Fire Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 5, 2021

“Fire” initially appears to be Russia’s answer to 2017’s “Only the Brave,” taking on a similar story of firefighter courage and sacrifice during a dangerous operation in the middle of a raging inferno. Hollywood glossiness is present in the feature, and director Alexey Nuzhny stays true to formula, offering an ensemble piece highlighting distinct personalities and their personal problems, giving the audience a chance to fall in love with these men before they face the ultimate test of their training. Perhaps that’s really the major issue with the endeavor: it’s not Russian enough. “Fire” has its cultural POV and quirks, but Nuzhny is aiming to make a grand disaster picture, and a few references to “Armageddon” aren’t made on accident.

A wildlife is developing in rural Russia, triggering the assembly of a smokejumper team, led by Andrey (Konstantin Khabenskiy). The men are prepared to take on any danger, but Andrey is a bit preoccupied, hoping to protect his daughter, Katya (Stasya Miloslavskaya), from her new boyfriend, Roman (Ivan Yankovskiy). The young man is new to firefighting and incredibly arrogant, but he receives the education of a lifetime when he enters the inferno with Andrey’s team, who deal with the rapidly spreading fire and confront stubborn residents of a local village, forced to rescue the community as dangers increase everywhere the unit goes.

“Fire” offers a Screenwriting 101 overview of the players in the game, taking time to introduce the smokejumpers and their lives away from immediate danger. It’s an overview of temperaments and gentleness, as one member of the squad enjoys musical performance, which comes in handy when wedding day unrest comes for a remote village. Andrey is the main character, dealing with his daughter’s growing independence and her choice in men, finding Roman a highly unpleasant firefighter who lacks experience in the field, adding pressure to the mission Andrey and his team embarks on.

The feature doesn’t hide wildfire challenges, getting the characters into forest position after the production releases some “Armageddon” wiggles with hero shots of the team marching to duty. Firefighting scenes have their natural intensity, but they also look like a bunch of actors on a greenscreen stage at times. There’s more to “Fire” than a single blaze, with the story reaching the aforementioned village, which isn’t happy to see the smokejumpers, creating some additional drama as the professionals work to rescue the deniers, which divides the movie into several subplots, including the introduction of a pregnant character going into labor for maximum Hollywood-esque manipulation.

Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation deals with spreading fires, offering a bright orange-ish glow for disaster sequences, selling the intense heat of the moment. Greenery is strong throughout the viewing experience, capturing forest growth and remote locations, and village decoration for the wedding sequences carries varied hues. Smokejumper gear offers deep reds and yellows, and skintones are natural. Detail secures textures facial surfaces and fibrous costuming. Dimension is preserved with flybys and forest depth. Delineation is satisfactory. Artifacting is present, with banding and posterization a semi-common sight.

Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix is available in English and Russian with no major differences between the tracks. Dialogue exchanges are sharp and emotive, managing disaster area shouting without slipping into distortion. Scoring cues are clean with precise instrumentation, delivering a sense of urgency to the action without overwhelming the performances. Surrounds also handle a wider sense of music, and forest fire atmospherics are defined, generating a circular sense of position. Raging infernos deliver some low-end response, along with large vehicles as airplanes fly around the area.

Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Trailer (1:51, HD) is included.

Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

At 132 minutes in length, "Fire" demands quite a lot from its audience. Nuzhny gets the scope of the picture right, juggling many POVs during the firefighting sequences, and he's in this to pay tribute to the those who sacrifice for the job. It's a noble message of respect and admiration, but it doesn't automatically redeem a lukewarm exercise in American-style disaster moviemaking.