Codewort - Dragonfire

The Memory Hole has a claim upon this feature made for cable television, and more's the pity since it is all that one might reasonably ask from a tale of covert deception between governments, a well-cast production that pleases on most levels, notably due to its competent direction, cinematography and scoring. Daniel J. Travanti plays John Tagget, owner of a large electronics manufacturing firm, who is disabled due to injuries incurred as a tortured prisoner of the North Vietnamese, and suffering from cryptic flashbacks of his P.O.W. experiences that, in combination with what may be attempts by his erstwhile intelligence community peers to murder him, create a situation that Tagget naturally tries to probe, whereupon more complications ensue, some quite deadly. Though Tagget's disability may be psychosomatic, the film's content is uncommon in that its principal character is in fact disabled, and many of his employees (assemblers, etc.) are wheelchair-bound, but this is only one fresh aspect of this work that, with a limited budget, offers generally clever plotting and neatly crafted filmmaking. Even when the continuity is plagued by problems with logic, there are attempts at explanation, whilst the creative lighting and camera skills of cinematographer Billy Dickson, a concinnate score from Michel Colombier, and the taut direction of Richard T. Heffron all intensify the proceedings that also benefit from nifty acting turns by Travanti, William Sadler as a crafty Russian operative, Leon Russom, elegant Guy Doleman, Peter Michael Goetz and Sarah Douglas; a discriminative cineaste will not rue having viewed this motion picture, titled DRAGONFIRE upon its initial release.