User reviews

One of those films that doesn't go anywhere, is predictable in what's going to happen, but at the same time, Firestorm is fairly harmless and one to watch with a delivered pizza.

Definitely TV movie fare - whether intentional or not.

A silly story of a felon who gets a forest fire started so he can escape with $27million. Kind of like Cliffhanger I suppose then, but without Stallone.

At least it had something going for it then.

This movie only lasts for barely 89 minutes. This makes me wonder if anything was cut out of the movie in the editing room. I think there was when I watch the film. It could have been so much more. What's left is a very brief and entertaining movie about a prison break. With very little Firestorm.

Many people have said that Howie Long's performance in this film is quite poor. I think that he did a fine job. I can honestly say his performance is totally adequate. William Forsythe is quite a decent villain too. Neither hammy nor campy. I'm glad he was in the movie.

But I'm not glad the film was a flop. It would have been a big hit if it was longer and had more plot. You can't call a film FIRESTORM and have only a few seconds worth of fire in it. I don't know what has been cut from this film but it has damaged it severely. Chris Soth is the only person credited with writing this film but rumor has it that Graeme Yost actually wrote the first draft but used his affiliation with the of the WGA to take if off after they hashed his script around too much.

Although it is bare-boned and anorexic it is still a cool film to watch.

I've seen worse and of course I've seen better. I enjoyed Backdraft, and I figured this was just Backdraft in the woods. It was just what I expected, a cheesy action movie, with "witty" lines and a totally off the wall villain. William Forsythe is one of my favorite "villain" actors, and he does not disappoint. There's something about him that's really creepy. Favorite line? "Heeeeeeeeeeeeey smokejumpah! You still alive?"

If you're looking for a B movie that has pretty good action scenes and bad dialogue, this is the one for you. The fire scenes were actually quite good too. Great improbable stunts too.

Too bad Howie didn't take his shirt off, I would have given it another star.

This movie was fun! Plain, simple, stupid fun! If you take it any other way of course it's going to become an awful movie in every aspect.

I think everyone has said their piece about this film but I'd have to say the most notable scene in the entire movie, the one scene that had me laughing my head off, was when the bad guys pretended to be Canadian Fire-fighters. I live in Canada and I'll guarantee we don't talk like that! It was definitely a funny scene, worth renting just for that scene alone! HAHAHA....

Toasty, by-the-numbers b-grade natural disaster action joint which has a stout-hearted Howie Long playing a smoke-jumper that has to tackle firestorms and William Forsythe's gleefully hammy bad guy persona. Forsythe is great and you know you can always expect a show whenever his on screen, as he simply knows how to play devious tyrants. Also along for the heatwave are Scott Glenn and Barry Pepper. Simple-minded writing makes sure that the bubblegum action flows with the blatant heroics coming to the forefront, which is led by Long and Glenn. Hammy dialogues (I can't remember the last time I heard someone be called a butt-munch) are filtered in and the stunt-work can get hot and heavy. Too bad some of the computer effects come off rather lousy, especially during the final climatic scenes. Director Dean Semler (who was cinematographer for such films as "Mad Max 2" and "Razorback") keeps it rugged and heightens it with some stylish shots of the woodland terrain. Disposable, but crackling entertainment.

"Firestorm" was avarage action thriller. The fire-effects were pretty nice but in some parts they looked pretty "old". Action was nice but there really wasn´t much brains in it. William Forsythe made the best performance of he actors but none of them really convinced me.

"Firestorms" plot seemed to be a mix from "Cliffhanger" and Ron Howards "Backdraft". It´s just to bad that "Firestorm" doesen´t manage to be anything like either of this good films. Don´t gett me wrong, "Firestorm" was an OK film in some ways. But in those other ways it wasn´t that great. 5/10

firestorm is a cliffhanger type thriller starring Howie Long as Jesse Graves a heroic fire fighter who is up against a group of escaped convicts led by the Psycotic Randell who has kidnapped a bird watcher played by Suzi Amis and has caused a giant fire that is turning into a firestorm.now Jesse must now save the hostage stop the fire and take care of Randell. firestorm is quite a fun little thriller Howie Long was quite a good hero shame he didn't make anymore action films after this.William Forsythe was absolutely brilliant as the main bad guy Randell William normally plays decent bad guys anyway like in out for justice and stone cold.even Scott Glenn is in it. to end the review firestorm is a well made action thriller a bit clichéd but still cool 7 out of 10.

This movie is truly hilarious. Howie obviously pounded his brain preparing for this role (smiling, running, and carrying an axe, and sometimes all three at once). Stupid plot, stupid characters, stupid lines ("I hate it when you jump out of my airplane!"), and a Guinness record for saying the title 14,000 times throughout the movie earn it recognition to being one of the most laughably terrible movies in years. One of the best scenes in the movie is when a house falls on Scott Glenn's leg. I mean, come on: an entire house falls on the man's leg. I've watched better action sequences in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", and those guys get attacked by giant purple boogers. If you intend to watch this movie at all, I suggest you get about four of your friends over so you all can just joke the beejesus out of it.

It's pretty obvious that the director has numerous Oscar nominations for cinematography, because the visuals look pretty spectacular. This in of itself makes the movie entertaining to watch, which is OK for a film that's really only intended to be a basic action flick. Forsythe, Amis and Glen do a good job helping Howie Long through the scenes. Even though he can't really act, Howie's likability and physical prowess make him fun to watch. I could easily delve into the problems of this film (which are numerous), but if you go in with very low expectations, you may come out pleasantly surprised. Firestorm is a fun little action flick with great visuals you can watch on a rainy day. It's certainly no worse than some of the other films of the same genre.

Oh wait...It wasn't a comedy was it? Well, my friends and I came out of the theater in tears. This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Right up there with "The Big Hit" (Which was also really funny), and "Armageddon". Howie Long was terrible. The probability of the stunts and action was even worse, and the fact that someone actually thought up this movie was the worst of all. And oh, it was really funny how Long pulled a RUNNING CHAINSAW out of his butt. Plus, I was amazed how he could throw it through someone's windshield and then fly off a cliff with no parachute but then...had a parachute! The best actor in the movie was the axe. This is filmmaker's fecal matter.

As a fan of Howie Long's (i.e., as a T.V. sports commentator/announcer and a football player) I enjoyed the movie. I thought that the movie was as good any of the many other mindless action adventures that I enjoy watching. I don't understand why anyone would single it out for criticism. It was fast paced and the cinematography was technically excellent.

This is kind of a Class B action film and it stars an ex-pro football player (Howie Long) making his debut in the movies. Because of that, I didn't expect much.

I was surprised. It's actually a good adventure story and Long was capable in his acting. He was aided by three fine actors who usually are interesting in whatever roles they play: Scott Glenn, Suzy Amis and William Forstyhe. Glenn is the best-known of the three but had the least lines in here. Forsythe was good at playing what he does best: the nasty villain.

This movie was also well-filmed with some nice closeup and camera angles. The only complaints were some dopey dialog in spots and a little too much profanity in spots. Otherwise, for a no-name movie starring a rookie actor it was better than I anticipated.

Firestorm seems to be trying to put me over on how cool fighting forest fires are. The trained few, jump out of planes, fight criminals, throw axes and wrestle manly Russian men from the 13th Warrior. This is a muscle-bound dream, isn't it. Punching trees with our fists while we rub together our biggest of muscles to create fire. Of course, the fire we create is just as awesome as we are, so it also fights other fires like a boss. I think what I am trying to say is that Firestorm seems a bit of a stretch.

Now, I am not saying that the men and women who fight forest fires in real life don't put themselves in danger while trying to save lives, homes, and peoples lifestyles. I am saying the movie Firestorm may not be super truthful in its execution. Although, that over exaggeration is what makes it great. Riding dirt bikes over cliffs, wrestling in a burning building and smashing peoples heads through boats to burn their faces off during a "firestorm" almost push this movie into so bad it's good territory. There are some laughable moments, and even laugh out loud moments that make me really wish it went that extra mile to be fun. It's almost the "Stone Cold" of fighting forest fires.

I'd say Firestorm is the type of movie you shut your brain off and enjoy, but I don't think the movie gets to the point where your brain ever turns on. Star rating side, this movie is entertaining, just not for the right reasons.

Sometimes I just want to watch a movie for its entertainment value not its artistic content. This is such a movie. There is action in every scene and great special effects. This movie reminds me of the slam-bang old movie serials which didn't make sense but were entertaining. I used to work in a prison and to have prisoners from a State Prison instead of a local minimum security prison to fight fires is stupid. Also they should have had like an old army type open truck 6 wheel drive, not a school bus to go into the woods. Suzi Amis was a perfect example of why baseball caps look great on women. I liked it a lot.

Although nowhere as infamous as John Travolta's Battlefield Earth or Warren Beatty's Ishtar or George Lucas's Howard the Duck, this sorry excuse for a movie is equal in unintentional humor. Some of the worst computer graphics ever seen, a "performance" so wooden from Howie Long it makes Stallone look like Ben Kingsley, and scenes that are so unrealistic Ed Wood would not have filmed them. One scene, the "Fire Storm" scene, shows raging computer graphic flames rushing over mountains like a gigantic burning tornado, covering hundreds of square miles in three seconds flat. Everyone in the theater was laughing, except maybe for the smart ones who had already walked out.

The director went on to make one of the more forgettable Steven Seagal straight-to-video movies, and the writer was never heard from again. And poor Suzi Amis; You'd think James Cameron might have helped his gal get better movie roles.

Poorly written, poorly performed, chock-full of factual errors. Some of the fire scenes were ok but all in all not even Scott Glenn could save this turd.

Standard, innocuous, and incendiary this rather enjoyable Action Movie is light entertainment with a soft R rating. Pretty tame as these things go, it has some death defying dumb stunts and the whole thing is a notch above a TV Movie and can be quite enjoyable in a humdrum sort of way.

If you don't expect your leading Actor to act or can tolerate a script that is dampened by a standard re-write of a glutted genre, then settle in for a Movie that doesn't ask much and is a jump into a not so hot Movie, but it doesn't leave you cold either.

William Forsythe (has he ever disappointed) once again is a force to be reckoned on screen and steals the show with his Evil stare and detached dementia. This bad guy and the raging inferno are the reasons to catch this when you are in the mood for some pizza and beer or cheese and wine, but keep an eye on the fireplace or the fondue.

Firestorm is a rather standard action yarn with the hero (H.Long) one of those fearless firefighters who specialize in parachuting into the danger zones. Why this aspect is emphasized in the ads and intro I'm not sure - at one point Howie does parachute in during a critical point in the story and nearly kills himself in the process. All that shows is he should have walked in like a normal human being.

The fire scenes themselves are pretty impressive, as the pic needs to show a forest on fire. This fire is purposely started to supposedly cover the tracks of an escaped master villain (sadistically played by Forsythe), who has hidden $37 million or so around the area. Now that I think about, no one ever did find that money, did they? The title refers to a particularly nasty type of fire; we get a glimpse of it at the end as it seems to spread over several acres in seconds. It looks impressive, but quite doubtful.

Howie doesn't come off as truly awful in the heroic role, but he is kind of bland. He's got the physical look down easily, but for some reason, he was better suited as the villain's no.2 in "Broken Arrow"(96). This was his last attempt at an action star career. Forsythe tries really hard to be the scummiest villain ever - sort of a combo Lecter and a Malkovich villain - and, in some ways, he succeeds. But, by the end, you wonder, why was he trying so hard? Barry Pepper has an early role as one of Forsythe's assistants.

I only watched this movie because it had Scott Glenn in it and I can safely say he is by far the best thing about it. The acting by nearly everyone else is terrible (although not helped by a clunky cliched script and bizarre direction). However, even with so much against it I thoroughly enjoyed myself and am surprised to find myself considering watching it again. I haven't yet but who knows.

Firestorm is a movie that people who are 15 and older might enjoy to watch. The acting in the movie truly gives the film its cohesiveness. There is no outstanding actor/actress. They all work together to make the film work. Firestorm is not the best nor the worst film ever. It is a good solid action (crime) drama. Firestorm is a movie which helps to humanize firefighters. The criminal elements in the film are truly ruthless and deserve no sympathy. We are all afraid of fire burning down our homes, consuming our life's memories, and burning alive. This movie brings these fears into focus. Firestorm also reminds us all as to why every community needs firefighters. For it short duration of about an hour and one half, Firestorm will keep you occupied. Grab the popcorn, soda, and some extra water (just in case). I give it four thumbs up.

Bought it used off Amazon and was quite impressed on how good the movie is. There are some inaccuracies in the movie, but those exist in all movies today. Good adventure with lots of exciting action scenes.

Also, just some advice if you ever are trapped in a forest fire. Hide in your car and close all windows and air vents. Get on the floor of your car and cover yourself with the floor mats. This will help protect you from the fire and smoke, because smoke rises upwards.

If you think your car will explode, it won't. Unless you have a propane tank in your vehicle or if you have been in a rollover crash that might have compromised the integrity of the fuel tank. The oxygen to fuel ratio in fuel tanks is usually not right for starting a fire.

So, you are running through the fire in your normal clothes, baseball cap, no protecting gear whatsoever except the helmet on Scott Glenn, yet you don't catch fire at all. Good luck with that. That opening scene is so ridiculous, it is hard to put into words. Yet the movie emerges from that 'shock' quite well, making a story itself, characters you can relate to, and also a villain worth the thrill. The special effects are quite good, so is the acting, you never have the feeling it is a cheep project. Also, the musical and editing department did well. It may be a B movie in Hollywood terms, but in that category it is top notch.

Surprisingly enough, the worst thing about Firestorm was not Howie Long. But let's just go ahead and say it -- Howie you cannot act. Don't feel bad, very few ex-athletes can act just look at Brian Bosworth, George Forman, your pal Terry Bradshaw, and all of the numerous athlete appearances on Saturday Night Live. Acting is tough. Evidently so is script writing and plot development, because those involved with Firestorm had difficulties with each. The whole movie I was dumbfounded that I had no idea why any of the charaters that were on my TV screen were there. I wasn't ever sure what William Forsythe, who has been brilliant in his other films, was trying to do. Did he just want to escape from prison and if so why were the other 5 guys necessary. Why was Suzy Amis there besides to serve as a potential rape victim? This movie tried to be so many things -- Police Academy meets Lock Up meets Navy Seals meets Volcano. From those titles you can draw your own conclusion.