SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Crap_Connoisseur I think I'd rather burn in an inferno than sit through this film again. I can deal with the horrendous script, the appalling acting, the incompetent directing and the sinful waste of an excellent actor like Jeff Fahey, but what I can not excuse is the fact that "Inferno" is overwhelmingly dull and boring.The first half of Inferno is as riveting as watching paint dry. Poor Janet Gunn looks completely at sea with the ridiculous role of Darcy, a single mother/fire jumper. When Darcy isn't jumping from planes to watch other people put out fires, she's busy fighting with her daughter, Kylie. The girl who plays Kylie is truly one of the least talented actresses I have ever seen. To describe her acting as wooden would be an insult to wood. And yet, Kylie is not the most poorly acted role in the film. That title undoubtedly belongs to the girl who portrays Mary, surely the worst child actor since Curly Sue.I'm not sure what is actually more offensive, the acting or the pathetic special effects. In the director's commentary of Ladder 49, Jay Russell says that fire is about the only thing that CGI can not adequately create. After watching this film, I have to agree. The fires look like they have been drawn on the screen with a child's crayon.I can really only think of two uses for "Inferno" - as landfill or as a handbook on how not to make a movie. Only for die-hard fans of Jeff Fahey, Dean Stockwell or Janet Gunn.

Octagonal While viewing a multi-pack of action DVD's I stumbled across what appears to be a little known film that I certainly had not heard of before. The only actor immediately recognizable is Dean Stockwell who has only a small and rather featureless part as Mayor Bill Klinger. Despite this I found the scenery and acting well above average for what was ostensibly a low budget production. Panoramic views of the sweeping forestry were well executed and while the special effects were not up to blockbuster standard they were adequate and in no way detracted from the experience. The plot revolves around new Rural Fire Chief Darcy Hamilton played by the incredibly sexy Janet Gunn. The move brings tension between Darcy, her daughter, the mayor and the local firefighters. All the while a random arsonist is making life difficult. The story itself is sound with some believable action heating things up. Overall I found the movie absorbing with above average acting and reasonably strong plot lines.

John M Upton Well it was just about watchable but that is where the positive points grind to halt, probably just like the career of pretty much everyone associated with this mess.Plot holes the size of Nebraska, dodgy acting, even more dodgy fire fighting and wall to wall recycled stock footage of forest fires interspersed with some terrible special effects are the main features of a film with a plot so blinding obvious you could see what was going to happen a mile off.Large slices of the plot have been lifted almost word for word from Jaws, the defiant kid who gets into trouble, the Mayor who refuses to close the road because of the tourist peak, and even more amazingly one character then goes and admits this! Anyway, the fire gets out of control thanks to their local friendly loony with the fireworks (who anyone with half a brain will identify in about a millisecond after he appears) and then its all solved as if by magic by blowing up the dam - this being achieved with the lamest explosions in the history of demolishing things.The whole film leaves a lot of unanswered questions - What happened to the fire tankers? Where did that convenient abandoned mine appear from and then just as promptly disappear to? Who put that idiot woman in charge? Did we really need the pointless closing scene at the dance with the flashbacks? What was with the random pointless slow motion shots? What on earth was Dean Stockwell (as the Mayor) doing in this rubbish? If you like a laugh at cheap poorly researched B Movie style disaster flicks (and there seem to be an awful lot of them floating around) then go and find this on DVD - my local supermarket is flogging this travesty for just 97p - and I expect many will still think they have been robbed!!

tim000_1998 I have seen so many movies about fires but by far this is the worst one. I like the female firefighter idea but her character was not fully developed. The visual effects are OK for a low budget movie. The acting. Well this is a different story. First of all the kids are really stupid in this film. Kylie deserves what she gets. Her boyfriend is silly and more importantly Mary, the little girl, she looks like she is having fun at the park while the fire is on. The mayor character played by Stockwell is underdeveloped supporting character. It is too bad that they could not use him. Soulless characters, dull story, OK visual effects and bad acting. I think this is a deadly combination. Rent another movie or watch something else on TV.