Firewalker


release year: 1986
genre: action/adventure
viewing setting: home DVD, 3/18/06

synopsis: Two treasure hunters get involved in a girl's quest to find some lost gold.

impressions: This was Raiders of the Lost Ark without the epic scope (or budget) and with bad comedy (rather than good) thrown in, not to mention a little bit of martial arts. The movie didn't work for me. The lines and acting were bad, the plot was simple and contained meaningless elements, and there just wasn't much action. The movie just seemed to drag on forever.

something this movie has that no other movie has: An unkillable Indian with an eyepatch.

acting: Chuck Norris was in the end of his entertaining phase here; he hadn't yet learned that any movie featuring him not kicking everyone's ass just wasn't a good movie. Louis Gossett tried to be the more serious of the two partners, but his role was somewhat badly written. Melody Anderson (who played Dale Arden in Flash Gordon) is the ditzy girl here. Sonny Landham (who played the big Indian Billy with much coolness in Predator) is the big bad guy here. John Rhys-Davies, who actually had a better role in Raiders of the Lost Ark, plays a character who has no real purpose in this movie.

final word: I used to think that the beginning of the end for Chuck was in 1994 but now I know the terrible truth: his decline began in 1986 with this movie.

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