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Fire down below

Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Beneath a land of wealth and beauty hides a secret that could kill millions. Undercover has never run so deep.

The long rows of rolling, green hills that compose the countryside of south-eastern Kentucky seem to stretch forever. This tranquil splendour is a true piece of rural America's heritage. But now, this rustic landscape faces certain destruction from a deadly secret that has been buried far beneath its surface for years.

Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Marshal Jack Taggart (Steven Seagal) has set out on assignment to avenge the ruthless killing of a trusted colleague. Following the murdered agent's trail, Taggart travels through the tiny hamlets that dot the hills of Appalachia to expose the people responsible for dumping hazardous waste - lethal chemical time bombs such as DTCE, cyanide and benzene - into abandoned mine shafts that most residents would rather forget. But some of the townspeople are getting sick and whoever is behind the illegal dumping is protected by the silence of a town living in fear. The citizens close their eyes and shut their mouths while the quietly sanctioned industrial poisoning turns the lands surrounding their homes into a valley of death.

Working undercover as a carpenter through a local relief mission, Taggart slowly intermingles with these backwoods communities. Fixing stairs and roofs for the poor, distrustful townsfolk, he eventually becomes personally committed to the locals whose lives are endangered by the tainted terrain. While secretly searching for the shuttered coal mines, Taggart centres his investigation around mercenary mining tycoon Orin Hanner (Kris Kristoffersen), a local success story tied to the mines being used as illegal dump sites deep in the bluegrass hills.

During his inquiry, Taggart also meets and romances Sarah Kellogg (Marg Helgenberger), a local outcast with a chequered past whose murdered father once worked as a miner for Hanner. Sarah shares her lonely existence with her brother, Earl (Stephen Lang), and the Kellogg family secrets that are as potent and deadly as the toxic burning that has been quietly raging for years.

Now, Jack Taggart struggles to avenge his colleague's death and to prevent an irrevocable ecological catastrophe that will turn this idyllic land into an uninhabitable wasteland for generations to come.

Persons of interest

Steven Seagal .... Jack Taggart
Marg Helgenberger .... Sarah Kellogg
Stephen Lang .... Earl Kellogg
Brad Hunt .... Orin Hanner Jr
Kris Kristofferson .... Orin Hanner Sr
Harry Dean Stanton .... Cotton Harry
Levon Helm .... Reverend Bob Goodall
Mark Collie .... Hatch
Alex Harvey .... Sims
Ed Bruce .... Sheriff Lloyd
Amelia Neighbors .... Edie Carr
Richard Masur .... Phil Pratt
Clay Jeter .... Walter Carr
Yvonne Pollard .... Mrs Carr
Jeb Stuart .... Screenwriter
Philip Morton .... Screenwriter
Félix Enríquez Alcal .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Fire down below official movie site

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

It's a good thing there was a fire down below because there wasn't much happening up above.

Steven has never been a dramatic film actor. His talents lie in hitting things and blowing things up. There's only one blowing up, and that doesn't happen until right at the end of the flick and it's an accident anyway. The only martial arts are Steven beating up on hillbilly rednecks... and even then he only does Mr Miyagi's Zen Self Defence thing. There's no gratuitous eye gouging, spleen rupturing or ritual disembowelling, only a recurring broken nose which is more of a running gag than an act of violence.

So, what does that leave for the film to focus on? A big man who talks softly and carries a big stick. That's great for cold war politics but not so good for mindless entertainment. The whole thing about an Environmental Protection Agent running around, kick boxing his way to a greener world is a tad ludicrous. A former Navy seal who got busted down to cook and almost single-handedly recovers a nuclear vessel and warheads stolen by international warmongers and traitorous naval officers is believable. So is a guy saving a speeding train and all its passengers from terrorist mayhem. But not the green thing. Kwai Chang Caine was the only one who did it believably and is the only one who ever will.

Worth seeing? Not really. It's as slow as a wet week and as funny as a dry towel. If you're a hard-core Steven Segal fan you'll have to see it because he's in it, of course, but you'll rate this one pretty low. Kind of like the odd numbered Star trek movies are to Trekkies.

Media intelligence (DVD)

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English, French, Italian
Scene access
Subtitles: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish; English and Italian captions