Nature Unleashed: Fire

That is what this movie is. Good God the special effects suck in this movie. It is difficult for anything to suck more than this movie's plot, but the special effects manage to pull it off. Let me try to explain just how bad this movie is.

First, there is the plot. There are four punk-ass teenage dirt bikers who are riding around in a forest in Duluth, MN. One of them is a dumb-ass and tries a ridiculous jump and breaks his leg. A paramedic comes to help him, but gets stranded with them when the helicopter breaks. Then all five realize that there is a forest fire, which we see is started by some guy dumping tons of gas all over the forest. All they show us is his boots, and they show scene after scene of this guys boots walking around dumping gas and starting fires. Meanwhile, the teenagers try to escape the fire, only to find that boot man has somehow managed to get ahead of them (while they were speeding through the forest on dirt bikes!), dump gas all over the area they were riding through, and start more fires. He does this several times, and the paramedic finally catches him and starts him on fire. I won't spoil the ending, but this guy's resilience will have you shouting "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!?!" at the screen. Anyway, they are now surrounded by fire, and their only escape is through a mine which is filled with methane gas. Yes, methane gas. I'm not even going to try to describe the ending, because it is too ridiculous, and you'll enjoy it more if you don't see it coming. Which you won't, because you can't possibly expect what happens. This is because of the second major problem with this movie: consistency.

Is some semblance of consistence too much to ask for? Apparently so. I cannot even count the number of broken limbs in this movie (they keep breaking arms and legs while crashing their bikes). I think each character breaks at least one limb, and several more than one. They then limp around until the scene ends, and then forget that they're supposed to have broken limbs. There is one scene where three of them who are supposed to have broken legs start dancing. But then their injuries suddenly return when the plot needs them to.

Finally, the CGI. If there is a hell, it consists of watching the fire in this movie. All they did for the forest fires is line the dirt paths with CGI fire. You can clearly see that the only CGI fire is along the paths, and all of the trees more than two feet from the path are left untouched. And then they zoom out and show the whole forest being engulfed in flames. It's hard to describe in words how ridiculous it looks, but I assure you that the ridiculousness is quite impressive.

This movie is one of those so-bad-its-good types. There are some occasions where it descends into the painful-bad category, but for the most part it stays above the line and is laughably inept. I can't wait to check out the other Nature Unleashed movies that came in the four-pack with this one.

This is a disaster movie with good bike scenes. The initial log jump was faked well and looked almost real. The movie contained a lot of fire. The fire scenes must have been very hard to stage and not cause real world disaster. The fire scenes rival those in Movie Hell fighter. Not bad for low budget.The initial elevator sequence was one of the best. Jake's initial introduction at the bike jumped added a touch of humor to the never ending alpha male thing. Tiny is the most gruesome bad guy I have seen. The movie cheated on many special efforts but still delivered a decent thrill. Chris gave the best performance of the original four bikers. This movie just never lets the disaster end. It is two hours of nothing but one disaster followed by another.

This is the worst movie I have ever seen. The story line is a joke, the effects are terrible, the cinematography doesn't fit the tone of the movie, the dialogue is cheesy, and the actors do a good job at screwing up the rest. People just don't act that way in real life situations. My question is: Who would fund such crap?

The movie starts where some miners fall down a mine shaft after a fireman fails to save them. Next we join some bikers in a forest who ride around doing stunts on their bikes. One guy falls and breaks his leg or something. The fireman arrives to help them. Meanwhile, somebody starts a fire. Some more bike stunts. Bla bla bla.

I wasted my time.

Do not watch this movie.

Ah the sci-fi channel. How often do you disappoint me? Quite often I think, do you ever show good movies? OK you have given me the great 'Heroes' and the reasonably good 'The Lost Room' but they are series, and as for the movie well there really is nothing positive to say. Bad acting, bad directing, terrible characters and a shallow story, and that is just for starters. I checked out the director Allan A Goldstien and was not surprised to find nothing of interest in his resume (in fact I am half thinking that this is a pseudo name). The premises of four motor bikers out motto-crossing in a national park when one of them has an accident that needs a park ranger to come rescue them only for them to get caught in a forrest fire is weak and predictable that you know every beat before it happens. Leading man Bryan Genesse the park ranger is so bad it is terrible. Cast as the action hero martial arts boy in the footsteps of so many others this guy makes Seagal and Van Damme look like De Nero. The supporting cast are little better and well before the end one was left hoping the fire would engulf them all then the film crew. Avoid at all costs

Well, I have seen two others in the "Nature Unleashed" series, so as I had the opportunity to watch the 2004 movie "Nature Unleashed: Fire", I did sit down to watch it. Sure, I wasn't harboring much of any great expectations for the movie, I will admit that.

And writers Michael Hurst and Allan A. Goldstein weren't exactly delivering a storyline that was fully encompassing. Sure, it was watchable, but the storyline and script was just so mundane and pointless that it made for a very shallow movie experience.

There simply were too much filler in the movie that served no purpose, such as the intro scene with the mine and the fact that the forestry service seemed to take the fire alerts with no particular importance, despite it being reported in by an on-site ranger.

The acting in the movie was rigid and it wasn't particularly convincing performances that were put on for the most parts. But I suppose it was because of the lack of properly written dialogue and having characters with the appeal of wet cardboard.

"Nature Unleashed: Fire" spends too much time on showing footage of the cast riding around on dirt bikes, doing semi-tricks where one would assume they would keep a clear head and not do stunts to put themselves at risk as they try to outride a blazing inferno behind them.

And "Nature Unleashed: Fire" had some of the most laughable and dubious CGI green screen effects that I have ever witnessed. It was just hilarious to see such lousy special effects. Especially in a natural disaster movie, where special effects are everything.

This 2004 addition to the "Nature Unleashed" series was a rather weak addition, and it didn't provide me with much of any entertainment or enjoyment.

My rating of "Nature Unleashed: Fire" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.