Fire Down Below

This film is different compared to Segals other films,it hardly has any action and they seem to be focused on the plot more, rather than the action.The plot of the movie is Steven segal plays a E.P.A. agent undercover as a maintenance man to investigate a corrupt company that has been dumping toxic waste in Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. Most of the villains in this movie are country singers,Randy Travis has a cameo appearance.Segal falls in love with a woman everyone in the town dislikes named Sarah Kellog (Marge Hellenberger)because she was falsely accused of murdering her father when she was a child, it was actually her creepy brother Earl(Stephen Lang). This movie has a lot of humor and nice scenery of Kentucky.I would love to live in the south.

I have watched this several times and always find it enjoyable. There is a gallery of good actors in support like Harry Dean Stanton and Kris Kristofferson. Special mention should be made of Stephen Lang who although playing a murderous character does make one feel sorry for him. Also Marg Helgenberger gives a touching portrayal of Sarah Kellogg, ready to bloom after years of repression.

The photography of the landscape is beautiful and contrasts with the story about its despoliation by illegal dumping of chemicals. This film is more about character and story. The fight scenes themselves are quite brief.

Which brings us to Steven Seagal. His bland acting style works strangely enough in complement with the other stronger actors.He does the combat OK. He does preach (like in his more recent films) but hey, what's wrong with looking after the environment? This film is under rated and deserves another look.

I don't know if it's the amount of Seagal I was given or the mood I was in but this movie delivered me an entertaining time and a glimpse at one of his last better films. Steven portrays an EPA agent that comes into a small town to investigate chemical spills and the bad guys who are in on it. Fire Down Below basically ends up being Steven Seagal chit chatting with all the locals (and a shy girl he is falling for) along with beating the snot out of the evil polluters. It's fun to watch Steven do his thing and the movie lets him do just that. There have been past Seagal films that felt like he was only featured in half the flick, in this it plays almost solely to him. It ended up being enjoyable enough to recommend to an action junkie or someone who wants to watch Steven Seagal's watchable movies.

All of the fun from a Steven Seagal film comes from watching the man. You know that when the bad guys are circling him, taunting him, telling him what they're about to do, you know that within less than a minute, everyone around him is going to be lying on the ground, moaning in pain, while he stands there smirking. Literally everything in his reach becomes a weapon and he NEVER kicks. Also, he ALWAYS comes out scratch free. His character will almost always be clad in leather, even when everyone else is walking around in Summer wear. Yep, he's a regular "Jack of all trades" in this one as he's an Enviornmental Protection Agent, a pilot, a carpenter, a martial artist, and a guitar player as well. It's so absurd, but yet SO satisfying, it's just the way action movies should be. No one else could pull it off and do it so well. Lotsa fun.

Steven Seagal plays basically the same character in every movie, and while they're always panned by the critics, his movies always please the audience that they were intended for. Fire Down Below is, in my opinion, the last of his really good movies. Everything else kinda went downhill from there. With Fire Down Below, he took his preachiness from On Deadly Ground, and toned it down a little. Also, he wasn't directing this time. But one thing I have to say is that I could've done without the sped up action sequences. There were a few times, throughout the movie, where I thought that I may have accidentally hit the fast forward button on my remote. But other than that, this movie does what action movies are supposed to do and doesn't pull any punches. I also enjoyed the Kentucky backdrop and it was kinda cool to see so many country musicians make cameos. Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, Mark Collie, Kris Kristofferson, Levon Helm...they're all here, not too mention several others. My favorite character was "Cotton" played to perfection by one of my all time favorite character actors Harry Dean Stanton. His mountain-boy simplicity put a big ole smile on my face everytime he showed up and I love the guy in everything he's in.

Everyone in the movie seems to be having a great time and it's so hard to take anything seriously. All you can really do is sit back and have a good time. I hope that for his next film, that he ditches all the glossiness of "Exit Wounds" and goes back to the movies that made his audiences love him in the first place.

Since I haven't seen this since the turn of the 21st century, it would be interesting to see again just to see Marg Helgenberger. I really wasn't that familiar with her when I saw this movie a couple of times in the late '90s, although I had seen her before. However, now she's a very familiar face thanks to the hit CSI television show.

Anyway, the movie was a typical Steven Seagal film in that he's the likable hero, you had despicable villains that were easy to hate, and every action scene is Rambo-like in which Seagal never misses injuring his foes.

One big difference in this film from his earlier efforts: an emphasis an aesthetic cinematography. This had some beautiful rural scenes of Kentucky and in particular, a church on a top of a hill, in which a number of scenes take place. Not only is the country scenery nice but there are some good country songs in here and better yet - blues guitar music in the background throughout the movie. All of this was different for a Seagal film. Of course, the nice scenery was probably due to the fact Seagal played an Environmental Protection Agent ("Jack Taggart").

Also different was the fact that Helgenberger ("Sarah Kellogg") was not the typical gorgeous young sexpot normally paraded out in these martial arts films, but was rather plain with no makeup. She wore conservative clothing and showed no skin. (Contrast that to her CSI roles the past six years) Then again, Appalachia being the setting for this story, her dress and manner was appropriate and realistic.

Language-wise, most of the hard profanity comes from Kris Kristofferson's villain character, "Orrin Hammer, Sr.," in the first hour.

How they treated "religion" in this film was bizarre. Good, bad, good, bad - like watching a tennis match. The country reverend was the typical Hollywood wishy-washy minister: the kind would NOT see in this area in real life. The screenwriters are so clueless Seagal called him - a Protestant minister - "father" - as if he was a Catholic. Anyway, the wimpy reverend does "come around" at the end.

More examples: good-guy Seagal bows his head in prayer at church but also tells Helgenberger that "I don't hand out bibles." He also mentions UFOs and Zen to a sick little boy but also mentions "God's work" other times. He covers all the bases, I guess, from occult to the real thing. The bad guys attend church, but then they burn it down! Harry Dean Stanton tells someone that "church people talk down the others," but the next scene something positive is shown. I'm telling you: the theology in here would make your head swim.

Seagal plays a smug kind of guy but his smugness doesn't translate into an offensive jerk, perhaps because his character is so soft-spoken and he is, after all, the good guy. Every action scene in here is a Rambo imitation in which Segal beats up his opponents no matter how many of them are against him. It's ludicrous. Yet, most of the time it's enjoyable enough to watch and the sound-effects on those fights are actually entertaining, almost humorous.

About the film, I still like the blues guitar and the Kentucky scenery the best. The rest of it is pure Seagal nonsense....but entertaining.