Some Like it Hot
Gary Young | Tucson, AZ USA | 10/29/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
""Firefight" is one of the better straight to video releases of the last few years. While a wildfire is raging, two firefighters, an armored car driver and his dispatcher hatch a plot to rob the car. It's a pretty elaborate scheme that involves detouring the truck around the fire to a secluded area and staging the robbery. No one is supposed to get hurt, and since the money is insured no one really suffers. Unfortunately, the dispatcher's boyfriend Wolf(Stephen Baldwin, playing a ruthless thug) gets wind of the scheme and wants the money for himself. Some pretty tense action ensues.
What makes this movie work is that we actually care about the characters. The firefighters, despite planning a heist, win our sympathy. They're not professional thieves. They do have their reasons why they need the money and we actually root for them to succeed.
"Firefight" offers some hot action(pun intended) as well as some interesting characters. Definitely worth a look."
SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 03/10/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"FIREFIGHT is an above average, if somewhat implausible, thriller set in a smoldering forest fire. Our hero, played with astute machoism by rugged Steve Bacic, plots an armored truck robbery with Nick Mancuso, Sonya Solaama and Brad Rivoh, and to do so stages a fake fire to cover their deed. Of course, enter laconic Stephen Baldwin as Sonya's bad boyfriend and he wants all the money himself. The movie offers little novelty in its exeuction and the CGI effects are so obviously fake it brings the movie down a notch (see: Backdraft/Ladder 49 for real special effects). But it's harmless entertainment and Bacic has a strong screen presence, although the ending is a real pain in the neck!!"