Superfire (film)

Superfire
GenreDisaster
Screenplay byMichael Vickerman
Story byRichard Preston Jr.
Douglas Preston
Directed bySteven Quale
ComposerRuss Landau
Countries of originUnited States
Canada
Germany
New Zealand
Original languageEnglish
Production
CinematographyWilliam Wages
EditorHarry Hitner
Running time210 minutes (with commercials)
174 minutes (without commercials)
Production companiesLions Gate Television Pictures
ABC
Epsilon TV Production
KirchMedia
Stephanie Germain Productions
Tandem Communications
Mandalay Television
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseApril 2, 2002 (2002-04-02)

Superfire is a 2002 American disaster television film directed by Steven Quale.

Plot

After firefighter pilot Jim Merrick makes a mistake that costs the lives of 12 smokejumper colleagues, he becomes a disgrace and is reassigned to a town in Oregon. Due to his loss of reputation, most people are unwilling to listen when he tries to warn them of a fire encroaching on Portland, Oregon. The disaster involves multiple simultaneous forest fires that combine into a superfire threatening the city, and Jim and his new team must work to stop the disaster.

Cast

Production

In November 2000, it was announced that Lions Gate Television Pictures was planning to produce a film titled Superfire about an elite firefighter squad specifically for ABC.[1] Filming was scheduled for the spring of 2001, and Stephen Quayle was announced as the director.[1] The film was a co-production between Germany, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Filming took place in New Zealand, and the television film featured several New Zealand actors.

Broadcast

The television film was broadcast on ABC on April 20, 2002. The television film had a rating of PG-13/TV-14.[2]

Home video release

Some versions of the DVD release of the film shortened the film to around an hour and a half.[3][4] Other versions contained the full-length film.[5][6]

Reception

A review in the 2005 book VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever by Jim Craddock and Gale Thomson called the film a "hackneyed heroes story."[7]

In a review of the shortened DVD, the review site chasingthefrog.com gave the film a rating of 2 and a half out of 4 stars and a movie grade of C+, writing that it "turned out to be a relatively good-looking film, at least for a TV movie anyway. Sure, the special effects were noticeably not big budget, but I have to credit the filmmakers and say that they did a good job in making the fire scenes look believable. (There were clips from the bigger budget 1997 film "Dantes Peak" [sic] used to capture the massive fire.)"[4]

Accolades

The visual effects team of John Allardice, Steve Courtney, Sherry L. Hitch, John McGinley, George Port, Jonathan Rothbart, Mark Sadeghi, Lee Stringer, and Ron Thornton[8] was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special at the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2002.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Grego, Melissa (November 20, 2000). "Lions Gate Fords new TV streams".
  2. ↑ "Superfire | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  3. ↑ "Amazon.com".
  4. 1 2 "Superfire review **1/2 - CTF". www.chasingthefrog.com.
  5. ↑ https://www.lastdodo.com/en/items/3670643-superfire
  6. ↑ "Amazon.de".
  7. ↑ "VideoHound's golden movie retriever [electronic resource]". Farmington Hills [Mich.] : Thomson/Gale. July 12, 2005 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ Roshanian, Arya (November 22, 2016). "Ron Thornton, Emmy-Winning Visual Effects Designer of 'Babylon 5,' Dies at 59".
  9. ↑ "Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special 2002 - Nominees & Winners Emmy Awards". Television Academy.
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