On F List of Movie Reviews
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Fire in the Sky (1993)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
5/25
5/25:
If there's a character that represents me while watching Fire in the Sky, it's James Garner's, and
that's why he's the man.
The whole story of Travis Walton being abducted by aliens on November 5, 1975, in the Apache–Sitgreaves National
Forests near Heber, Arizona, is total bullshit. There's no such thing as an UFO. And remember it was related
through these six men, most specifically Mike Rogers and Travis Walton, without a shred of physical evidence.
Afterwards, by looking up the internet, it turned out to be a hoax. Recently, Mike Rogers recanted what he saw
by saying, "I, Michael H. Rogers, being of sound and rational mind, do hereby give notice that I am no longer
to be considered a witness to Travis C. Walton's supposed abduction of November 5, 1975."
The director also commented, "My gut feeling had it that Travis was so much smarter than those other guys, that
it started out as a gag. They probably laced their beer at the end of the day with a little acid or something
and then they put on a show for these guys and they believed it."
A couple of theories came to my mind while watching the film. One, Mike Rogers and Travis Walton, who happened
to be UFO nuts, got influenced by the outlandish stories in the National Enquirer, and they were thinking
of concocting something similar, so they could raise the money to have a motorcycle shop of their own. Two, the
logging crew fell behind in schedule and needed an excuse to avoid the financial repercussions. And...both
happened for real except there was no shop. When Travis Walton was found five days later, he
showed unmistakable signs of being on drugs.
No matter what, Fire in the Sky is actually good with high-quality performances. The star-studded
cast is impressive, and I give points to Robert Patrick, D. B. Sweeney, Craig Sheffer, and James Garner for
getting my attention. They even got Henry Thomas given his insane amount of experience with alien life as evidenced
in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. I like one part when a blinding
light shone on D. B. Sweeney, causing his eyes to roll backwards. Where the movie falls apart is the scenes in the
spaceship. If I were the filmmakers, I would cut them out; they should treat the story as a neo-noir
mystery with no concrete answers.
All in all, bullshit or not, Fire in the Sky is worth watching.