Hellfighters
Screen legend John Wayne pays tribute to oil field legend "Red" Adair, as Wayne plays Chance Buckman, a colorful Texan who tames out-of-control infernos in exotic locations around the world. He's joined by a crew that includes Jack Lomax, Joe Horn, and his assistant, Greg Parker. Between blazes Chance "carries the torch" for Madelyn, the wife who left him 20 years earlier because of his dangerous lifestyle, and Greg has his hands full at the poker table and in the bedroom with Chance's spunky daughter, Tish.
Member Reviews
John Wayne: Firefighter! - MovieProf
"Hellfighters" is a film that John Wayne made late in his career, and though The Duke was clearly no longer the robust action star he once was, the fact that he performed many of his own dangerous stunts for this film is impressive. There, amongst the various massive burning fires, is Wayne in all his glory.
The film was based somewhat on the life of real-life oil firefighter Red Adair, who fought fires that were created on oil reserves around the world. Here, Wayne also travels extensively, landing in Louisiana, Alberta, Indonesia, and a very dangerous Venezuela.
This is not one of Wayne's more popular titles, despite a strong cast that includes Katherine Ross, Jim Hutton, and Vera Miles. A shame, as Wayne himself praised "Hellfighters" and its obvious challenges These comments regarding the action sequences are contained in the bonus features).
"Hellfighters" is not essential Wayne, but it is a glimpse of The Duke without an army uniform or a cowboy hat, and that's saying something.Sub-par Wayne Vehicle - eoguy
John Wayne fights oil fires. The oil fires and the men battling them are interesting. The rest of the film is incredibly awful. Some very good special effects is all that I can recommend for this cardboard turkey. Jim Hutton may be one of the worst actors ever. Not one of the Duke's better outings.Interesting, with a good storyline. - fairweather
A very interesting look at those who fight oil rig fires and how they do it, with some interesting characters you come to care about. The story revolves around oil fires and the best team of the day which puts them out - with some very spectacular fire scenes and tense moments. Although they use BOPs now (blow out protectors), which help a lot, and the scene with the H2S fire (toxic gas fire) didn't show how we now know how to revive a person who is overcome with the toxins - it is still very relevant to how they fight such fires today (I watched it with a relative who knows all about these things, which made it even more interesting when at certain parts a comment such as, "They don't run on the site anymore, because it is far too easy for anyone to trip." would add to the already exciting scene.) I always liked John Wayne movies, but this one is a really good one, and he played his role well, as did the other leads (the daughter and his partner). A good movie, and worth the time to watch if you like John Wayne, or are interested in how they put out oil fires, or if you just like a good and interesting action story (man against fire, man against man) - with a couple of nice romance angles thrown in. I liked the chemistry between the characters and felt the storyline was interesting and worked well.
Member Reviews
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John Wayne: Firefighter! - MovieProf
"Hellfighters" is a film that John Wayne made late in his career, and though The Duke was clearly no longer the robust action star he once was, the fact that he performed many of his own dangerous stunts for this film is impressive. There, amongst the various ...Sub-par Wayne Vehicle - eoguy
John Wayne fights oil fires. The oil fires and the men battling them are interesting. The rest of the film is incredibly awful. Some very good special effects is all that I can recommend for this cardboard turkey. Jim Hutton may be one of the worst actors ...Interesting, with a good storyline. - fairweather
A very interesting look at those who fight oil rig fires and how they do it, with some interesting characters you come to care about. The story revolves around oil fires and the best team of the day which puts them out - with some very spectacular fire scenes ...