The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari (Netflix)

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari:

Don’t walk on a volcano when it’s due to go off.

Quick synopsis:

The story of a deadly volcanic eruption in New Zealand in 2019.

Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:

The heat of pyroclastic flows is somewhere between 390-1300°. It’s not a great place to be.

Fun Fact for History Nerds:

Whakaari has been releasing volcanic gas since it was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1769.

My Take on The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari:

So, here’s what you need to know. If you go to New Zealand, there is a volcano called Whakaari. This volcano is on a pretty regular schedule as far as when it goes off with a big ol’ explosion. 2019 is one of those years where an eruption would not be out of the ordinary. This documentary is about a trip to the volcano in 2019 where a bunch of tourists walked right up to the damn volcano. Guess what happened?

The documentary is told by the people who were there that day and survived as well as the rescuers who did some pretty heroic things. Needless to say, not everyone did make it out alive. I would warn people that the ones who survived did not make it out clean, either. There are some hard to look at burns even three years later. This is a very sad but well-done documentary.

One thing you will not see is any sort of follow up on lawsuits. If this happened in the U.S., I am 100% sure there would be a million lawsuits but the documentary points out that there was no real protections in place for these tourists. So, when the show ends and you think, “Wait a minute! What about….” Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Verdict:

Watch it. Watch it here!

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• Class Action Park (HBO)