# Firestorm (1998)

### reviewed by
Walter Frith

    'Firestorm'

    A movie review by Walter Frith

The mechanics of a film like 'Firestorm' are pretty basic. It isn't like you would expect a brainstorm of ideas to revolve around such a simple and mundane premise. Therefore, you have to count on the film having a well executed blend of stunt work, editing, photographic expertise, and it should, at the very least, have a brisk pace. 'Firestorm' doesn't have any of these elements in the proper place. In a somewhat shameless and pitiful way, it passes itself off with the trademark elements of a television movie. The shaky camera angles, an obviously low number of takes, murky photography and cheesy special effects are all presented in a protracted and scattershot manner and many of the movie's bland action sequences are clumsily executed and in a movie involving fire, you almost need a magnifying glass to see any of the important moments.

Former NFL celebrity and present day football analyst Howie Long stars (barely) as a wilderness firefighter who confronts a renegade group of escaped prisoners, disguised as firefighters, who are using a forest fire as the perfect cover for a getaway scheme involving the recovery of millions of dollars hidden away just before their leader was caught and sent away to prison.

William Forsythe plays the villain leader (barely) who enlists the aid of other prisoners to help him recover the money but kills each one of his helpers along the way so he doesn't have to share the loot with them. Tagging along for the ride is a nature photographer (Suzi Amis) who becomes embroiled in Long's fight against the bad guys after Long rescues her from Forsythe's gang after she's kidnapped and tells Long during their hike through the forest that she's the daughter of a tough marine and learned a lot from her old man. Where's the incredible hulk when you need him? Rounding out the cast is the veteran actor Scott Glenn who is completely wasted as a colleague of Long's in the fire fighting game who suffers a career ending injury and has to make an embarrassing sacrifice during the film's climax.

'Firestorm' is unbelievably anaemic and has some of the worst computer enhanced gimmicks so far in the technology of motion pictures. It's credibility is strained by so many phony fire related elements that you'll wish you had a little device with you that's marked "break glass in the event of boredom". There are countless scenes where some of the cast members would have become overcome by smoke inhalation and died long before they get out of their entanglements and other scenes that depict debris landing on them, in front of them and around them would have been equally fatal in a real scenario.

The only thing worse than this movie would be to see it turned into a movie theme park ride which actually may be more entertaining than sitting through this. Thankfully, it's less than 90 minutes. Wow! It really does resemble a t.v. movie!

    OUT OF FOUR > *

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