Beautiful, moving film.

A Masterpiece!

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Imagine a straightforward, linear film cut down into little pieces, jumbled together like a jigsaw and re-assembled randomly. The resulting movie would then be called WHITE FIRE, one of the daftest films I've watched in recent months. One thing to do when watching this film is to ignore the plot, which is just headache-inducing scenes of stupidity and randomness involving a shining white diamond in a mine. The only thing to do is sit back and enjoy the endless low-rent action scenes which fill the movie, the silly scripting, sometimes inaudible dialogue and poor acting from the majority of the cast. One thing that helps explain the lack of coherence is the multi-national aspect of the production; not only did French director Jean-Marie Pallardy drag some of his French cast and crew to Turkey to shoot this movie, but somehow the UK (!) and Italy were also involved in the financing. The result is an unsatisfying but mildly diverting action odyssey with lots of craziness to recommend it.The action mainly consists of guys in silly suits with large guns running around a quarry and shooting each other, getting blown up occasionally. The finale of the film is a explosive expert's dream as hero Robert Ginty (complete with an unbecoming moustache) runs around lobbing sticks of dynamite at people. Watch in amazement as stuntman after stuntman is blown through the air by an exploding bomb - I guess health and safety measures are cheap in Turkey. Production-wise, the sound quality is poor and the camera-work static and uninteresting, and the poor editing rounds things out to a disappointing whole. The Istanbul scenery is picturesque in places but could have been utilised to a far greater effect.WHITE FIRE seems to be on a crusade of containing as many different deaths as possible for the extras - no two are alike. Things begin with a guy being burnt alive with a flamethrower, then move on to a thief being electrocuted, a guy cut into pieces with a band saw, and a man's face being melted on a burning crystal (?). Women are shot in the head with blow darts and in the film's cheesy but grim highlight, Robert Ginty lets rip with a chainsaw on the docks and slices up a few of the enemy. Sadly, the UK pre-cert of this film which I watched cut out all of the gore effects in the film, which are by all accounts cheesy and unrealistic anyway. The film is instantly dated with an annoying pop song which plays throughout, detracting from the entertainment value further.For such a bad film, it's surprising at how many familiar exploitation faces are present and correct. It seems everyone travelled out to Turkey in 1984 to appear in this film. First up is Robert Ginty, plodding woodenly through his part as the tired have-a-go-hero; I kind of wish his role wasn't so physical in this movie, because the punches he throws are really fake. The female lead is played by Belinda Mayne, who has a bizarre incestuous relationship with her brother Ginty, and who spends most of her scenes either walking around or showering in gratuitous nude scenes. Pallardy regular Jess Hahn pops up as an aged aide of Ginty's whilst US action star Fred Williamson has a very minor and unmemorable part as a bounty hunter. Finally we get Gordon Mitchell playing another nondescript bad guy in a large red suit who gets gunned down by our hero at the finale. Only sado-masochists may get a kick out of this absurd, largely incoherent, movie.

What can you say about the film White Fire. Amazing? Fantastic? Disturbing? Hilarious? These words are not big enough to describe the event which is White Fire. From wobbly, garbled beginning to profound end, this movie will entertain throughout.Our movie begins in the woods of a country somewhere in the world. A family is hiding from unmarked soldiers in costume shop uniforms. When the father separates from the mother and their childen, you get a real sense of what kind of movie you're about to watch. Father makes sure to roll down hills in his all white outfit, and is polite as he gets people's attention before he shoots them, but alas, dad is burned alive in what looks like a very unsupervised, unsafe stunt. Meanwhile, mom and the kids are running down a beach with an armed soldier trailing about 5 feet behind them. He too gives a stern warning before action in the form of a bizarre "HALT!", and then promptly wastes the mother. This action sequence sets up the happy childhood of our heroes Bo and Ingred.So now we fast forward about 20 years (30 if you're honest about the hero's age) to beautiful Turkey, where Bo and Ingred have settled as professional thieves, or diamond prospectors, or something. Ingred works at a diamond mine where she helps herself to the goods, while Bo (masterfully played by the dynamic Robert Ginty) drives around the desert in his denim outfits. Bo and Ingrid have an interesting relationship. They don't seem to have any friends other than each other, and they spend all of their time together. That coupled with the fact that Bo has expressed his desire to sleep with his sister as evidenced in lines such as "you know its a shame you're my sister" he says to her while she's stark naked, make for a very dynamic duo. Bo is then crushed when Ingrid is killed, as he wanders the beaches of Turkey with his ceremonial pink grief scarf. A renewal of hope occurs when Bo finds a girl who looks like Ingrid, and gives her plastic surgery to make her look exactly like Ingrid. This opens the door for Bo to have sex with his sister without it being technically wrong. Bo is a real fan of ethical grey areas, and he is overjoyed with his new love.So anyway, there's a lot of fun action scenes, ridiculous violence, great acting, impossible to follow plot-lines, Fred "the hammer" Williamson (for some reason), and a big chunk of dirty ice which is supposed to be a giant diamond (which later explodes). All of these things are great, but the Bo and Ingrid relationship is what makes this movie special....really special. So I heartily encourage everyone to behold the majesty that is White Fire. You may be glad you did..or not.

Superbly trashy and wondrously unpretentious 80's exploitation, hooray! The pre-credits opening sequences somewhat give the false impression that we're dealing with a serious and harrowing drama, but you need not fear because barely ten minutes later we're up until our necks in nonsensical chainsaw battles, rough fist-fights, lurid dialogs and gratuitous nudity! Bo and Ingrid are two orphaned siblings with an unusually close and even slightly perverted relationship. Can you imagine playfully ripping off the towel that covers your sister's naked body and then stare at her unshaven genitals for several whole minutes? Well, Bo does that to his sister and, judging by her dubbed laughter, she doesn't mind at all. Sick, dude! Anyway, as kids they fled from Russia with their parents, but nasty soldiers brutally slaughtered mommy and daddy. A friendly smuggler took custody over them, however, and even raised and trained Bo and Ingrid into expert smugglers. When the actual plot lifts off, 20 years later, they're facing their ultimate quest as the mythical and incredibly valuable White Fire diamond is coincidentally found in a mine. Very few things in life ever made as little sense as the plot and narrative structure of "White Fire", but it sure is a lot of fun to watch. Most of the time you have no clue who's beating up who or for what cause (and I bet the actors understood even less) but whatever! The violence is magnificently grotesque and every single plot twist is pleasingly retarded. The script goes totally bonkers beyond repair when suddenly – and I won't reveal for what reason – Bo needs a replacement for Ingrid and Fred Williamson enters the scene with a big cigar in his mouth and his sleazy black fingers all over the local prostitutes. Bo's principal opponent is an Italian chick with big breasts but a hideous accent, the preposterous but catchy theme song plays at least a dozen times throughout the film, there's the obligatory "we're-falling-in-love" montage and loads of other attractions! My God, what a brilliant experience. The original French title translates itself as "Life to Survive", which is uniquely appropriate because it makes just as much sense as the rest of the movie: None!

Rare exploitation gem about an ordinary man, Bo (Robert Ginty, star THE EXTERMINATOR and WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD!) caught in a crossfire between diamond smugglers and professional mercenaries.When Bo was a child, a mysterious force sadistically murdered his parents. Only Bo and his sister, Ingrid (Diana Goodman) survived the bloodshed. Now, twenty years later...Bo and his sister are grown up. They are now employees at a diamond mineshaft located in the desert. As mischievous as they are, they stumble upon the discovery of a legendary diamond. However, this rapture for the diamond has provoked the angst of some short-tempered, not-so-nice villains.Fred Williamson has a cameo as a take-no-prisoners assassin with his own agenda... Does he serve as an ally, or a foe for Bo and Ingrid?The hitherto quiet existence of the diamond has now been shattered thanks to the naïve duo. The bad guys are willing to possess the diamond in any way...and hell is going to pay...All of the dastardly scoundrels are united for one reason: to seek out the legendary 2000 carat diamond called the "White Fire," which the brother and sister twosome hope to gain access to this gem itself. What values does this jewel possess? The quest to capture the most sought-out diamond in the world is afoot...WHITE FIRE (this film's original title is VIVRE POUR SURVIVRE) was one of those "What was the purpose of making this film?"-type movie. This amazingly low budget adventure picture features Fred Williamson at the nadir of his career and Robert Ginty at the pinnacle of his career. Yes, you do get to see Robert Ginty brandish a chainsaw though! You do get to see Robert Ginty woo with his sister!WHITE FIRE believe it or not does have some attributes. The on-location filming at Istanbul, Turkey is a visual asset. Also, there are some decent themes about the relationship between brother and sister...and the eventual coping with loss... The electronic musical score is...attention grabbing and the songs are heartwarming (to an extent).Unfortunately, WHITE FIRE has a lot more defects than strengths. First, the camera angles in this film were awkward and there seemed to be a technical problem with the sound effects. Also, unfocused direction and incoherent editing serve as distractions for this movie. Haphazard action sequences do not help either. Sure, there are lots of shootings, fights with various weapons, and comic quips. There is just NOT much excitement though...The acting in WHITE FIRE was also pretty terrible. The bad guys had their stereotypical accents and Ginty is a nuisance as the good guy. Ginty was apparently more vitriolic than charismatic as the "hero," especially when he tried to be funny. The cast contributed some effort, but their valiant attempts to extricate this film were not enough to prevent this production from sinking down under...WHITE FIRE was sleazy trash with no redeeming values. This was an unexceptional, mundane action film. The plot lacked credibility, the action lacked vitality, and the whole production was simply inept. I can understand that this film was extremely low budget, but the film itself looked as though it was shot with a camcorder for some home video production. The quality of the film's image is itself blurred at times, and this makes the movie seem more amateurish. The errors in logic, continuity, and consistency all obliterate an already doomed project. In other words, watch this movie for a good laugh. Luckily, Fred Williamson did not have such a substantial role in this movie.RATING: NO STARS out of ****.