Fire Down Below

Name: Fire Down Below
Genre: Action, Thriller
Released: 1997-09-05
Duration: 1 h 44 min
Rating: 5.4
Cast: Steven Seagal, Marg Helgenberger, Stephen Lang, Brad Hunt, Kris Kristofferson

Beneath a land of wealth and beauty hides a secret that could kill millions. Undercover has never run so deep.

Fire Down Below (1997)

Timing: 1:44 (104 min)

5.4/10
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All about film

Video 3

Photo 26

Actors and characters

1:55

Photo 26

Release date

1997-09-05

Country

United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures, Seagal/Nasso Productions

Genre

Action, Thriller

Budget

$60 000 000

Revenue

$16 228 448

Website

Director

Félix Enríquez Alcalá

Actors

Steven Seagal, Marg Helgenberger, Stephen Lang, Brad Hunt, Kris Kristofferson, Levon Helm, Harry Dean Stanton, Mark Collie, Richard Masur, Alex Harvey
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Steven Seagal, Julius R. Nasso, Jeb Stuart, William S. Gilmore

Operator

Composer

Artist

Joe Alves

Audition

Joseph Middleton, Shari Rhodes

Editing

Robert A. Ferretti
All team (93)

Short description

When an EPA representative is murdered in a small Appalachian community, EPA undercover agent Jack Taggart is sent in—posing as a handyman working with a Christian relief agency—to determine what happened.

What's left behind the scenes

The management of Warner Bros. wanted a typical action film in the style of all other movies with Steven Seagal, so they significantly re-edited the film as usual and cut out many scenes that better developed the characters and plot, as well as several significant action scenes for which the majority of the film's $60 million budget would have been spent.
The church shown in the film (with a pond nearby) was specially built for filming, and then it actually burned down, as shown in the film. The fire was filmed in one take simply because there was nothing left to burn for subsequent takes.
The house of Marg Helgenhour's character was built on top of a hill because the film's producers liked the view from there. The owner of the land where the house was built gave permission for construction and filming on the condition that it would not be mere scenery, but a real house, and that it would be handed over to him upon completion of filming. Furthermore, he later moved into the house himself.
To better understand her character's motives, Marg Helgenhour visited several active mines during filming.
Initially, it was intended that Bruce Willis would star in the lead role, and Jeb Stuart's script envisioned more of a drama with detective elements. Over time, however, Willis left the project, the lead role went to Steven Seagal, and screenwriter Phil Morton was tasked with reworking the script into an action movie featuring all the typical elements of a Seagal film.
Marg Helgenberger's character's house was built on top of a hill because the film's producers liked the view from there. The landowner on whose property the house was built gave permission for construction and filming on the condition that it would not just be a set, but a real house, and that the house would become his property after filming was completed. Moreover, he eventually moved into the house himself.
Initially, Bruce Willis was supposed to star in the lead role, and Jeb Stuart's script envisioned a drama with detective elements. However, over time, Willis left the project, the main role went to Steven Seagal, and screenwriter Phil Morton was tasked with reworking the script into an action film script with all the typical elements of Seagal's films.
The screenplay was based on the recollections of screenwriter Jeb Stuart. While studying at college, he lived in the Appalachian region, where he worked as a carpenter, and where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was investigating the illegal dumping of toxic waste.
The management of Warner Bros. wanted a typical action movie in the style of all other Steven Seagal films; consequently, as per their habit, they heavily reedited the film, cutting numerous scenes that better developed the characters and plot, as well as several significant action sequences that had consumed a large part of the film's $60 million budget.
To better understand her character's motivations, Marg Helgenberger visited several operating mines during filming.
The script was based on the memories of screenwriter Jeb Stuart. While studying in college, he lived in the Appalachian region, where he worked as a carpenter and where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was conducting investigations into the illegal dumping of toxic waste.
It took about two weeks to film the scene where Jack is chased by a truck.