased eruption patterns
in Hawaii within the next 24 hours,
followed by both volcanic
and seismic activity
along the Rockies, all
the way up into Alaska.
And that's just for starters.
- This is a recent satellite
image of the atmosphere.
Now, based on the current rate
at which these eruptions are occurring,
here's a projection of how
it will look in two days,
one week,
two weeks.
- Are you trying to tell me
that we could be looking
at another ice age?
- If these eruptions
continue unabated, yes.
- And how are we supposed to shut down
every volcano on Earth?
- Believe it or not,
I actually have a plan.
- We're all ears, doctor.
- The planet is going to
continue to discharge
this volcanic material.
The question is, where do you want it,
on the land or under the ocean?
- And what are you suggesting, doctor?
- Rather than letting the planet decide
where and when to erupt,
we released the pressure for her.
- How?
- We would need to develop
a somewhat more sophisticated
oceanographic floor plan.
But we would pick strategic
geological targets
to detonate a series of charges along,
creating vents in the
subaquatic lithosphere
that would release the rock and magma,
reducing the pressure
and allowing the plates
to realign themselves.
- And that would work?
- It's just a theory, but-
- And a rather poorly
thought out one, at that.
- Look, I'm not saying it would be easy.
Even with precision detonations,
there would be aftershocks,
significant wave activity.
The eruptions aren't just
going to stop overnight.
The change would be gradual but steady.
(muffled whispering)
But given the depths
of the thermally active
regions I have in mind,
I believe that the
aftereffects would be minimal,
especially when you
consider the alternatives.
- Wait a minute,
Dr. Shepherd,
are you seriously
proposing the global launch
of nuclear warheads to stop a
bunch of volcanic eruptions?
- Which goes against everything
I've ever believed in.
But when your back is against the wall,
you have to fight fire with fire.
- Mr. President, with all due respect,
I strongly advise against-
- Look, Professor Plagiarism,
you had your chance.
Now whether you want to admit it or not,
we are running pretty damn
low on options and time.
So if you have a better idea,
I'm sure we'd all love to hear it.
- Atlas has shrugged, gentlemen.
Now, what are we gonna do about it?
(tense music)
- Sorry about that, I
just couldn't help myself.
That guy is a first class tool.
- No, that's,
hey, I couldn't have
said it better myself.
- [Natalie] You want me to leave?
- Yes.
- Oh god, Peter, and go where?
Look, if this is your way of convincing me
to go back to New York-
- Natalie, I just told you
everything I've been through.
I don't want to argue with you.
That's not why I called.
- Nothing is going to happen here.
- [Peter] You don't know that.
- There hasn't been
a major eruption at Yellowstone in years.
- That doesn't change the fact
that it's sitting right on top
of the largest fault
line in North America,
the same one that I've been
tracing volcanic activity
over the last three days.
Oskar's dead, Nat.
So is one of my students.
- What?
- Oskar was at Mount
Fuji when it went off.
Jacques was with me.
- Oh my god, Peter.
I'm so sorry.
Are you okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.
I'd just feel a lot better
if I knew that you were too.
- Peter, I don't know
what you expect me to do.
I don't know what to say.
- Listen, I'm sorry,
about everything.
I was wrong.
What happened between us was my fault,
I know that.
- Peter.
- Look, I don't know
how you feel about me at this point.
I don't know if we have another chance.
I just need you to believe me
about this, if nothing else.
- [Television] FEMA has so
far failed to comment on-
- Are you watching what's going on?
They're showing footage of Hualalai.
I almost don't recognize it anymore.
- [Television] The governor has authorized
the National Guard to
begin mass evacuations
following the eruption
of virtually all the
island chain's volcanoes.
- [Natalie] It's gonna
get worse, isn't it?
- Yeah, it is.
(beeping)
- [Woman] Dr. Shepherd,
there's an urgent call for
you from a Stephen Daugherty.
- Yeah, tell him I'll be right there,
just one second.
Natalie?
- [Natalie] Yeah.
- I'm sorry, I gotta run.
But I'll call you back
soon as I can, okay?
- Peter.
- Yeah?
- Just be careful.
Please.
- I will.
Stephen?
- Peter, how long would
it take you and your team
to create your floor plan?
With the resources we have at the moment,
at least a week.
- Naval Intelligence is
expecting you within the hour.
They've been told they're working for you
and you're to have full
access to whatever you need.
You have 24 hours.
- So the president accepted the plan.
- You're good to go, Peter.
Good luck.
- Okay, I'll be there.
(tense music)
So this is it, huh?
Now, unfortunately
we're not gonna be able to
go with satellites today
because of the cloud cover
so if we can get detailed maps
of the Atlantic and Pacific
basins, that'd be great.
- Okay.
- That looks like the sea
project NOAA was working on.
- It is.
- Wasn't that scrapped in the late '80s
because of security concerns?
- It was, officially.
So, officially, you've never seen it.
(quiet chattering)
- Yeah, right, understand,
we should get initial data back
in about the next 30 minutes.
- I hope they understand
the time constraints
we're working under here.
- Yeah, the certainly do.
(dramatic music)
(electronics beeping)
(quiet chattering)
- All right, here's what we've got.
- Okay, submarine fleets
throughout the Pacific
and Atlantic are being armed
and moving into position as we speak.
- Okay, well, we're closing in on it.
I just want to make
sure all the coordinates
are 100% accurate.
- And that's why you're
going to be working
hand in hand with the Navy
throughout this operation
aboard two of its flagships,
the Hyperion and the Reprisal.
- Wait a minute, you want us to actually-
- Transportation's already been arranged.
I'll let you decide who goes where.
- Alright, you're going
to be our go between.
Kai and I will relay information
back to you and the techs
to verify any potential hot spots.
- Got it.
- Listen, if something goes wrong-
- Dr. Shepherd, no.
- Yes.
I want you to give this to my wife.
Tell her I'm sorry.
That I, I didn't have time,
couldn't figure out how to,
just tell her I'm sorry, okay?
- Okay.
- Thank you.
(exciting music)
Is this absolutely necessary?
- [Officer] It is if you
want to reach the Hyperion
inside of this week.
- How long until we land?
- [Officer] We don't.
- You're sure this is a good idea?
(shouting)
(splashing)
Captain Holloway, Dr. Peter Shepherd.
- It's a pleasure.
You tell us where you want 'em,
we'll do our best to hit the target.
- Yes, sir.
- We've set you up over here.
Show me what you've got.
- Well, this is definitely
a work in progress,
but we've detected serious
thermal and vent activity in here
as well as along this ridge.
So according to our calculations,
the explosions should start taking place
somewhere in this general area here.
- That's gonna put us
smack in the middle of
the Marianas Trench.
- I realize that, sir.
- I hope you know what
you're doing, Doctor.
- That makes two of us.
(birds singing)
- Excuse me.
(groaning)
Excuse me.
(gasping)
I'm sorry for the disturbance,
but we have a situation developing
and we need you folks
to proceed to the South
exit as soon as possible.
- Can we get dressed first?
- Yeah, that would be a good idea.
- [Man] Babe, who was that?
Why you getting dressed?
- [Radio] Natalie, you there?
- Go ahead, Harv.
- [Radio] You want to explain to me
why I'm getting reports
from all over the place
that you're telling people back
to evacuate the camp ground?
- Because I am.
- Listen, I'm up here at Old Faithful
with some guys from the university.
They tell me we have
some ground declination,
but I don't think that's
any reason to panic.
- No, it's deformation, Harv,
which means there's magma
moving beneath the earth
and we do have reason to panic.
- [Harv] Natalie, why
don't we just wait and see?
- Trust me on this one, Harv.
I'm headed over to Canyon campgrounds,
I sent a couple of
families there yesterday.
Get everyone is far away
from the geyser as possible,
I'll be in touch.
(tense music)
- Approaching a large
hydrothermal field now.
160 by north 20.
- Any chimneys out there?
- Take a look.
Have your pick, black or white.
- Iron saturation levels
must be off the charts.
Definitely closing in on it.
- Dr. Shepherd,
someone on the comm line for you.
You can patch in right here, sir.
- Thank you.
Hello?
- Hey, doc, how're things
in the Pacific rim?
- Cold and dark,
but it looks like that's
starting to change.
How are things on your end?
- Like I'm playing sub commander
in the world's biggest bathtub, man.
You should've seen the
look on the captain's face
when he realized he'd be entrusting
the navigation of $6 billion
worth of Navy equipment
to a joker.
- Why don't we try
and keep that a secret
for a while, all right?
And remember, we've got the Russians
and the UK waiting in the wings.
So as soon as you sync up with Bri
and finalize your coordinates,
I want you to forward 'em
all around, all right?
- Aye, aye, sir.
Always wanted to say that.
- Okay, Kai, target coordinates
are good on one and two,
waiting for confirmation on three.
- [Kai] Copy that, standing by.
- What's the minimum safe distance
from these kinda detonations?
- Two nautical miles.
- Hope we make it.
- This is either the smartest
plan in the history of mankind
or the dumbest.
- If it's the latter
we won't be around long
enough to regret it.
(explosions) (alarms beeping)
(dramatic music)
- What the hell was that?
- Sir, we've got multiple thermal spikes
popping up all over the trench.
- Looks like they want to
beat us to the punch, huh?
- Load specials in tube one and two,
flood and standby.
- Load specials in tube one and two,
flood and standby, aye.
- Come on, Peter, pick up.
Oh my god.
(earth rumbling)
(dramatic music)
- Damage report.
- We're gonna need a hell of an overhaul
when we put into port, captain.
I wouldn't advise that we stay
in the trench much longer.
- Noted, XO, maintain course and speed.
- Maintain course and speed, aye.
- Open tubes one and
two, standby for launch.
- Hyperion has her tube doors open.
She's ready to fire.
- Torpedoes armed and ready.
Tubes one and two are flooded.
Tube doors are open.
Ready to fire your command, sir.
- Fire torpedo one and two.
- Torpedoes away.
(exploding)
- What was that?
- Torpedo two went off track, sir.
- Number two torpedo has
impacted with the trench wall.
- Now what?
- Now we hope the first one
penetrated deep enough to get the job done
and the next ones don't miss.
- Load specials, tubes three and four.
- Torpedo one on track, sir.
Time to target,
T minus three, two, one.
(exploding)
Signatures are weakening, sir.
Sea water's already cooling off the magma,
looks like our plan is actually working.
- Let's not pat ourselves
on the back just yet.
We've still got our two
biggest targets coming up.
- I just wanted to let you
know Operation Heal the Earth
has officially commenced
here in the Atlantic.
Hope they got a crap load of champagne
ready on ice back in DC, the good stuff.
- Torpedoes three and four are away.
(alarm blaring)
- Kai, what happened?
Kai!
(alarm blaring)
(electricity crackling)
- Transmitting SOS on high frequency.
This is the United States
Submarine Reprisal-
(somber music)
- Maintain port side
clearance, full right rudder!
- Captain, I've lost all contact
with my man on the Reprisal.
- It's gonna have to wait.
Fire tubes three and four.
- Fire tubes three and four, aye.
- My fellow Americans,
as you are well aware
for the past several weeks
our planet has been besieged
by a series of unusual volcanic eruptions.
These geological events
have caused untold damage
and loss of life all across the globe.
The world's top scientists
have concluded that the earth
will continue to release magma
at an increased startling rate.
(lava bubbling)
However, there is hope,
a possibility to bring an end
to the devastation and
destruction of our planet.
Earlier this morning,
acting with the full cooperation
of the United Nations,
I authorized a plan of action
intended to counter the
effects of these eruptions.
(shouting)
(somber music)
(fire roaring)
At this very moment
several American submarines in
the Atlantic and the Pacific
are working in conjunction
with submarine fleets from other nations,
22 countries, coordinating efforts
to launch 44 nuclear tipped torpedoes
at various targets beneath
the world's oceans.
(exploding)
If we are successful in our joint mission,
and I have every
confidence that we will be,
our way of life will be
preserved for future generations.
However, planet Earth, as we know it,
will be forever changed.
I ask you, regardless of your faith,
to join me in a prayer
for our families, for our friends,
for our heroes,
and most of all for our future.
(fire crackling)
Will we survive?
I believe we are destined to do so.
May God bless us all.
(cheering)
(mild cheering)
(gentle music)
- Hey, I didn't hear you come in.
- Just got back.
- You okay?
- Yeah,
I'm really glad you're here.
- Me too.
- Are you having second
thoughts about USGS?
- I don't want Kincaid's job.
I'm a teacher, not an administrator.
I only want to be with you.
(romantic music swells)
As scientists we study
recent volcanic activity
in the hopes of better understanding
the way our world functions
and to prevent the loss of life
by eventually being able
to predict these eruptions.
Shared knowledge among
the nations of the world
will prevent future loss of life.
Today, we are capable of
learning more about Earth
than ever before,
but without our humanity,
our scientific progress helps no one.
The next time nature rebels,
will mankind be ready?
Have we learned from our past,
in order to protect our future?
(dramatic music)