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Fire Down Below (1997)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
10/25
10/25:
While a lot of people think less of Fire Down Below, I consider it to be the last good Steven Seagal
film.
In my review of Exit Wounds, I complained that all the filmmakers
had to do was go back to basics with calm editing. Fire Down Below is exactly what I mean, and it
works out well with Steven Seagal being almost how he was in the first four films of his career.
The story passes muster and is better and less hypocritical than
On Deadly Ground given the same theme. Sure, it can be a bit wonky
here and there, especially in the second half. When Stephen Lang showed up out of nowhere as Sarah's older
brother, I found him very weird. Therefore, he had to be connected with what's happening in the mountains.
Steven Seagal has a well-meaning but funny, insulting speech at the church which goes like this: "You know,
the trouble with rich people is that sometimes they don't care about others. These folks that are making the
profits by dumping toxic waste, petroleum byproducts and stuff like that are making the profit. Why don't
they dump that in their own backyard?
But instead they pay some poor shit—forgive me, Father—five dollars an hour to truck this up into
the mountains of Appalachia. Why? Because they think you all are ignorant, barefoot, poor, dumb hillbillies
that don't have the money and the power to fight back. To these people, you all are insignificant. You mean
nothing. And if anyone out there thinks the $300 they gave you for a new satellite or to look the other way is
worth selling out your legacy and the future of your children, please raise your hand."
Elsewhere, I'm mostly disappointed with the action. Well-made movies of this genre display it in the full
amount, but the editing of Fire Down Below takes away what I'm able to see by 40%. I wish they would
stop doing that and make normal films for once. There was a moment when Steven Seagal simply got out of the
"quarter-mile" shaft by mere feet after it blew up. But how?
The cast is an interesting collection of who's who in country music: Kris Kristofferson, Randy Travis, Levon
Helm, Mark Collie, Ed Bruce, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, and the twins who happened to be Loretta Lynn's
daughters. All do well, and of course, having Steven Seagal as the headliner goes a long way.
All in all, Fire Down Below proves that Steven Seagal was capable of creating watchable
actioners by keeping it simple.