| Ablaze | |
| Director: | Jim Wynorski (credited as Jay Andrews) |
| Producer: | Alison Semenza Andrew Stevens Jim Wynorski |
| Cinematography: | Andrea V. Rossotto |
| Editing: | Craig Kitson |
| Music: | Neal Acree |
| Studio: | Phoenician Entertainment Firestorm Pictures |
| Distributor: | New City Releasing Firestorm Productions Lionsgate |
| Released: | (Greece) (United States) |
| Runtime: | 97 min. |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Ablaze is a 2001 American direct-to-video action disaster film, starring John Bradley, Tom Arnold and Michael Dudikoff. It was directed by Jim Wynorski. The film uses stock footage from two other films. The car chase scene at the beginning of the film is edited from the 1993 film Striking Distance.[1] Ablaze also extensively uses footage from the film City on Fire throughout the film. The film also contains stock footage from the 1970s TV Show Emergency![2]
Andrew Thomas is an agent tasked with recording the violations made at an oil refinery that resides next to a suburban town. His brother Jack is a firefighter who has just introduced a new member to his team, Scott, who becomes hostile with fellow firefighter Gary Daniels. Meanwhile, at a hospital in the town, one of the doctors, and Jack's ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lewis, defies the orders of her boss Vivian Sims to help a pregnant woman named Mindi Hunter, who's about to go into labor. Jennifer, and Winslow, one of the nurses, help Mindi prepare to give birth. Meanwhile, a young kid named Barry Christopher accidentally sets his house on fire by lighting a match on a toy plane, and Jack's team is sent by chief Sam Davis to rescue him. They rescue Barry, and he is sent to the hospital with his mother Gwen. Jack is also injured in the fire, and is sent to the hospital.
Andrew, meanwhile, finds numerous violations taking place at the refinery, as well as discovering a plot to burn the refinery down to collect the insurance money. The planned explosion soon occurs, and Andrew is injured in the explosion. The assistant of the refinery's manager Curt Peters, and worker Rick Woods take Andrew to the hospital, where he reveals the real motive of his visit. As the fire begins to spread across the city, slowly reaching the town, the refinery's manager Wendell Mays sends Peters, and Woods to retrieve a document from Andrew's office concerning the violations. Peters retrieves the documents, although he's burned alive in the process, and is soon run over by a car, killing him. Woods decides to forget the document, and drives off. Davis orders the hospital to be evacuated due to the fire spreading towards it. He angrily confronts the city's mayor Phillips as a result of his involvement in the initial explosion. Jack recovers in the hospital, and is told by doctor Stuart Ridgley that his brother is in critical condition. He visits Andrew, who gives him one last tearful goodbye before dying. An actress named Elizabeth Sherman enters the hospital, offering to help tend to the injured. Barry experiences an asthma attack as a result of the fire, although is taken care of. Mindi successfully gives birth to a girl named Hailey, and the evacuation begins. Wendell, and Vivian are evacuated in a truck, although one of the buildings they pass explodes, causing the truck to catch on fire, and killing them both.
Elizabeth is soon killed in the fire while trying to seek the help of Daniels, and the other firefighters. With the help of news cameraman Tim Vester, Jack manages to evacuate the people in the hospital to various rescue units. However, while racing to the units, Tim is killed by falling scaffolding. Alaina Charles, a news reporter Tim was filming, attempts to save him, only to be crushed herself by another piece of scaffolding. Everybody else, including Winslow, Mindi, Barry, and Gwen, reach the rescue units, and are taken to makeshift hospitals along a nearby river. Jennifer, and Ridgley struggle to reach the units, although Jack rescues them, and he, and his team send off the last unit before a catastrophic explosion destroys the entire section of the city. All of the firefighters survive the explosion, and Jack reunites with Jennifer. In the aftermath of the disaster, Phillips is arrested by Davis.
The film got extremely negative reviews. On IMDb Ablaze holds a score 3.2 out of 10. The blog Crane Shot argues that the film is so bad that is good, stating: "Phoenician Entertainment and director Jim Wynorski (CHOPPING MALL) attempt an Irwin Allen-style disaster flick that is just unintentionally hilarious enough to be entertaining. A large cast of familiar faces and the amusement of spotting stock footage from other movies, which Wynorski uses in lieu of filming his own action scenes, provide much of the fun in ABLAZE."[3]