Pompeii accurately showcases the stages of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, including earthquakes and pyroclastic flows. The film exaggerates the effects of the eruption, including flaming balls of lava falling on the streets and ships being pushed into the city by a tsunami. The characters of Senator Quintas Corvus and certain aspects of the gladiatorial subplot are fictionalized for dramatic purposes in the movie.

In 2014 Paul W.S. Anderson, best known for the Resident Evil movies, directed the historic disaster film Pompeii, and while it gets a lot of right about the Roman city frozen in time by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, it gets some things wrong. Mount Vesuvius was a volcano that erupted in 79 BC and destroyed the city of Pompeii while perfectly preserving its citizens in ash, which left quite the profound effect on Anderson during a trip to Italy. He wondered what sort of lives these people must have led,...