Review of Fire Down Below (1997) by Stuart K — 05 Aug 2013

Directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá, (who came from TV shows like ER, CSI: Miami and Breaking Bad), this had originally intended to be Steven Seagal's second film as director after On Deadly Ground (1994), but because that had flopped badly, Warner Bros.

said otherwise. This ended up flopping badly, and it ended his contract at Warner Bros. Shame, as it's not as bad as suggested. In the Appalachian hills of Kentucky, deadly toxic is being dumped in local mines, so Environmental Protection Agency agent Jack Taggart (Seagal) is sent to investigate.

He goes undercover in the town of Jackson to determine who is responsible for this, and his investigations lead him to the Hanner Coal Company, owned by Orin Hanner Sr. (Kris Kristoffersson). The company is being paid to dump the toxic down an abandoned mine, but it's causing an environmental disaster.

Taggart questions the locals, but he ends up being threatened by Orin, Jr. (Brad Hunt) and the corrupt local Sheriff Lloyd (Ed Bruce), but Taggart won't back down without a fight. While not as preachy in it's message about the environment than On Deadly Ground was, this is more action packed, and has a good supporting cast including Stephen Lang, Levon Helm and Harry Dean Stanton.

But it's a shame that it was the beginning of the end of Seagal's stardom.