Beautiful, moving film.

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's pretty obvious that the director has numerous Oscar nominations for cinematography, because the visuals look pretty spectacular. This in of itself makes the movie entertaining to watch, which is OK for a film that's really only intended to be a basic action flick. Forsythe, Amis and Glen do a good job helping Howie Long through the scenes. Even though he can't really act, Howie's likability and physical prowess make him fun to watch. I could easily delve into the problems of this film (which are numerous), but if you go in with very low expectations, you may come out pleasantly surprised. Firestorm is a fun little action flick with great visuals you can watch on a rainy day. It's certainly no worse than some of the other films of the same genre.

Firestorm is a movie that people who are 15 and older might enjoy to watch. The acting in the movie truly gives the film its cohesiveness. There is no outstanding actor/actress. They all work together to make the film work. Firestorm is not the best nor the worst film ever. It is a good solid action (crime) drama. Firestorm is a movie which helps to humanize firefighters. The criminal elements in the film are truly ruthless and deserve no sympathy. We are all afraid of fire burning down our homes, consuming our life's memories, and burning alive. This movie brings these fears into focus. Firestorm also reminds us all as to why every community needs firefighters. For it short duration of about an hour and one half, Firestorm will keep you occupied. Grab the popcorn, soda, and some extra water (just in case). I give it four thumbs up.

Although nowhere as infamous as John Travolta's Battlefield Earth or Warren Beatty's Ishtar or George Lucas's Howard the Duck, this sorry excuse for a movie is equal in unintentional humor. Some of the worst computer graphics ever seen, a "performance" so wooden from Howie Long it makes Stallone look like Ben Kingsley, and scenes that are so unrealistic Ed Wood would not have filmed them. One scene, the "Fire Storm" scene, shows raging computer graphic flames rushing over mountains like a gigantic burning tornado, covering hundreds of square miles in three seconds flat. Everyone in the theater was laughing, except maybe for the smart ones who had already walked out.The director went on to make one of the more forgettable Steven Seagal straight-to-video movies, and the writer was never heard from again. And poor Suzi Amis; You'd think James Cameron might have helped his gal get better movie roles.

This is one of those films that you can really get a kick out of because it is so bad. It is almost like someone took "Cheesey Movie Making 101." The casting is surprisingly good, the acting itself isn't bad, but script is humorously appalling and the characters are incredibly predictable and shallow. We actually had a very good time predicting characters' next lines with an amusing amount of success. The opening scene is hilarious (small dog included, I kid you not). Speaking as someone who has worked in the wildland fire the movie is completely unrealistic, particularly the beginning and end, the movie has nice symmetry that way. (To name a few errors, you light a backfire to eliminate the fuels-not the oxygen, we do not fly aircraft at night, and, trust me on this one, EVERYONE wears sunglasses.) This is actually quite successful as a satire on action films. Unfortunately for the film makers, I don't think that is what was intended.