I Revisited Fire Down Below

Yes, the Steven Seagal movie from 1997 that I actually revisited earlier in May. The reason why the review is being posted today is below: 

This is for certain a time where you have to separate the art from the artist.

I revisited this movie earlier in the month & was going to wait and review this with other Steven Seagal movies that need longer reviews from me. Then, today I saw that he received “an award” from Putin due to his role as a useful idiot for the Russian government then he read off anti-Ukraine propaganda. Yeah… I don’t want to look like I’m supporting a person who is pretty toxic even if you discount his role as a Russian tool. Might as well write this review now so I don’t have to fret in the future, right? I already have to fret anyhow as what I hoped to watch in May will have to be pushed back to June.

Seagal plays the world’s most dangerous Environmental Protection Agency agent who visits rural Kentucky as his fellow agents are disappearing as they investigate toxic waste dumping by Kris Kristofferson’s company. He encounters the expected resistance from the villain’s lackeys as he romances Marg Helgenberger and befriends Harry Dean Stanton. If you don’t think that sounds absurd enough, he’s undercover as a Christian who does good deeds while wearing some ludicrous coats for those that go to Levon Helm’s church. Yes, he plays a preacher who-get this-sings a song.

This has a surprisingly loaded cast. Other names include Stephen Lang, Randy Travis, Neal McDonough (briefly), and two singers at themselves: Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt. No one should be shocked that Seagal is better at his choreographed martial arts (he hadn’t become huge, immobile & lazy quite yet) than at his thespian skills. At least the rest of the cast is fine, w/ Kristofferson playing a slimeball villain amusingly well. I’d say that this movie treated the poor Appalachia residents w/ respect & decency but then I recall a rather gross subplot that lives up-or rather, down-to stereotypes. At least there’s a nice environmental message, plus the hilarity of toxic waste that is neon green.

Regardless, this had decent action, pretty rural scenery, and appropriately for a movie filled w/ musicians, a nice score. The odious presence of the lead was not so noxious as to turn me off from this B-movie cheese entirely; that scent wasn’t limburger, in other words. Reviews in the future will sometimes feature people who are on the scale from “problematic” to downright awful. It may even include other Seagal movies; however, I don’t want to opine on this too hard. This isn’t the best film from the star so if you still want to see one for the first time… go for something like Out for Justice, Marked for Death—or heck, On Deadly Ground to see a less-filtered look at some of his beliefs.