À l'épreuve des flammes

I have watched the movie and I totally disagree with the previous listings, I thought that Tracy Gold and the rest of the crew on the movie did a great job. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I personally give it a Ebert and Roper 2 thumbs up.

I created an account here after viewing this travesty of a 'movie' on TV.

Wooden acting (if the heavy handed and stilted script can even be described as such) and numerous other faults compound to make this a disaster movie of epic proportions...except the fire isn't the disaster here. It's the movie itself.

First off the bat are the laughable characters. A convict who then leads a team of firefighters? What were the producers smoking when somebody came up with the script? Not only is the premise obscenely stupid (and an insult of firefighters), the actress who plays the character clearly cannot deliver a decent line without sounding like she's reading off a cue card. Her screen presence is laughable, and the scenes where she tries to order people around are especially cringe-worthy...I've heard nails been dragged across a chalkboard that was more pleasing to the ears. Oh wait...ALL her lines sound like that. How does somebody without a smidgen of acting ability and a voice like a hyena(a hyena with a very bad sore throat) get into movies? Are they casting off the streets now?Also, how the hell would one believe she's the leader of a group of firefighters with a body like that? How's does she propose to put out a fire with her flabby physique? Rolling over them and hoping her monstrous bulk snuffs them out?

Of course, that's the just beginning of how lame this movie is. Laughable special effects(fire that look as realistic as cardboard cutouts) make even movies don't in the 70s and 80s look cutting edge. Seriously, watch Clash of the Titans or Seven Voyages of Sinbad and then tell me that the SFX from those oldies don't outshine the insultingly bad ones found here.

Then there's the overuse of stock footage. More than half the time, it feels like you're watching a news program or documentary. Hell, I wished that was the case...at least you might learn something from them. The only thing you'll learn from this fiasco is to avoid it at all costs.

If you don't have the budget to make a movie, don't. This is a prime reason why not.

the mother is the worst character of all time. she does not need binoculars to see the huge forest fire beneath her. I've watched this three times because it is so bad that it is good. it is funnier than most comedies. this movie is a total farce. when putting out a forest fire wildfire 7 should be advised that patting a few leaves seemingly miles from the fire is likely inneffective. making a tree bridge inches above roaring flames is a terrible technique to get round a forest fire. lamb chops are cooked in a similar way. why was a murderer (wrongly accused or not) thought suitable to lead a "crack" fire fighting squad? she must have lied on her CV. its really hard to make fire fighting look uncool, but this film exceeds at it.

Come on, now. Movies are intended to be theatrical endeavers that are intended to provide enjoyment and entertainment; not to be analyzed like some microbe in a petri dish. Let's analyze the previous review. First: If, as you say, the fire was beneath fire tower 13 the character of "Mother" would not be alive to recieve the citation. Second: Wildfire 7 was doing more than just patting a few leaves, they were attempting to create a firebreak to slow or stop the fire from advancing. Third: the tree bridge; yes the bridge was inches above the flames and yes lamb chops are cooked the same way; however, the lamb chops aren't moving. Lastly: the character of "Nell" was convicted of manslaughter, did six years in prison, fulfilled her parole obligations, did four years in the forestry service and was a contributing member of society.

Now for my review. I found this movie to be a fine film that keeps your interest and has a few good action scenes. The ending, however, I found a little disappointing. Did Nell and her in-laws come to some sort of arrangement regarding Sophie, why was the grandmother keeping all of Nell's letters, and what was uncle Nick's story?

Tracey Gold plays a woman incarcerated for manslaughter -wrongly so -who while in prison volunteers for smoke jumper training and despite brushes with the hard -nosed trainer rises to become the leader of a smoke jumper team .This is sent into action to combat a conflagration in which her estranged 10 year old daughter is caught .Can she douse the fire ,hold together her squabbling team and rebuild her relationship with the daughter ? These are the key questions in the movie and they are resolved in the way you would expect .

Budgetary constraints lead to overly obvious use of stock footage which is at least consisitent with the stock characters as portrayed in the teleplay .The acting is consistent with the standard expected of the telemovie-in short competent but not striking -and if you can ignore the low budget and lack of any originality this is okay as a time passer