Heróis do Inferno

This COULD have been an exceptional John Wayne film, as the plot was so unusual and was based loosely on the exploits of oil fire expert Red Adair. The idea of him working as a man who travels the world to put out oil fires is pretty cool! This was a very nice change of pace for The Duke and the film had some wonderful moments. However, while the script SOMETIMES offered a lot of new and interesting moments, at other times it was very clichéd and formulaic--cheapening the exploits of Adair AND making it just another mediocre late 60s/early 70s John Wayne film. Now understand that I really like John Wayne films, but I must admit that aside from THE SHOOTIST, all his films after THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE were mediocre and formulaic--so much so that they offer nothing particularly new (even TRUE GRIT which garnered Wayne an Oscar even though he'd made many better films). Even one of his films I really liked from this era, ROOSTER COGBURN, is essentially THE African QUEEN set in the old West. And what formulaic elements do these films have in common? Well, how about a way too old Duke Wayne getting in a fist fight in all these films (and he was into his 60s), macho arguments among the manly actors about who is going to do the "selfless" act (whatever that might be), an occasional over-reliance on comedy and John walking through the film as if he's in slow-motion (which, at his age, he was). No, Wayne didn't age very well in these films and his fans watched them because they loved the actor--not because they were outstanding films. That's exactly why I watched them.

This is a very entertaining film ... co-staring Jim Hutton, Katherine Ross & Vera Miles. Some of the acting of Hutton & Ross may have been less than one would expect. But the film should be seen keeping mind that this was years before the disaster films of the early seventies like The Poseidon Adventure & The Towering Inferno. It is a fun watch as Buckman's crew travels the world putting out oil well fires while kindling a few fires of their own in the local women. It is fun to watch many of the fire-fighting scenes today and wonder how they pulled this off thirty years ago. It is very John Wayne as can be seen as some of his regulars turn up here, such as Bruce Cabot, Edward Faulkner who were part of his stable. Watch it and enjoy.

After the first Gulf War, we heard a steady stream of news reports about workers putting out oil fires in Kuwait. I immediately understood what they were describing, because I had seen Hellfighters, and they were using the same techniques.

I really liked this movie. I thought Chance Buckman was the perfect role for John Wayne's character...his character seemed to match the sort of person who would be doing this for a living. Fighting the fires while getting shot at by guerrilla fighters seemed a big much, until I considered what is going on with people working on the infrastructure in Iraq...not much different.

I've heard the complaint that the special effects are not up to today's standards, but they work for me...they do not interrupt my suspension of disbelief, and they are not distracting like some of todays whiz-bang special effects.

I think this is one of John Wayne's best movies.

My ex-husband was a huge John Wayne fan and had me watch every JW movie over and over. This was my favorite. The acting and script are not the point of watching this movie. The attitudes, clothes(especially the women's), and the sets are Soooo Sixties. My favorite thing is the "window" in the office. If you look closely you can see it isn't a window at all, it is a miniature of a highway(like a miniature railroad), but it is supposed to look like the view out the "window". I'm sure that was state-of-the-art in the late 60's. Katherine Ross is fabulous and wears the best clothes. Jim Hutton is quite handsome. John Wayne acts like....John Wayne. If you're a JW fan you'll recognize most of the cast. Great fun!!!!

When I first saw "Hellfighters" I was only about 13 years old. The movie certainly captivated me, in part because it seemed so realistic. Also, the slogan of the Buckman Company really appealed to me. "Around the world, around the clock." This was a story about someone who really went the distance to help people.

This movie was so visually stunning that Popular Mechanics ran a cover story on the special effects, describing how a mixture of propane and diesel oil was used to make the fires, which were fed by underground pipes. It also explained that Red Adair really did use explosives to put out oil well fires, which many people found hard to believe.

This was a highly believable, present day performance by John Wayne, which is somewhat special in and of itself. There was only one brawl, which was all good fun, and we even get to see Mr. Wayne get a face full of what looks kind of like oil. (It was dyed water.) There is no heavy, moralistic message to this film, a minimum of flag waving, and watching it is just plain fun.