Run-of-the-mill action film, the first directing effort (why bother?) by cinematographer Dean Semler. Howie Long, the former Oakland (and Los Angeles) Raider defensive lineman and current TV football commentator, a mere second-banana bad guy in Broken Arrow, makes a smooth transition into the hero's slot as a Wyoming "smokejumper," one of an elite group of firefighters licensed to parachute into the literal heat of the action. For all his size, his weightlifter's sloping shoulders, and his rock-solid comic-book jaw, he is not a particularly imposing figure on screen, though he is perfectly comfortable and amiable in front of the camera. Apart from coping simultaneously with forest fire and escaped convicts, he is not asked to do too much here (the sportscaster's term for it would be "playing within himself"), and he does it easily. William Forsythe, as the blithely uninhibited villain, earns a couple of chuckles when he temporarily puts on the unnecessary disguise of a Canadian accent. Suzy Amis, Scott Glenn. (1998) — Duncan Shepherd
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