This is a superb movie that stands far above your vast majority of disaster movies. Supervolcano isn't really a movie -- it's a "factual drama" produced by the BBC (some 16 minutes of which were cut for its airing on Discovery Channel) that delivers a pretty realistic look at the worst-case scenario of what could happen if the giant ball of magma beneath Yellowstone National Park erupts.

It's rather frightening because this isn't make-believe. The simple fact is that a super eruption at Yellowstone is going to happen; it's happened before (the last one was 640,000 years ago) and it will happen again -- in fact, it's 40,000 years overdue based on its historical cycle. Scientists tell us there is nothing indicating such an eruption any time soon, but the science of volcanology really isn't all that advanced. As a case in point, scientists just discovered in April 2013 that the magma reservoir beneath Yellowstone is 50 percent larger and better connected than previously thought.

I've read articles that say the effects of a supervolcanic eruption won't be as widespread as what we see in this movie, but there can be no doubt it would kill millions, destroy much of America's food and water supply, and cause significant climate changes across the globe. As shocking as this movie is, I fear it actually underplays the scope of the disaster.

The action picks up five days before the eruption, with USGS scientist Rick Lieberman (Michael Riley) and his team measuring the effects of a series of earthquakes and dismissing the idea that there is any chance of an eruption at Yellowstone -- certainly nothing worse than the one at Mount St. Helen's in 1980. The earthquakes give scientists a much better estimate of the size of the immense magma pocket underneath Yellowstone, though, and computer simulations begin to point more and more to some kind of significant volcanic event.

The possibility is enough to get FEMA involved, but homeland security's main concern is preventing mass panic -- which is exactly what happens when one dogged news reporter leaks the information that a major catastrophe may be imminent. Of course, we all know that FEMA is incompetent, but there's really not much anyone can do when Yellowstone's hidden fury begins to be released.

This movie takes us through the lead-up to, preparation for and catastrophic aftermath of a supervolcanic eruption. With a story based on the thoughts and predictions of volcano experts and insight into mass disaster planning, Supervolcano delivers an incredibly realistic story, leaving no doubt as to the disastrous effects that will decimate the surrounding area, cover much of the United States in deadly volcanic ash, and eventually clog up the atmosphere of the entire globe for years when Yellowstone does finally decide to blow its top.