Rating: 
Summary: A B-Budget version of "Backdraft" & "City On Fire."
Review: "Ablaze" was actually a pretty decent film! I mean, sure it had its plot holes, its mistakes, and its obviously stolen stock footage, but, for a disaster and/or hospital chaos (a la "E.R."), this film will (for the most part) keep you on the edge of your seet (somewhat). As with most, if not all of Jay Andrew's (AKA Jim Wynorski) B-films, the description on the back of the case has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the film at hand, and i do mean nothing! It seems to describe Ron Howard's "Backdraft" in the description, even though i actually liked this film nore than Howard's much nore famous catalyst, if you will, for this type of movie (also having its plot ripped off for the Hong King film, "Lifeline" which is available here at Amazon). The film itself begins with a really pointless car chase of a mad bomber(?) who ends up being shot by one of the main characters (the captain of a fire department) who is on a stakeout with Jay Andrew's good B-Movie friend, Ice-T, whom, for some odd reason always seems to pop up in one of Andrew's films, why? I havn't a clue. Anyway, the bad guy catches fire (he does not spontaneously combust like some believe, the poeple that catch fire actually do have reasons why) and he burns to death in a park. Then we go into learning about the characters, like Tom Arnold, who plays the greedy oil/gas refinery owner who is illegaly dumping(?) gasoline into the sewer system of what appears to be Los Angeles (though we actually never do know the city's true name, but the opening shot is one of downtown LA). Arnold's character has also built a hospital at the end of a cultasac and it is understaffed, under budgeted, and run by a truely evil woman, but one doctor is determined to do what's to help a low-income woman have her baby, and later on save the lives of everyone in the hospital. The fire captain has a brother whom he dislikes (for a certain reason) and the brother is an undercover agent seeking to find out the truth behind Wendel Mays' (Arnold's character) bribery and corruption. Mays' refinery then dumps a large load of gasoline into the sewer system of the city and then the refinery catches fire from a welder's torch and catches everything on fire. The Mays Hospital is the only one near to take burn victims but gets cut off by a firestorm that theatens to blow up the whole city block (which looks like a street in New York City). The same traffic shots w/ fire in the far off distance is used over and over to show that the city is, well...ablaze! As well as a cheap special fx shot of a skyscraper exploding due to the whole sewer system catching fire. So now the city is in "flames" and the hospital must evactuate everyone down a burning street, where many meet their ends. This film is pretty merciless in killing off its characters (just like in the great 1970's Irwin Allen films), even the nice Cathy Lee Crosby who is a kind and sweet television actress (combining the "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Genie" stars together, for this film) and she tries to make a run for it (whether to be the guinea pig to test it out, or because she just wants to save herself) and she catches fire and burns to death. Then falling debris kills some people and some stupid nurse opens a closet that has fire on the other side and the backdraft that unsues torches the poor girl, tisk, tisk, tisk, didn't she watch "The Towering Inferno" or "Backdraft"? The movie was made with obvious stock footage from the 1970's, which I actually enjoy! Especially since "City On Fire" is an extremely hard to find film. "City On Fire" is a Leslie Neilson and Ava Gardner 1979 disaster film where a disgruntled oil refinery (or chemical plant) employee purposely catches the city on fire and a threatened hospital must evacuate its occupants, hey that sounds kinda familiar... Anyway, this film was pretty decent and much better than Andrew's previous fiascos like "Final Voyage" and... uh...you know that one with Ice-T in it.
Rating: 
Summary: JUST WHAT WE NEED, ANOTHER DISASTER MOVIE
Review: A MASSIVE FIRE SWEEPS THROUGH A CITY AND IT'S UP TO THE LOCAL FIREMEN TO SAVE AS MANY LIVES AS POSSIBLE. UPON LOOKING AT THE COVER FOR THIS FILM, ''BACKDRAFT'' IS PROBABLY THE FIRST MOVIE THAT'LL POP INTO YOUR MIND. WHILE THE MOVIE IS REALLY NOT A BACKDRAFT CLONE, IT'S JUST YOUR AVERAGE DISASTER MOVIE. LAZY WRITING, AMATEURISH ACTING, AND AN ALL TOO FAMILIAR PLOT KEEPS THIS MOVIE FROM BEING GOOD. YOU'LL MOST LIKELY ONLY RECOGNIZE THREE OF THE CAST MEMBERS, WHICH ARE; ICE-T [NEW JACK CITY], MICHAEL DUDIKOFF [THE AMERICAN NINJA MOVIES], AND TOM ARNOLD [TV'S ROSEANNE]. OH, AND IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN RENTING OR BUYING THIS MOVIE BECAUSE ICE-T'S NAME IS ON THE COVER, THEN YOU REALLY MIGHT WANNA THINK TWICE ABOUT GETTING THIS. ICE ONLY HAS 2 SCENES IN THIS WHOLE MOVIE! EVEN TOM ARNOLD'S ROLE ISN'T THAT BIG! IF YOU'RE SERIOUSLY INTO DISASTER FILMS, GIVE THIS A TRY. BUT IF YOU DON'T LIKE DISASTER FILMS, SKIP THIS MOVIE. IF YOU DECIDE TO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE, YOU'RE NOT MISSING OUT ON MUCH OF ANYTHING.
Rating: 
Summary: The remake that should never have been made
Review: Although I did not see it credited anywhere, this film is a cheap remake of a disaster movie called "City on Fire", which itself was not great. Some of the scenes (people falling, fire spreading along the surface of a canal) appear to be clips lifted from the earlier film. The plot has been changed marginally to focus on a firefighter rather than a doctor. Big deal. The original was better, which is not saying much. If it had been possible to give this film NO stars, I would have. Save your $$ for something worth it!
Rating: 
Summary: awesome movie
Review: Cathy Lee Crosby and Tom Arnold star in this fast-paced (albeit low-budget) thriller from cineschlocker Jim Wynorski. No, the movie is not realistic, and the synopsis on the back of the box has nothing to do with the real movie, but it doesn't matter. This is pure B-movie fun. The DVD is in widescreen (1.85:1) with 5.1 surround sound that rocks your sound system. The picture is crystal clear and the colors pop off the screen. If you are into high camp (or just want to see a lot of people spontaneously combust), go ahead and buy or rent this one. You may not think it the best movie in the world, but if you give it a chance, it's pretty entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: awesome movie
Review: Cathy Lee Crosby and Tom Arnold star in this fast-paced (albeit low-budget) thriller from cineschlocker Jim Wynorski. No, the movie is not realistic, and the synopsis on the back of the box has nothing to do with the real movie, but it doesn't matter. This is pure B-movie fun. The DVD is in widescreen (1.85:1) with 5.1 surround sound that rocks your sound system. The picture is crystal clear and the colors pop off the screen. If you are into high camp (or just want to see a lot of people spontaneously combust), go ahead and buy or rent this one. You may not think it the best movie in the world, but if you give it a chance, it's pretty entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A B-Budget version of "Backdraft" & "City On Fire."
Review: I have to admit, I must be a kind of sucker for these disaster type films. I have long admired firefighters for the great risks and macho savvy they always show in real life. This isn't real life, but hey this is a movie, and I don't care if it's not the way the real firefighters work. Director Jay Andrews brings nothing new to the venue, but I had fun watching all the pyrotechnics and seeing how our brave men respond, and the subsequent human interests. I think model turned actor John Bradley acquitted himself nicely, as did Amanda Pays and Larry Poindexter. Even Pat Harrington, Edward Albert and Tom Arnold did okay. William Zabka continues to reign as direct to video villain. Cathy Lee Crosby's character was totally off the wall, I never really understood why she was even in it?? Anyway, I enjoyed it, and that's what movies are to me. Enjoyment in a fantasy world.
Rating:
Summary: FIRED UP
Review: I have to admit, I must be a kind of sucker for these disaster type films. I have long admired firefighters for the great risks and macho savvy they always show in real life. This isn't real life, but hey this is a movie, and I don't care if it's not the way the real firefighters work. Director Jay Andrews brings nothing new to the venue, but I had fun watching all the pyrotechnics and seeing how our brave men respond, and the subsequent human interests. I think model turned actor John Bradley acquitted himself nicely, as did Amanda Pays and Larry Poindexter. Even Pat Harrington, Edward Albert and Tom Arnold did okay. William Zabka continues to reign as direct to video villain. Cathy Lee Crosby's character was totally off the wall, I never really understood why she was even in it?? Anyway, I enjoyed it, and that's what movies are to me. Enjoyment in a fantasy world.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie [Disappoints]
Review: The Story Line is Bad, Terrible Acting, Bad Script, Very Unrealistic, I would have given it a 0 star if that option was available. It took me two days to completely struggle through the pain of watching this movie, and I rented it. Unless you want to see how the fire services do not operate do not buy this movie!! BTW, the back cover of the movie case explains a total different movie and is completely unrelated to this movie.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie [Disappoints]
Review: The Story Line is Bad, Terrible Acting, Bad Script, Very Unrealistic, I would have given it a 0 star if that option was available. It took me two days to completely struggle through the pain of watching this movie, and I rented it. Unless you want to see how the fire services do not operate do not buy this movie!! BTW, the back cover of the movie case explains a total different movie and is completely unrelated to this movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Firefighter's Nightmare
Review: This has got to be the absolutely worst movie ever made. We hardly need the general public thinking that this is what firefighting is about or that this is how it what we really do. Anyone who knows anything about firefighting will be sorely disappointed. It would make a great addition to any instructor's library when covering the DO NOT's of PPE and SCBA. Added to a horrible storyline, acting, and effects, during most of the movie, you see firefighters running around without SCBA or proper PPE--maybe the production company was just too cheap to buy them. Only later in the movie when the National Guard shows up do we see SCBA, but even they do not have the facepieces. The front cover is very decieving--we see a trio of firefighters standing in front of a huge flame. The amount of firefighting actually seen in the move is minimal, at best. What is seen represents only the worst of firefighting technique. I highly recommend that NO ONE buy this movie for anyone who knows even the slightest bit about what firefighting really involves.
|
