Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Hellfighters Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 17, 2020

Some of the most dangerous, and best paying, jobs in the world can be found in the oil fields, but even more perilous is the delicate, difficult, and dangerous work of extinguishing oilfield fires. Director Andrew V. McLaglen's (McLintock!, Shenandoah) Hellfighters shines a light on the work while exploring some quasi-serious family drama along the way. The film favors the latter for its structural framework, using the fires as both exciting reprieve from the drama as well as critical narrative propellants to add flaming intensity to the core story.

Chance Buckman (John Wayne) makes his living doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: extinguishing oil field fires. He's a veteran who has his head on straight, but he's also not afraid to take a chance if it means saving a man's life. The dangerous work has left him long estranged from his ex-wife Madelyn (Vera Miles) and his daughter Tish (Katharine Ross) whom he has not seen in two decades. When Chance is severely injured on the job, nearly crushed to death by a bulldozer, his trusted co-worker Greg Parker (Jim Hutton), a serial womanizer, reunites the family and brings Tish to her father's bedside. Greg and Tish initially clash but quickly fall in love and elope. Chance, recovered from injury, finds himself both with the daughter he barely knows now in his life and a new son-in-law working at his side. While Chance works to win back Madelyn, he takes Greg under his wing in hopes that his daughter's marriage won't suffer the same fate as his own.

As the movie gets underway at the first fire, the audience receives some exposition by way a TV reporter questioning a source close to the fire. It’s mostly nonessential information that only further demonstrates the severity of the flames and the dangers of the job but still a nice-to-have for the ride to come. And that’s really what the movie is like. It’s never quite vital in any way, whether considering the firefighting action or the family drama that plays alongside it. Hellfighters can’t quite find the cohesive marriage of the two the same way that, say, a Backdraft does. Of course in that film the setting and dynamics differ but both are essentially stories of family set against the firefighting profession. Hellfighters attempts to straddle that line but clearly favors the family drama side of the coin, playing with more attention to Chance's relationship with Tish and Madelyn and, later, Greg. Firefighting is not ancillary but it is, clearly, more of a framework and it finds some of its most tension-filled moments when the two sides marry, such as when Greg nearly dies after becoming trapped under debris, too close to a blazing fire, about to drown, and run out of oxygen at the same time. It's one of the movie's best scenes for action, tension, and building that narrative driving drama, but sadly such are too few and far between as the film never digs too deeply into either spectrum, generally speaking.

The movie's technical attributes are quite strong, particularly the firefighting sequences. There's a true sense of heat and danger, and the viewer will all but inhale the smoke in several of the most complex scenes. The movie captures the fire's full scope and grandeur, and the men can feel awfully tiny and helpless even at some distance from it. It would be interesting to see how the visuals might have been enhanced in the modern age, but Hellfighters does a fine job of making a raging menace from its fires. On the other side, the acting is sufficient. Wayne pretty much plays himself, carrying his character with that familiar cadence that plays through so many of The Duke's films. Supports are fine, particularly Katharine Ross as Tish.

Hellfighters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal's catalogue releases have always been a bit spotty, particularly those released several years ago. Hellfighters falls somewhere in the middle of the visual quality pack, delivering a perfectly serviceable image that has not been de-noised to unwatchable excess but that still shows some signs of unnecessary tinkering. Grain remnants remain but the field is a bit splotchy and clumpy and some details appear artificially sharpened. Overall clarity is fairly strong, and the image certainly benefits from the boosted resolution Blu-ray affords to it, but the picture lacks the fundamental filmic finesse that a more carefully cared for print, one more intrinsically related to the original, could have delivered. Also harmful are the occasional splotch and speckle which appear here and there, too. There are also some occasional examples of edge enhancement. Look at Greg's jacket at the 44:10 mark. But even through the flaws the picture is certainly watchable in the aggregate. It could be better. It could have been much worse.

Much the same can be said of the coloring which lacks absolute punch. The red firefighter suits appear a little depressed though adequately saturated. Likewise, natural greenery on a golf course similarly struggles in chapter 10. Civilians clothes are often colorfully diverse and find adequate contrast and punch though never anything so expertly bold as such might have been. Intense flames display bright oranges, reds, and whites, intermixed with thick black smoke, with fairly impressive depth and punch, representing the best color output in the movie, and probably rightly so. Black levels are deep and inky but teeter in crush, particularly as seen during several dense nighttime exteriors. Flesh tones are well managed for color but fall under the limitations of the color spectrum and the artificial processing which rob them of the finer detail and contrast. Overall, this is hardly the stuff of high definition elegance, but it gets the job done. The final score is probably closer to 3.25 rather than 3.50.

Hellfighters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hellfighters' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack does not ignite speakers with any serious intensity, but its overall output is quite acceptable in support. The sound design's dated structure is apparent from the beginning when the rumbly oil leak to begin the film proves bass-happy, a bit unkempt but generally effective in its resonance and output; just don't expect the subwoofer to be too heavily tested for either depth or clarity. The opening title score, a rather exciting refrain which repeats at several points throughout the film, is pleasantly clear, lacking the absolute lifelike transparency one might find in a modern track but there's no shortage of fine instrumental clarity, excellent front end stretch and positioning, and modest but vital surround wrap to be enjoyed. Atmospheric effects gain favor in presentation during the firefighting scenes but also in other locales such as a fancy restaurant partway through the film. Much like everything else there's no real sense of absolute soundscape transparency but there's enough clarity and engagement to make the experience a rather pleasant one in total. Dialogue is generally clear, center positioned, and well prioritized. Once or twice listeners will encounter some mushy, shallow dialogue. Listen to Tish in chapter four, speaking about her past while on an airplane. It's probably the single worst sound element the track has to offer.

Hellfighters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Hellfighters contains no supplemental content. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Hellfighters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hellfighters strives to balance intense firefighting action with hot and heavy family drama and dynamics. It works well enough, and even as the fires are terrifyingly large and translate exceptional well to the screen, they play second to the characters and story away from the blazes. The rest of it just isn't all that interesting. The movie is resultantly a little slow and overstuffed. It is certainly not one of Wayne's best but it does spin a capable yarn with enough action and romance to leave audiences of both persuasions satisfied. Universal's Blu-ray is featureless. Video and audio could have been a lot better but could have been a lot worse. Recommend on a good sale.