Watch Heaven's Fire For Free

Good movie but grossly overrated

A Disappointing Continuation

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I don't like action movies at this best of times but this is well below par even for that genre.Starring Eric Roberts & Jürgen Prochnow it tells the story of a group of disgruntled former government employees who plan on getting back at old employers by stealing over 100 million dollars. Sadly things don't go to plan and they find themselves stuck in a burning building as well as an innocent tourist group.But never fear as we also have fellow former government worker Eric Roberts there to save the day and the stakes are high as his future wife, her daughter and his son just happen to be there as well. Oh did I mention his ex wife and former friend are involved as well?Cliched all the way to hell and back, looking seriously cheap and lacking any form of originality this messy action flick is one for true action junkies only.The Good:I liked the bit where it endedThe Bad:Embarassing cover artSome of the writing is ridiculously badThat final stare down was comedicThings I Learnt From This Movie:Closing a wooden door will protect you from an incoming crashing helicopterWhen performing a flying kick through a window one must always consider the landingAt no point does anyone acknowledge just how much to blame the antagonist is for everything that happens!

A somewhat fun little time waster.Elements of DIE HARD combine with THE TOWERING INFERNO, as well as small parts from THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and EARTHQUAKE, to make a somewhat diverting action/disaster flick for the non-discriminating fan.Some of the plot points don't make too much sense, but other little bits and bites are well-woven into the silly saga of the innocent tourists trapped in the burning high rise with terrorist/thieves, such as Michelle's revenge upon the goon who trapped her in the elevator, and the conveniently-placed throwing star in the hero's pocket that finally takes out the head Bad Guy...sometimes in writing a screenplay, even an action romp like this, it's tough to make all these bits work out.There must have been a bit of a budget for this film, which apparently aired on the Fox Family channel in 1999. (Yeah, I didn't think this could be a post 9 - 11 idea). The special effects are pretty good, direction is okay apart from a few confusing bits I noticed, acting is pretty good, notably from the two leads, and photography is pretty nice, with good and impressive of shots of fire, flame-overs and explosions.Over all, this is a decent film for action film freaks. I bought this film on DVD for one dollar...at that price it certainly is worth it, and MUCH better than most one dollar DVDs I have picked up. Wouldn't go out of your way to get it, but it certainly is not horrible enough to fall into the category of so bad that you'll be laughing at its incompetence.If you want a similar film (with an even sillier plot) that is "so bad it's good", then I suggest you check out the Anna Nicole Smith vehicle SKYSCRAPER. See my review of that film under that title.

I was not terribly impressed by this movie, but it was not horrible. It's quite obviously a low-budget, made-for-TV rip-off of DIE HARD, but well-acted by Roberts, Prochnow, and most of the rest of the cast.Apparently, Fox TV was using the old HIGHLANDER series' actors' pool for the supporting cast, since no fewer than seven characters in this movie were alums of one HL episode or another.Not a terribly exciting movie; nothing original. One or two really big plot holes, but at least in comparison to some of the real stinkers I've seen recently (in an effort to find more of Prochnow's films), not bad.If you're a truly die-hard (no pun intended) fan of Prochnow or Roberts, you'll probably enjoy this film. Otherwise, just go watch DIE HARD again.

Not surprisingly the bad guy (Prochnow) outshines the good guy (Roberts) in this average action-flick. The stunts and computer effects are not half bad, and a nice tongue-in-cheek attitude and good production value make up for most lulls in the plot. At times the actors actually seem to be enjoying themselves, and that's more than one should expect from this DIE HARD-clone (the hero is even named McConnell... hello? McClane!). Eric Roberts and Jürgen Prochnow in "The Towering Inferno" meets "Die Hard" on a TV-budget. How can you go wrong with that on a Friday night? :)