Ablaze (2001 film)

Last updated
Ablaze
Ablaze (2001) Film Poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Jim Wynorski (credited as Jay Andrews)
Written bySteve Latshaw
Produced byAlison Semenza
Andrew Stevens
Jim Wynorski
Starring
CinematographyAndrea V. Rossotto
Edited byCraig Kitson
Music byNeal Acree
Production
companies
Phoenician Entertainment
Firestorm Pictures
Distributed byNew City Releasing
Firestorm Productions
Lionsgate
Release dates
  • June 18, 2001 (2001-06-18)
(Greece)
  • July 16, 2002 (2002-07-16)
(United States)
Running time
97 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Ablaze is a 2001 American direct-to-video action disaster film, starring John Bradley, Tom Arnold and Michael Dudikoff. It was directed by Jim Wynorski. The film uses stock footage from two other films. The car chase scene at the beginning of the film is edited from the 1993 film Striking Distance . [1] Ablaze also extensively uses footage from the film City on Fire throughout the film. The film also contains stock footage from the 1970s TV Show Emergency! [2]

Contents

Plot

Andrew Thomas is an agent tasked with recording the violations made at an oil refinery that resides next to a suburban town. His brother Jack is a firefighter who has just introduced a new member to his team, Scott, who becomes hostile with fellow firefighter Gary Daniels. Meanwhile, at a hospital in the town, one of the doctors, and Jack's ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lewis, defies the orders of her boss Vivian Sims to help a pregnant woman named Mindi Hunter, who's about to go into labor. Jennifer, and Winslow, one of the nurses, help Mindi prepare to give birth. Meanwhile, a young kid named Barry Christopher accidentally sets his house on fire by lighting a match on a toy plane, and Jack's team is sent by chief Sam Davis to rescue him. They rescue Barry, and he is sent to the hospital with his mother Gwen. Jack is also injured in the fire, and is sent to the hospital.

Andrew, meanwhile, finds numerous violations taking place at the refinery, as well as discovering a plot to burn the refinery down to collect the insurance money. The planned explosion soon occurs, and Andrew is injured in the explosion. The assistant of the refinery's manager Curt Peters, and worker Rick Woods take Andrew to the hospital, where he reveals the real motive of his visit. As the fire begins to spread across the city, slowly reaching the town, the refinery's manager Wendell Mays sends Peters, and Woods to retrieve a document from Andrew's office concerning the violations. Peters retrieves the documents, although he's burned alive in the process, and is soon run over by a car, killing him. Woods decides to forget the document, and drives off. Davis orders the hospital to be evacuated due to the fire spreading towards it. He angrily confronts the city's mayor Phillips as a result of his involvement in the initial explosion. Jack recovers in the hospital, and is told by doctor Stuart Ridgley that his brother is in critical condition. He visits Andrew, who gives him one last tearful goodbye before dying. An actress named Elizabeth Sherman enters the hospital, offering to help tend to the injured. Barry experiences an asthma attack as a result of the fire, although is taken care of. Mindi successfully gives birth to a girl named Hailey, and the evacuation begins. Wendell, and Vivian are evacuated in a truck, although one of the buildings they pass explodes, causing the truck to catch on fire, and killing them both.

Elizabeth is soon killed in the fire while trying to seek the help of Daniels, and the other firefighters. With the help of news cameraman Tim Vester, Jack manages to evacuate the people in the hospital to various rescue units. However, while racing to the units, Tim is killed by falling scaffolding. Alaina Charles, a news reporter Tim was filming, attempts to save him, only to be crushed herself by another piece of scaffolding. Everybody else, including Winslow, Mindi, Barry, and Gwen, reach the rescue units, and are taken to makeshift hospitals along a nearby river. Jennifer, and Ridgley struggle to reach the units, although Jack rescues them, and he, and his team send off the last unit before a catastrophic explosion destroys the entire section of the city. All of the firefighters survive the explosion, and Jack reunites with Jennifer. In the aftermath of the disaster, Phillips is arrested by Davis.

Cast

Reception

The film got extremely negative reviews. On IMDb Ablaze holds a score 3.2 out of 10. The blog Crane Shot argues that the film is so bad that is good, stating: "Phoenician Entertainment and director Jim Wynorski (CHOPPING MALL) attempt an Irwin Allen-style disaster flick that is just unintentionally hilarious enough to be entertaining. A large cast of familiar faces and the amusement of spotting stock footage from other movies, which Wynorski uses in lieu of filming his own action scenes, provide much of the fun in ABLAZE." [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center</span> Post-9/11 rescue operations

The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center elicited a large response of local emergency and rescue personnel to assist in the evacuation of the two towers, resulting in a large loss of the same personnel when the towers collapsed. After the attacks, the media termed the World Trade Center site "Ground Zero", while rescue personnel referred to it as "the Pile".

<i>Emergency!</i> American television series

Emergency! is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situation comedy series The Partners and The Good Life, it ran for a total of 122 episodes until May 28, 1977, with six additional two-hour television films during the next two years, 1978 and 1979.

<i>Backdraft</i> (film) 1991 film directed by Ron Howard

Backdraft is a 1991 American action thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro, Jason Gedrick, and J. T. Walsh, and follows Chicago firefighters on the trail of a serial arsonist. Filming in Chicago began on July 23, 1990, and was wrapped up on December 8, 1990. Before the filming started, the main actors went out on calls with real Chicago firefighters. All of the main actors also went to the Chicago Fire Academy to learn how to be like the firefighters in the film.

<i>Ladder 49</i> 2004 American film

Ladder 49 is a 2004 American disaster thriller film directed by Jay Russell and written by Lewis Colick. The film follows Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, who is trapped inside a warehouse fire, and his recollection of the events that got him to that point. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta, and was released on October 1, 2004. It received mixed reviews and grossed $102 million worldwide.

The Orsec-Novi plan, or short Novi plan, is a French emergency plan used for a mass casualty incident (mascal), i.e. if an emergency has a significant number of casualties in a limited area. Its aim is to organize the rescue resources to cope with the concentrated casualties. It was formerly called red plan ; "Orsec" stands for "rescue management", and "novi" for "multiple casualties".

<i>Asteroid</i> (film)

Asteroid is a 1997 NBC TV miniseries about the United States government trying to prevent an asteroid from colliding with the Earth. The miniseries aired February 16–17, 1997.

Jim Wynorski is an American screenwriter, director, and producer.

<i>City on Fire</i> (1979 film) 1979 American disaster film directed by Alvin Rakoff

City on Fire is a 1979 disaster action film directed by Alvin Rakoff, written by Jack Hill, Dave Lewis, and Celine La Freniere, and stars Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, Leslie Nielsen, James Franciscus, Ava Gardner, and Henry Fonda. The film's plot revolves around a disgruntled ex-employee who sabotages an oil refinery, setting off a blaze which engulfs an entire city. People try to either fight the fire or flee as it spreads throughout the city.

<i>Firestorm</i> (1998 film) 1998 American film

Firestorm is a 1998 action thriller film directed by Dean Semler and starring Howie Long, Scott Glenn, William Forsythe, and Suzy Amis.

<i>Flood</i> (Doyle novel)

Flood is a 2002 disaster thriller novel by Richard Doyle. Set in present-day London, the novel depicts a disastrous flood and fire of London, caused by a storm, and the consequential accident at an oil refinery, and failure of the Thames Barrier. The plot is similar to his 1976 novel Deluge, updated to include the construction of the Thames Flood Barrier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service</span> Fire and rescue service of England

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands Region of England. This does not include North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, which are covered by Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

Firefighting is the act of extinguishing destructive fires. A firefighter fights these fires with the intent to prevent destruction of life, property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical profession, which requires years of training and education in order to become proficient. A fire can rapidly spread and endanger many lives; however, with modern firefighting techniques, catastrophe can usually be avoided. To help prevent fires from starting, a firefighter's duties include public education and conducting fire inspections. Because firefighters are often the first responders to victims in critical conditions, firefighters often also provide basic life support as emergency medical technicians or advanced life support as licensed paramedics. Firefighters make up one of the major emergency services, along with the emergency medical service, the police, and many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion</span> Fatal industrial disaster

The 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion was an industrial disaster that occurred on February 7, 2008, in Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States. Fourteen people were killed and forty injured when a dust explosion occurred at a sugar refinery owned by Imperial Sugar. Dust explosions had been an issue of concern among U.S. authorities since three fatal accidents in 2003, with efforts made to improve safety and reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pembroke Refinery</span>

The Pembroke Refinery is an oil refinery situated on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales at Rhoscrowther in the community of Angle. It first came on stream in 1964 and was Regent/Texaco's only British refinery. The refinery occupies a prominent position on the south bank of the Milford Haven Waterway and can be seen for many miles. Around a quarter of the site is within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park which was created in 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1975 Philadelphia Gulf refinery fire</span> Fire at refinery in Pennsylvania, US

A refinery owned by Gulf Oil Corporation in Philadelphia, located at Girard Point on the Schuylkill River in South Philadelphia, caught fire on Sunday, August 17, 1975. This incident grew into an 11-alarm fire, not brought under control until 24 hours later, and resulted in the death of eight firefighters of the Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD), injuries to 14 other firefighters, and the loss of four PFD vehicles.

<i>Rescue Heroes</i> (TV series) Television series

Rescue Heroes is an animated television series produced by Nelvana. Based on the Fisher-Price toy line of the same name, the television series tracks the adventures of a team of emergency responders who rescue people from various disasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Husky Energy Refinery explosion</span> Oil refinery explosion

On April 26, 2018, an explosion and subsequent fire occurred at the Husky Energy Oil Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin. An initial explosion was reported at 10:00 AM and was extinguished close to noon, however a piece of debris had hit a storage tank containing asphalt, which ignited after spilling across the refinery, sending a thick plume of black smoke into the air. Thirty-six people, including 11 refinery employees, were sent to local hospitals, but there were ultimately no fatalities. Residents 3 miles to the east and west of the refinery, 2 miles to the north, and 10 miles to the south were evacuated from their homes temporarily due to concerns of both the toxicity of the smoke affecting those who lived south of the refinery and concerns regarding the plant's hydrofluoric acid tank causing further damage.

The Beacon Oil explosion occurred on February 10, 1928, at the company's distilling plant in Everett, Massachusetts. 14 people were killed in 36 injured in the disaster.

References

  1. "Trivia". IMDB. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  2. "Connections". IMDB. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  3. "Ablaze". Crane Shot. Retrieved 10 April 2017.