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The Movie:
Purchase Fire On The Amazon @ Amazon.com
Poor Sandra Bullock. Not only has her recent failure "Gun Shy" come to video this month, but one of her first features, "Fire On The Amazon", has come back to haunt her. Directed by Luis Llosa("The Specialist"), the film is also produced by Roger Corman. Badly acted and not making much sense (if any), the film stars Craig Sheffer as a journalist who comes to the jungle to investigate the death of an environmentalist.
Assisted by activist Alyssa(Bullock), the two engage in a pretty standard mystery/suspense plot as they run through the jungle. The acting is nothing short of hilarious at times, and although Bullock tries, she can't get past the material, which is poorly written and many times, unintentionally silly. She's wonderful though, compared to Shaffer, who not only has a very weak performance, but doesn't add anything to a character who continually remains hugely annoying and makes stupid decisions. It's a good illustration of the kind of character in movies you don't think (or hope) will last too long.
The film was delayed from release reportedly by Bullock, and honestly, I can't blame her. This is a really low-low quality effort that deserves to sit on the shelf. Released now, the DVD is offered in both an R-rated or Unrated edition. Many will probably want to check this out because of Bullock's now-infamous nude scene, but there's not much visible and there's not much to it. Apparently, the unrated version is more popular (no suprise). At amazon.com, as I'm writing this review, the unrated version is ranked 130 on their top selling DVDs, while the R-rated is at 1,519.
Definitely not a great flick in any way, and equally as tedious a viewing experience as "Gun Shy".
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a decent full-frame transfer from New Concorde video. Images vary in quality; there are some sequences that come across as looking pretty solid and adequately sharp; in general though, the film consistently looks on the soft side - especially some of the darker scenes. Detail is fair, but not great. Colors are pleasing, though. There are a lot of jungle sequences that show off nice, although unremarkable colors. Some sequences look dark, but I'm not sure that it didn't look that way originally due to the film's low-budget.
On the plus side, there really aren't that many other problems with the image; there is no pixelation or shimmering, and the print used only has a few minor marks here and there. There are also some sequences that look grainy, but not majorly so. Again, the picture looks soft, but with this picture's low-budget (looks to be very low-budget) origins, this is actually probably the best this film has ever looked. Not great image quality, but watchable(although I'm not sure anyone would actually want to watch this).
SOUND: "Fire On The Amazon" is presented in stereo, and the audio, although not too agressive, actually sounds pretty good. There is no distortion or any similar problems, and the audio remains clear throughout, capturing all the little details of the jungle. The cheesy musical score is a little thin sounding, as well. Dialogue comes through nicely, sounding not terribly well-integrated but easily understood.
MENUS:: Wow! I was actually pretty impressed with the animated menus that were put together for this film, which involved animation with images from the movie, as well as the score playing in the background. I didn't expect much of an effort for a film this size, but apparently I was wrong.
EXTRAS: The film's lame trailer, biographies and previews for other New Concorde titles.
Final Thoughts: The movie is pretty terrible, although fans of the actress may want to check it out. Personally though, I'm not recommending it - don't waste your money.
Film Grade
The Film D-
DVD Grades
Video 71/C- = (284/400 possible points)
Audio: 72/C = (288/400 possible points)
Extras: 71/C = (213/300 possible points)
Menus: 80/B- = (160/200 possible points)
Value: 80/B- = (240/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1185/1600
DVD GRADE:C/74%
FILM GRADE: D-
DVD GRADE: C
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