"From Gaia, with Love"
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What You Need To Know:
In FIRE DOWN BELOW, Steven Seagal stars as Federal Marshall Jack Taggart, who is on a mission to avenge the death of a colleague. His mission is to single-handedly stop toxic waste dumping in the Appalachian backwoods of Kentucky. His colleague, who is never identified, is shown in a traffic accident via flashback over the opening credits. Now, Taggart rolls into town to take care of business in a town exposed to hazardous waste.
FIRE DOWN BELOW is derivative of Seagal’s other politically correct, environmentalist diatribes, such as ON DEADLY GROUND (1994). Originally, Steven Seagal was a strictly forgettable action hero in “B” movies. Somewhere along the way, he got bitten by environmentalism and decided to reiterate the same point over and over again. Needless to say, it doesn’t sell. The excess of violence and obscenity is offensive enough, but FIRE DOWN BELOW implicitly and then explicitly attacks Christian faith. What is particularly odd about FIRE DOWN BELOW is its manipulative use of traditional values. On one hand, country music and apple pies are proudly upheld to elicit patriotic emotions from the audience. On the other hand, those very values are all but forgotten at the end of the movie. This is a very irresponsible and immoral movie
Content:
(AB, FR, Pa, NA, PC, Ev, P, AP, ACap, LLL, VVV, M) Politically correct worldview including environmentalism that is blatantly hostile to Christian faith and free enterprise, despite nods to patriotism; 27 obscenities, 28 profanities, 16 vulgarities & 3 blasphemous comments played for sarcasm; excessively brutal violence of both martial-arts & shoot-out variety including bloody gunfire, terrorizing customers, truck chased off road by big rig, explosion in coal mine, & kicking & fighting; scantily clad showgirls; and, miscellaneous immorality including conspicuous product placements, utterly simplistic treatment of serious issues & minor incestuous theme
More Detail:
In FIRE DOWN BELOW, Steven Seagal stars as Federal Marshall Jack Taggart on a mission to avenge the death of a colleague. His mission is to single-handedly stop toxic waste dumping in the Appalachian backwoods of Kentucky. His colleague, who is never identified, is shown in a traffic accident via flashback over the opening credits. Now, Taggart rolls into town to take care of business in a town exposed to hazardous waste.
FIRE DOWN BELOW is derivative of Seagal’s other politically correct, environmentalist diatribes, such as ON DEADLY GROUND (1994). In that movie, Eskimos were endangered by the toxic waste dumping by a corporate executive. Here, the evil businessman is played by Kris Kristofferson, and he is targeting a town that congregates in the same chapel and shops in the same village square.
Originally, Steven Seagal was a strictly forgettable action hero in “B” movies. Somewhere along the way, he got bitten by environmentalism and decided to reiterate the same point over and over again. Needless to say, it doesn’t sell.
The excess of violence and obscenity is offensive enough, but FIRE DOWN BELOW implicitly then explicitly attacks Christian faith through at least two characterizations. Rev. Allgood, the Baptist minister, played by Levon Holm, welcomes Taggart into the community; yet, Seagal remains indifferent, routinely mocking the faith in his comments and goes so far as to interrupt a service. Rev. Allgood proceeds to renounce his Christian faith so he can work “from his heart.” Seagal becomes his own man of the cloth, never wearing anything but black, which speaks volumes about his own beliefs.
Perhaps the only sympathetic person in this whole mess is played by Marg Helgenberger. As Sarah Kellogg, the town’s woman with a past, Helgenberger plays her role much too seriously for such weak material. She is acting passionately in a story that doesn’t call for it. In nearly every scene, she is seen wearing a cross necklace, and her relationship with Taggart, what little there is of it, is purely platonic. Nonetheless, she remains ostracized by the town and never fully redeemed.
What is particularly odd about FIRE DOWN BELOW is its ambiguous view of traditional values. On one hand, country music and apple pies are proudly upheld to arouse a false patriotism in the audience. Steven Seagal even sings a song on the soundtrack. On the other hand, those very values are all but forgotten at the end of the movie. This is a very irresponsible and immoral movie.
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