Fire Down Below - L'inferno sepolto

I have watched this several times and always find it enjoyable. There is a gallery of good actors in support like Harry Dean Stanton and Kris Kristofferson. Special mention should be made of Stephen Lang who although playing a murderous character does make one feel sorry for him. Also Marg Helgenberger gives a touching portrayal of Sarah Kellogg, ready to bloom after years of repression.

The photography of the landscape is beautiful and contrasts with the story about its despoliation by illegal dumping of chemicals. This film is more about character and story. The fight scenes themselves are quite brief.

Which brings us to Steven Seagal. His bland acting style works strangely enough in complement with the other stronger actors.He does the combat OK. He does preach (like in his more recent films) but hey, what's wrong with looking after the environment? This film is under rated and deserves another look.

This film is different compared to Segals other films,it hardly has any action and they seem to be focused on the plot more, rather than the action.The plot of the movie is Steven segal plays a E.P.A. agent undercover as a maintenance man to investigate a corrupt company that has been dumping toxic waste in Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. Most of the villains in this movie are country singers,Randy Travis has a cameo appearance.Segal falls in love with a woman everyone in the town dislikes named Sarah Kellog (Marge Hellenberger)because she was falsely accused of murdering her father when she was a child, it was actually her creepy brother Earl(Stephen Lang). This movie has a lot of humor and nice scenery of Kentucky.I would love to live in the south.

unlike most of seagal's earlier films with almost too much action,fire down below takes its time to weave another true to life tale of the abuse done to our earth by corporate americia. folks,this kind of stuff goes on everyday and it's films like these sneak a message into you without beating you over the head with it.those who are expecting plenty of guns and bodies flying all over the place every 5 seconds will be disappointed,but those who have a better view of the movie genre can enjoy this film better.

It is interesting how a previous comment on this movie was unflattering. In my opinion, this was one of his best. True, it's not as good as Out For Justice or either Under Siege flicks, but I still liked the action and the storyline. The fight scenes were great too (let's be careful to compare any Seagal fight scene to the great pool room scene from Out For Justice). I didn't think the country music was that bad (good grief, it was set in Kentucky). What else do you expect??? I'm a country music lover, so I am biased. Also, I think the country music singers (Mark Collin, Randy Travis, etc.) who had parts in the movie did an excellent job. Overall, it's worth the purchase price, and a fine addition to your collection.

Steven Seagal is one of those actors with a totally winning personality… He is simply an authority figure, a killing machine with a heart of purest gold… I can't help it; I like the guy.

In 'Fire Down Below,' he is an outsider posing as a church sponsored carpenter while he works for the Environmental Protection Agency to stop a greedy coal baron from dumping extremely large quantities of toxic wastes in abandoned coal mines… Those dangerous chemicals could destroy the drinking water for thousands of miles and kill a bunch of people around the hills… Seagal gallantly promised not to leave the small town until the poison from the air, the streams and the earth is taken out…

Many thugs (with snakes, sticks, guns, and big trucks) are hired by the uncaring mining magnate to get rid of our action hero but Seagal remains virtually untouched…

'Fire Down Below' highlights new environmental message but fails to come up with the expectations… First, Seagal's amorous interest with the sad country woman seems artificial, used in the film to grant the 'new visitor' easy access to statements he might need… Second, the motion picture lacks the best villain whose prowess could equals Seagal's... Steven's character never really faces much of a challenge… In fact, the fight scenes are too short and extremely fast and easy…

If you are a fan of country music and you want to see Seagal playing guitar and singing, and you like to explore sweeping vistas with glorious sunsets, don't miss this movie!