Inferno (2002)

Better than most people think

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

not the most awful movie I've seen but close.I greatly disliked the acting of the daughter Kylie and the little girl Mary. Especially the little girl, her actions did not make sense. One part where the main issue is the fire going on and she continues whining about her bike burning and NOT running away from the fire. How annoying can she get? Sure she is categorized as the little girl but she should be way smarter than she is portrayed. The plot was completely predictable and the ending lacked in professionalism. It looked like they put in a bunch of random clips and flashbacks to this slow music that seems like it goes on forever. Nothing is really going on except them smiling and dancing and smiling and dancing. Is the movie finished yet? As well the main conflict between the girl Kylie and her mother Darcy is very unlikely at that point. Kylie is a character who should be old enough to understand that her mother should not be to blame. The abrupt yet known ending of her forgiving her mother is so overdone that it lacks any real impact on the audience,receiving no sympathy from me whatsoever. I would not recommend watching this movie.

California Firestorm (listed as Inferno on IMDb) is a somewhat entertaining, albeit predictable movie about a mother (Janet Gunn, starred on Silk Stalkings) who is the new fire chief in a northern California town. Her teen daughter (Greta Danielle Newgren) is disrespectful to her and her daughter's boyfriend (Lukas Behnken) has a reputation as a troublemaker. The movie opens with the daughter camping out one night with her boyfriend in the truck-bed of his pick-up truck, and the two of them witness a pyromaniac start forest fires using sparklers. Gunn has to lead a crew to put out the fires and find out the source of the fires, while also trying to reach out to her resentful daughter, and fighting off an ignorant town mayor (Dean Stockwell) and a suspicious volunteer firefighter (Richard Danielson).I did enjoy this movie that aired on LMN tonight. Gunn is the star here, and she looks great. Jeff Fahey was cute as the helicopter pilot. California Firestorm is typical made-for-TV stuff, except the fire storyline was what held my attention. The climax is anti-climatic, though given what happens I suppose it could be like real-life. The ending sequence is kind of cute.

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.

I often watch movies which are poorly rated and severely criticized, and feel many viewers were missing some significant points; satire, fantasy, surrealism, etc., which reviewers mistake as serious elements of the film. Inferno was roundly criticized for a large number of faults, with which I find myself in complete agreement. And I could add a number of others. I'm interested in forest fires, which is why I went ahead and rented it. In another incarnation I was foreman of a U.S. Forest Service tank truck and fire crew. In fact I grew up in the USFS and around fires. From the technical aspect of the film it is utter, complete and unmitigated B.S. I think Janet Gunn reached her professional peak as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and is sliding down from there. I hope the rest of the cast and crew have other day jobs. This one really, really stinks, and is totally without redeeming merit.