Heaven's Fire

I saw this film last night on TV at a hotel in Daejeon, South Korea. It really did make me think, okay, one part "Towering Inferno", one part "Poseidon Adventure". But now that I see this film was made in 1999, can't help but wonder if it might've been watched by Al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden and been an inspiration for them, especially the helicopter crash sequence. Also, it gets SO irritating to see that a movie is set in an American city that I've lived in (Seattle) but then absolutely nothing looks familiar and sure enough, it turns out to be filmed in Vancouver BC which stunt-doubles for so many places in America. Film in America, please! But all in all, a good suspense piece.

Although this is set in a skyscraper which is on fire, rather than a ship that's sinking beneath the water, lots of the stock characters seemed to have been filched from The Poseidon Adventure. Prochnow's villain has the strongest character definition, or seems to have, perhaps because he's acting better than the rest of the cast. Eric Roberts 'tries hard' as they might say in a school report, but it's a pretty thankless role, and his son and girlfriend are dreadful. The flames and a crashing plane scene are so bad they're hilarious. At one stage I expected Leslie Nielsen to appear saying 'And stop calling me Shirley'. There is a slight twist to the story, but not enough to redeem it. Really the best way to enjoy it is as a spoof, but as that's not what the director intended then it has to be written off as a pretty bad film. Good for Prochnow fans, okay for Eric Roberts fans, waste of time for anyone else. Incidentally, Prochnow's girlfriend was way too young for him; nice for him, but annoying to watch. Why not give men girlfriends within fifteen years of their age for a change?

I wish I could of liked this movie but I did not! Thank god it s on t.v. This movie never would of made it in the theater. Eric is great in it, but the acting really did not put up to par! It's on Lifetime T.V. If you like Eric Roberts See it, if not don't bother!

I was not terribly impressed by this movie, but it was not horrible. It's quite obviously a low-budget, made-for-TV rip-off of DIE HARD, but well-acted by Roberts, Prochnow, and most of the rest of the cast.

Apparently, Fox TV was using the old HIGHLANDER series' actors' pool for the supporting cast, since no fewer than seven characters in this movie were alums of one HL episode or another.

Not a terribly exciting movie; nothing original. One or two really big plot holes, but at least in comparison to some of the real stinkers I've seen recently (in an effort to find more of Prochnow's films), not bad.

If you're a truly die-hard (no pun intended) fan of Prochnow or Roberts, you'll probably enjoy this film. Otherwise, just go watch DIE HARD again.

I don't like action movies at this best of times but this is well below par even for that genre.

Starring Eric Roberts & Jürgen Prochnow it tells the story of a group of disgruntled former government employees who plan on getting back at old employers by stealing over 100 million dollars. Sadly things don't go to plan and they find themselves stuck in a burning building as well as an innocent tourist group.

But never fear as we also have fellow former government worker Eric Roberts there to save the day and the stakes are high as his future wife, her daughter and his son just happen to be there as well. Oh did I mention his ex wife and former friend are involved as well?

Cliched all the way to hell and back, looking seriously cheap and lacking any form of originality this messy action flick is one for true action junkies only.

The Good:

I liked the bit where it ended

The Bad:

Embarassing cover art

Some of the writing is ridiculously bad

That final stare down was comedic

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Closing a wooden door will protect you from an incoming crashing helicopter

When performing a flying kick through a window one must always consider the landing

At no point does anyone acknowledge just how much to blame the antagonist is for everything that happens!