Coventry
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!
Randall Phillip
WARNING SPOILERS CONTAINED HEREIN. White Fire is a mish mash of ludicrous mayhem. Trying to explain the plot is as pointless as this movie. Don't get me wrong, I love this movie! It has gratuitous nudity, senseless violence, a bizarre incest thing going on, bar room brawls, Russian Roulette, awful rock and roll songs, an all-women cult of (lesbian?) plastic surgeons, and Fred Williamson shows up as a macho pimp trying to get one of his ho's back. Great scenes: Robert Ginty with a chainsaw vs. thugs with meat hooks; ridiculous looking Battlestar Galactica-like uniforms; unrealistic, yet brutal gore scenes and oh-so-much more! Did I mention bad acting? This is what makes low budget b-movies fun to watch. Although the plot gets more illogical as the movie goes on, you just never know what's going to happen next.Questions such as "What?!" "Huh...?" and "Why?" will pop into your head. "And what exactly is white fire?" you ask. Well, it's a giant radioactive diamond, of course! All who touch it get burned. The moral of the story, I guess, is that greed will burn you in the end.This wonderful spectacle is available in the U.S., so hunt it down.
thecaptain_uk
Absolutely fantastic trash....this one has it all: nudity, good fight scenes, gore, action, explosions etc. It also stars the wonderful Belinda Mayne as Ingrid - not Olga as the other reviewer pointed out - although Olga turns into Ingrid later on in the film (you'll have to watch it to see what I mean).I won't bother to go into the story as it's far too long winded and not very interesting. The relationship between Ingrid and her brother Bo (Robert Ginty) is interesting - watch the towel stealing scene to see what I mean.The fight scenes were at once quite good and then spoilt by some really shoddy gore effects that looked like they were done by the team who did City of the Walking Dead (i.e. strange coloured blood gushing out of neck wounds).I'd advise fans of low budget trash to check it out if they can track down a copy - its pretty rare though and I couldn't ever see anyone bothering to re-release it so it'll become all the rarer in a few years.Anyway I'd recommend it solely for Belinda Mayne's great nude scenes! That lady's a fox!
ChoiBaby
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 ****.