Miami Magma

I doubt there are many movies with such poor scripting and acting as this little beauty. Hunter is terribly wooden, but looks magnificent and everytime you hear that antipodean accent your crying out for more - well I am anyway. Pretty standard bulk B movie fodder plot with some pseudo science chucked in to give the appearance of intelligence, but don't let that fool you as the brain cells have left the building. Just watch it for super heroine Rachel and a brilliant cheesy turn by Cleavant Derricks as an evil oil driller.

Miami Magma, or whichever of the apparently numerous titles this film goes by, isn't a particularly bad movie in itself however it has flaws that simply can't be overlooked.

OK so it's a somewhat generic low budget disaster movie but that should really only be an excuse for few or ineffectual special effects. In contrast it certainly doesn't mean you can automatically get away with poor scripts and acting, both of which are in abundant supply here.

The movie starts with the loss of an Oil Rig off the Florida coast. Now in reality this would cause great consternation to all involved and a major and long running intervention by local, state and government departments (and probably a good deal of international attention too)? Apparently not though and apart from a few questions at a press conference it is quickly excused and forgotten. This isn't twisting reality for the sake of the movie, rather its ignoring it completely as it would just slow things down and complicate the writing task.

So all is clear for the Evil Corporation to bulldoze their plans through and hit trouble - and disaster. No problem in theory, however the bad guys are simply wooden and ridiculous, and Imo this is down to both poor writing and bad acting. I point much of the blame on Cleavant 'Sliders' Derricks who is simply awful, and Wallace Merck, and...well all the baddies!!! In contrast the good guys are a fairly decent overall, although I am getting somewhat tired of the lead roles being both Intelligent & Supermodel material...but maybe that's just what Hollywoodesque scientists are nowadays. But putting this one gripe aside they are at least far from cringe worthy, and maybe even fair to say above average for the SyFy movie universe. However one cannot balance the other entirely and so overall its a thumbs down on the casting account too.

The story as a whole follows a somewhat predictable routine once you've gotten past the shoddy beginning. There a definite lack of the big Volcano effects one would usually expect, and for some odd reason even the low tech, low budget magma and lava is kept to an absolute minimum. For a disaster movie it sure does seem to minimise the actual disasters!

So how do I rate the movie??? I initially wanted to add a few points because or the decent good guys, however immediately these and more were knocked off by the terrible baddies who ruined any scene they were in. And the SFX...well there really weren't many to speak of so that doesn't help either. What finally made the difference as to which aside of average the score would fall was the apparent apathy of the authorities from beginning to end (The Major and a few National Guard is all they could muster!?!). If they don't care why should I?

4/10...lazy writing, lazy (bad guy) acting

Ps. If you want a similar film bit done not only with bigger budget but also better writing, standards and definitely better all round acting then stick to Volcano or Dantes Peak, neither of which are classics but still offer a better experience without the bad-bad guys making you throwing your popcorn at the screen!

"World on Fire" as the DVD is titled when purchased from Amazon, or "Miami Magma" as titled here on IMDb is definitely one of the more boring and uneventful of natural disaster movies that I have seen. It even makes "Dante's Peak" seem like a masterpiece.

The story is about an underground volcano that threaten Miami, and it is up to two scientists to save the city and avert a catastrophe.

Of course it is, every single disaster movie follows this exact same script and mold down to the core - no pun intended. However, "World on Fire" just never made it out of the trench to so speak. The plot and storyline was as predictable as they come, and even for a natural disaster movie it was painstakingly predictable to the point where even a blind man would see it coming.

Throughout the entire movie there is but a handful of oddly placed localized incidents involving magma or superheated steam. There was surprisingly little magma in the movie, which really was a disappointing lack of things for the movie, and it worked as an anchor around the movie, dragging it down severely in its enjoyment. And also throughout the entire movie there is not a single moment where you feel that the entire city of Miami was in any danger at all. And then it just ended - with the scientists saving the day of course.

As for the acting in the movie, well it wasn't Oscar nominated material, let me just put it like that. I was mildly thrilled to see Brad Dourif's name on the cast list, but it was a short lived thrill and not even he could muster to lift up this movie.

And don't get suckered in by the fancy DVD cover the way that I did. It promises a massive volcano erupting over a metropolis on fire, and for some reason there are celestial bodies on the sky also erupting with fire. But nothing, and I cannot stretch the word nothing enough here, even remotely like the DVD cover is to be found anywhere in the entire movie. It was just false advertising and luring with hopes of a massive natural disaster movie, that just turned out to be a fluke and nothing more than a fizzling lit match.

If you enjoy natural disaster movies, then know that there are far, far better movies available on the market, and "World on Fire" is hardly worth the effort of spending 97 minutes on. "World on Fire"? Nah, more like "Nothing on Fire".

Only in America ... The SciFi Channel turns out rubbish endlessly ... Some of them so bad they are funny ... But unfortunately most of them are just bad This is the zenith of their product ... 90 moronic minutes of complete rubbish with not one second of humour ( even unintentional ) ... This is truly one of the worst films I have ever seen ... The writing and character development must of been plotted out by one of the producers fourteen year old kids on the way to the studio The thing is about these things, when I read them, I tend to think it can't be that bad ... The person must have a humour bypass or something ... But believe me ... Don't waste even a second on this flat, stupid, badly acted,piece of digital effluent ... Don't even down load it for free ... It is just film spam

Sometimes you just want to watch a terrible TV movie sci-fi romp, you know? The average SyFy feature is roughly on par with anything The Asylum produces, whether they're specifically involved or not, and so the quality generally ranges from "half decent" to "abhorrent." This isn't to pointedly denigrate the work of anyone involved; recognizable, respected names and faces often become involved with such fare for an easy paycheck, and the effort they turn in will match the broad tenor of the project. The details hardly even matter, for we know exactly what to expect, and with rare exceptions it's exactly what we'll get: weak acting, ham-fisted scene writing and direction, questionable dialogue, trifling characterizations, antagonistic figures more or less responsible for or complicit in the course of events, a loose foundation in real scientific concepts that then blithely goes off the rails, special effects that raise a skeptical eyebrow, music that can be easily copied and pasted into any similar title, and action, violence, or otherwise tense sequences that are less than wholly convincing or meaningful. To this add admirable themes of extreme capitalist malfeasance and corporate corruption, and mismanagement and destruction of the environment, that are surely not treated well by their connection to such a picture. I could just as easily be talking about one of dozens or even hundreds of other films aside from 'Miami magma,' but here we are.

I don't think this is abjectly terrible. In the very least, I've sadly seen far worse. But at best this is largely indistinguishable from countless other low-grade sci-fi romps. Moreover, so very much of this is outrageously forced and contrived, in many ways, dampening the basic entertainment value and the worth of its best ideas (e.g. Secondary dangers of gas, chemicals, and steam, and the idea that's barely touched upon of awful people enlisting in the military). That's to say nothing of how the screenplay feels fundamentally imbalanced between the central conceit of volcanic activity, and the additional facet of individuals with culpability in the course of events; despite the name of the picture, it doesn't seem to come into play as much as one would assume. The end result is still marginally enjoyable, a baseline satisfactory diversion for those who are receptive to the most ridiculous of B-movies. Yet even the greatest generosity one could muster can't paint over the substantial deficiencies and inelegance that are built into the feature like debris laid into the foundation of a building; there's a select audience who can in any way appreciate this, and even then it will be a matter of hate-watching more than anything else.

I'm glad that this at least put dinner on the table for the folks who participated in its creation. If you're looking for a movie of this nature, you could do worse. Maybe it's for the best if earnest assessment of 'Miami magma' begins and ends there.