The usual in Steven Seagal's movies take place in "Fire Down Below" too. He's the good guy again; the hero again; he's never got punched but he kicks and punches lots of guys with the little help of the editor who makes his moves even faster. This movie resembles "On Deadly Ground", so here we have Seagal saving the Earth of the bloody hands of powerful and corrupt business man who are destroying rivers, oceans and trees and all. The major difference between "Fire Down Below" and "On Deadly Ground" is the quality of the movie (for some reason I like "On Deadly...") and the violence/action. While action is dumb and so non breathtaking here, on the previous film was something great, although at times badly used or excessive, especially towards older people, it was literally no country for old men (e.g. the old friend of Seagal tortured and killed in 1994 film). In "Fire Down Below" the same thing happens but it is only implied, nothing is shown on screen and other times it's only a threat.
In the story Seagal is a Environmental agent who goes to a little town in Kentucky investigate the murder of his friend who discovered that a powerful company, owned by Orin Hanner Sr. (Kris Kristofferson), is being paid to dump toxic waste into an abandoned coal mine shaft. With the assistance of a Reverend (Levon Helm) and a woman (Marg Helgenberger) and some other residents Segal is gonna find the truth and kicks some villains.
The lack of action ruined this movie. The lack of violence ruined this movie. The lack of someone able to kick Seagal on the face ruined this and almost all Seagal's movies. The great vantage of this against "On Deadly Ground" is the quotes delivered by Seagal, funny things and for incredible as it might sound these quotes are not unintentionally laughable, they're there for the purpose of being funny. The scene in the casino when Seagal takes down 4 security guys trying to arrest Kristofferson is amazingly funny.
I'll not say this was Seagal's worst film, but perhaps his performance was not good enough and the whole supporting cast was very effective and good compared to him. Marg Helgenberger was great, her part was very interesting as the forsaken woman of the town; Stephen Lang plays his usual sinister figure in a twisted character; Kristofferson was quite good and funny; and Levon Helm was the best on scene. The movie includes some bad acting from Brad Hunt (he plays the son of Kristofferson) whose presence is annoying, and some wasted acting by Harry Dean Stanton and Richard Masur (who appears in the beginning in some flashbacks), seriously they deserved a better flick to appear.
Again, it is a movie to wait and wait again for action and it will be a few good things in it. Director Felix Enriquez Alcalá made better with the TV film remake of "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three". 4/10
In the story Seagal is a Environmental agent who goes to a little town in Kentucky investigate the murder of his friend who discovered that a powerful company, owned by Orin Hanner Sr. (Kris Kristofferson), is being paid to dump toxic waste into an abandoned coal mine shaft. With the assistance of a Reverend (Levon Helm) and a woman (Marg Helgenberger) and some other residents Segal is gonna find the truth and kicks some villains.
The lack of action ruined this movie. The lack of violence ruined this movie. The lack of someone able to kick Seagal on the face ruined this and almost all Seagal's movies. The great vantage of this against "On Deadly Ground" is the quotes delivered by Seagal, funny things and for incredible as it might sound these quotes are not unintentionally laughable, they're there for the purpose of being funny. The scene in the casino when Seagal takes down 4 security guys trying to arrest Kristofferson is amazingly funny.
I'll not say this was Seagal's worst film, but perhaps his performance was not good enough and the whole supporting cast was very effective and good compared to him. Marg Helgenberger was great, her part was very interesting as the forsaken woman of the town; Stephen Lang plays his usual sinister figure in a twisted character; Kristofferson was quite good and funny; and Levon Helm was the best on scene. The movie includes some bad acting from Brad Hunt (he plays the son of Kristofferson) whose presence is annoying, and some wasted acting by Harry Dean Stanton and Richard Masur (who appears in the beginning in some flashbacks), seriously they deserved a better flick to appear.
Again, it is a movie to wait and wait again for action and it will be a few good things in it. Director Felix Enriquez Alcalá made better with the TV film remake of "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three". 4/10