I'm watching Dante's Peak (1997), a volcano flick starring Pierce Brosnan.
The colours are just so wonderful -- it's like being outside in real nature.
Whereas with modern movies things seem really washed out. The filming is crisp, and the composition is usually good, but it feels like you're living in a claustrophobic world. Modern movies feel a lot like living in 1984.
Is this the difference between film/digital? Or are people choosing different colour palates?
Digital is part of it. It's not strictly a limitation with the technology itself, but the nature of it means it's very easy to fuck something up in the pipeline from the actual light to a viewable video. A lot of it is "styling" too. There's an infamous picture of every frame of the entire Harry Potter franchise averaged out and blended into a line, which shows just how much directors and editors do to the color to set the mood.
Great movie by the way. Lots of practical effects and the last of an era of grounded disaster movies. These days, they can't keep it in their fucking pants. Even action movies try to top 2012 half the time, and 2012 was ridiculous even for its time.