Firestorm (1998)
Firestorm was originally written as a vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, however when the production company Savoy Pictures went bankrupt the screenplay was bought by Twentieth Fox and the scope of the movie reduced to suit a lower budget. It’s broadly similar to Cliffhanger in so far as the lead character is a specialist in a certain field who runs afoul of criminals in a perilous environment. Whereas Cliffhanger is set in the Rocky Mountains, Firestorm takes place in the forests of Northern Wyoming. After the script was revised four times, the finished screenplay was given a final “polish” by Graham Yost who has considerable experience with the action movie genre. As stallone was no longer associated with the project and the production had been repurposed to be less extravagant, the movie was assigned to former NFL star Howie Long. Long had already appeared in the John Woo movie Broken Arrow (1996) and the Firestorm was seen as a means to give him a star vehicle.
Firestorm was originally written as a vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, however when the production company Savoy Pictures went bankrupt the screenplay was bought by Twentieth Fox and the scope of the movie reduced to suit a lower budget. It’s broadly similar to Cliffhanger in so far as the lead character is a specialist in a certain field who runs afoul of criminals in a perilous environment. Whereas Cliffhanger is set in the Rocky Mountains, Firestorm takes place in the forests of Northern Wyoming. After the script was revised four times, the finished screenplay was given a final “polish” by Graham Yost who has considerable experience with the action movie genre. As stallone was no longer associated with the project and the production had been repurposed to be less extravagant, the movie was assigned to former NFL star Howie Long. Long had already appeared in the John Woo movie Broken Arrow (1996) and the Firestorm was seen as a means to give him a star vehicle.
Jesse Graves (Howie Long) is a “smokejumper”; an elite group of firefighters who parachute into areas on fire and tackle them from “ground zero”. He and his mentor Wynt Perkins (Scott Glenn) are dealing with a series of forest fires in Northern Wyoming which threaten to merge and cause a firestorm. When additional help is drafted in from the local state penitentiary, a group of convicts led by the notorious Randall Alexander Shaye (William Forsythe) use the fire as cover for an escape and go in search of Shaye’s stolen haul. Disguised as Canadian firefighters the gang kidnap Jennifer (Suzy Amis), a passing ornithologist who is in the forest studying a rare species. Jesse parachutes into the forest after seeing Shaye and his men from the air and quickly ascertains that they are not who they say they are. A game of cat and mouse ensues as Jesse rescues Jennifer and seeks to escape the blazing forest as well as Shaye who is hellbent in retrieving his cash and tidying up any loose ends.
Firestorm is both formulaic and by the book. It is tightly paced and does not out stay its welcome at a running time of 89 minutes. It is competently directed by Dean Semmler, who is an established cinematographer. As action vehicles are not usually designed to have complex narratives, the focus is mainly upon action scenes and the charisma of the lead actor. Howie Long certainly does not disgrace himself with his performance but the role is very two dimensional, presenting firefighter Jesse Long as nothing more than a squared jawed archetype. The presence of stalwart character actors such as Scott Glenn and Willaim Forsythe does much to bolster proceedings, as they effortlessly carry off their respective roles. As for the action scenes and visual effects, they are relatively low key and as a result work quite well. There’s a bike chase that ends in a high fall and parachute jump and some solid hand to hand fist fights. The blazing forest is a mixture of digital and physical effects.
Despite doing as much as possible with the resources at hand, Firestorm was not a box office success. Perhaps the audience wanted a more complex narrative or just more bang for their buck. Despite its R rating the movie is not excessively violent or profane. The bravura demise of the central villain and an unpleasant undercurrent of threatened sexual violence from a character who is a rapist, may have been the reason why the rating went above PG-13. Firestorm is not a terrible movie by genre standards nor is it an overlooked gem. It is filled with plot holes (exactly why are canadian firefighters in Wyoming?) and is a high concept idea designed to facilitate a series of action scenes. But this is standard practise in the action movie genre. There are also worse “charisma vacuums” than Howie Long (I’m looking at you Brian Bosworth). Perhaps the film’s failure was simply due to its timing or publicity. 22 years on it can provide an undemanding diversion if you require one.
Gerry Anderson’s Firestorm
Firestorm originally started as a Japanese anime series co-created by Gerry Anderson and John Needham back in 2003. The show combined CGI animation for mecha and traditional cel animation for characters and the environment. Despite the quality of the production and an emphasis on the futuristic hardware that has always been a core tenet of Gerry Anderson productions, the anime version of Firestorm didn’t find an audience in Japan. The show subsequently failed to secure a wider release and so became a more obscure part of Anderson Canon. However, in 2014 Anderson Entertainment (under the auspices of Jamie Anderson, Gerry’s son) announced a crowdfunding campaign to produce a pilot episode for a new television series of Firestorm using practical film-making techniques including miniature effects and puppetry. It’s been a long road since then but today a debut “minisode” was shown at MCM Comic-Con London and simultaneously released on You Tube.
Firestorm originally started as a Japanese anime series co-created by Gerry Anderson and John Needham back in 2003. The show combined CGI animation for mecha and traditional cel animation for characters and the environment. Despite the quality of the production and an emphasis on the futuristic hardware that has always been a core tenet of Gerry Anderson productions, the anime version of Firestorm didn’t find an audience in Japan. The show subsequently failed to secure a wider release and so became a more obscure part of Anderson Canon. However, in 2014 Anderson Entertainment (under the auspices of Jamie Anderson, Gerry’s son) announced a crowdfunding campaign to produce a pilot episode for a new television series of Firestorm using practical film-making techniques including miniature effects and puppetry. It’s been a long road since then but today a debut “minisode” was shown at MCM Comic-Con London and simultaneously released on You Tube.
While making Firestorm, the production team returned Gerry Anderson’s original documents. The story is set in the year 2102 and follows the adventures of Firestorm, an elite international team comprising of Sam Scott, Nagisa Kisaragi and Drew McAllister. They battle ongoing acts of sabotage by the elusive Black Orchid organisations. The miniature effects crew includes film industry veterans Steve Begg, Bill Pearson and Mike Tucker (whose collective body of work include Bond films and Doctor Who). The puppets are produced by the company Mackinnon and Saunders. Firestorm is made in “Ultramarionation” (the spiritual successor to “Supermarionation”), which features rod operated and animatronic puppets, physical sets, and actual explosions. The debut “minisode” marks the first new Anderson production since 2005. If all goes to plan, there is the possibility of full series of 26 episodes of 22 minutes apiece, which will hopefully begin full production in 2019.
According to Jamie Anderson, Managing Director of Anderson Entertainment who will be producing the new series "We've updated the Firestorm concept my father created with the development of “Ultramarionation”, the next generation of production techniques to really bring the wow factor back to the small screen”. The short but succinct “minisode” certainly showcases all the major selling points of the new show. The puppetry is incredibly detailed, allowing the characters to walk, run and emote. The physical effects and miniatures are of the highest calibre. And most importantly of all, there is scope to give the characters interesting back stories and explore their lives. This was always the big selling point of previous Gerry Anderson productions, especially Thunderbirds. I hope that a suitable backer can be secured so we see a full and expanded series for this franchise. In the past Anderson productions have had a close business association with ITV, yet a show such a Firestorm would be a real catch for the likes of Netflix or Amazon Prime.
