Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post", openly wondered why "there's no volcano in ""Volcano""?...The hokey disaster drama features towering plumes of smoke, a splendid display of fireworks and brimstone, and rivers of molten magma, but I'll be darned if there's a burning mountain." She concluded her review by declaring that "While disaster yarns aren't known for subtlety, there are limits, and "Volcano" giddily goes beyond them. Director Mick Jackson, who also made Steve Martin's wry ""L.A. Story"," must have had his hands full with the logistics of this bombastic extravaganza. He sets a blistering pace, but the movie never generates any real thrills." Todd McCarthy of "Variety" was more positive, writing "Volcano" delivered "enough spectacular action to get it off to a hot B.O. start" and that "first-time screenwriters Jerome Armstrong and Billy Ray waste no time with exposition or scene-setting, starting the fireworks with a nerve-jangling morning earthquake that puts city workers on alert for possible damage."