Falling Fire

Sci-fi filmmaking has hit a new low with this tired re-hashing of the "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact" genre. Not surprising as the film is one in a long line of bombs from Producers Network Associates ("Deadly Wake", "Future Fear", "Replikator", etc.). Yet again they have pulled in the talented Michael Pare and reduced his acting abilities to the lowest common denominator; good-looks and sex appeal.

Michael Pare who has shown his incredible capabilities in such hit films as "Eddie and the Cruisers" and "Hope Floats", is directed to mumble his way through this space adventure which, despite its dull and unbelievable plot, actually looks as though PNA put some dollars into the effects. The space walk scenes rival anything coming out of a major studio. Unfortunately that's as good as it gets and the audience will find themselves begging for the asteroid to destroy Michael Pare's spacecraft and put a quick end to this incredibly dull film.

It took awhile (most of the first half of the film) for this one to get going but I stuck with it and felt rewarded later. The bad guys are eco- terrorists and really nasty. I really enjoyed it when they got theirs...ha! The production values were actually pretty well done considering this was a Roger Corman project. The cast was a bit uneven, either really good or pretty awful. The good girl lead was awful whilst the bad girl lead was excellent...and so it went. Pare was effective as usual.

I really thought the film told a compelling story, no shortcomings there. I recommend this movie if you enjoy somewhat low budget sci-fi that delivers a pretty big bang for the buck. Here is some clever film making...albeit it was a little to casual in the beginning. Pacing does matter! If you come across a copy somewhere check it out, I enjoyed it. It is definitely a lot better than the 4.4 it scored here.

In 2051, Earth is completely depleted and exploring its resources in asteroids by ISA Corporation, while ecologists and eco-terrorists commanded by Lopez (Christian Vidosa) are against the procedure. First officer Daryl Boden (Michael Paré) of a mining spaceship is divorcing his wife Marilyn Boden (Heidi von Palleske), who is a former agent. He is working for a long period steering the asteroid MT-27 through explosions into Earth orbit, with the support of Engineer Rene Lessard (Zerha Leverman) and the crew, for ISA. When Captain Jimmy Rice (Morris Durante) orders a risky maneuver to comply with their schedule, Boden has a friction with him. Soon the crewmembers die one by one in strange accidents, and Boden suspects that one of the survivors might be a terrorist. Meanwhile Marilyn is kidnapped by Lopez, who discloses that he has an infiltrated mole on board of the starship to steer MT-27 to crash on Earth and destroy mankind to cleanse the planet.

"Falling Fire" is a Canadian-American sci-fi release on VHS in Brazil in the 90's. The complex storyline is great, but the screenplay is poor and the direction is slow-paced. This film deserved a better screenplay and edition, since the concept is excellent. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Chuvas de Fogo" ("Rains of Fire")

There is not too much to be said about this bad film. It's a science-fiction story, with ecological ambitions. Low on budget, and low on inspiration. The story line and the general idea are acceptable, but with the many space disaster movies having been made in the last ten years, and with the terrorism theme that much beaten in movies and in real life this film brings nothing new. I personally had a hard time fighting against falling asleep - even during what were supposed to be the top suspense scenes. A group of unknown actors get more screen time than they are used to, but none of them crosses the threshold of mediocrity. The effects are early 80s TV level. The director put some decency in his work, avoiding to let the film fall completely into ridicule, but this is not enough. 3/10 on my personal scale.

I've seen the film twice now. I liked it the first time, it had good ideas, good special FX some interesting actors, and managed to keep you guessing.

I don't want to give away the end, but the set up is good, An asteroid being brought into Earth's orbit may be set up to collide with the planet instead causing destruction beyond recovery, that's not original , but the twists are neat- Ecological terrorist are behind it all. These terrorists are well thought out, inteligent, even disturbingly sympathetic. The hard questions about what we're doing to ur world, and the moral issues about extremeists are well woven into a fabric of action, suspense and good old whodunit.

I can tell its a good film, the second viewing still held surprises, suspense and good effects.