Ablaze (2001 film)

Last updated
Ablaze
Ablaze (2001) Film Poster.jpg
DVD cover
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 directed by Jim Wynorski and starring John Bradley, Tom Arnold, and Michael Dudikoff. The film uses stock footage from two other films. The car chase scene at the beginning is from the 1993 film Striking Distance . [1] Ablaze also extensively uses footage from the film City on Fire . The film also contains stock footage from the 1970s TV show Emergency! [2]

Contents

Plot

Andrew Thomas is an agent recording the violations made at an oil refinery next to a suburban town. His brother, Jack, is a firefighter. At the local hospital, Jack's ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jennifer Lewis, defies the orders of her boss, Vivian Sims, to help a pregnant woman named Mindi Hunter.

A young kid named Barry accidentally sets his house on fire. Jack's team is sent by chief Sam Davis to rescue him and his mother, Gwen. Jack is injured and they all end up in the hospital.

Andrew finds numerous violations and discovers a plot to burn the refinery down to collect the insurance money. The planned explosion injures Andrew. The assistant of the refinery's manager, Curt Peters, and worker Rick Woods take Andrew to the hospital.

As the fire spreads across the city, 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, but is burned alive in the process and run over by a car, killing him. Woods decides to forget the document, and drives off.

Davis orders the hospital to be evacuated. He confronts Mayor Phillips for his involvement in the initial explosion. Jack is told that Andrew is in critical condition. He visits Andrew, who gives him one last tearful goodbye before dying.

Barry experiences an asthma attack, although he is taken care of. Mindi gives birth to a girl named Hayley, and the evacuation begins. Wendell and Vivian are evacuated in a truck, but an exploding building causes the truck to catch on fire, killing them.

With the help of news cameraman Tim Vester, Jack evacuates the people in the hospital to various rescue units. However, while racing to the units, Tim is killed by falling scaffolding. Everybody else reaches the rescue units and are taken to makeshift hospitals. Jack and his team send off the last unit before an explosion destroys the entire section of the city. All of the firefighters survive the explosion, and Jack reunites with Jennifer. In the aftermath, Davis arrests Phillips.

Cast

Reception

The film got extremely negative reviews. On IMDb Ablaze holds a score of 3.2 out of 10. The blog Crane Shot argues that the film is so bad that it 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]

References

  1. ↑ "Trivia". IMDB. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Connections". IMDB. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "Ablaze". Crane Shot. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
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