Ablaze (2001 film)

Ablaze is a 2001 American direct-to-video action disaster film directed by Jim Wynorski and starring John Bradley, Tom Arnold, and Michael Dudikoff. The film uses stock footage from two other films. The car chase scene at the beginning is from the 1993 film Striking Distance.^[1] Ablaze also extensively uses footage from the film City on Fire. The film also contains stock footage from the 1970s TV show Emergency!^[2]

Andrew Thomas is an agent recording the violations made at an oil refinery next to a suburban town. His brother, Jack, is a firefighter. At the local hospital, Jack's ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jennifer Lewis, defies the orders of her boss, Vivian Sims, to help a pregnant woman named Mindi Hunter.

A young kid named Barry accidentally sets his house on fire. Jack's team is sent by chief Sam Davis to rescue him and his mother, Gwen. Jack is injured and they all end up in the hospital.

Andrew finds numerous violations and discovers a plot to burn the refinery down to collect the insurance money. The planned explosion injures Andrew. The assistant of the refinery's manager, Curt Peters, and worker Rick Woods take Andrew to the hospital.

As the fire spreads across the city, the refinery's manager, Wendell Mays, sends Peters and Woods to retrieve a document from Andrew's office concerning the violations. Peters retrieves the documents, but is burned alive in the process and run over by a car, killing him. Woods decides to forget the document, and drives off.

Davis orders the hospital to be evacuated. He confronts Mayor Phillips for his involvement in the initial explosion. Jack is told that Andrew is in critical condition. He visits Andrew, who gives him one last tearful goodbye before dying.

Barry experiences an asthma attack, although he is taken care of. Mindi gives birth to a girl named Hayley, and the evacuation begins. Wendell and Vivian are evacuated in a truck, but an exploding building causes the truck to catch on fire, killing them.

With the help of news cameraman Tim Vester, Jack evacuates the people in the hospital to various rescue units. However, while racing to the units, Tim is killed by falling scaffolding. Everybody else reaches the rescue units and are taken to makeshift hospitals. Jack and his team send off the last unit before an explosion destroys the entire section of the city. All of the firefighters survive the explosion, and Jack reunites with Jennifer. In the aftermath, Davis arrests Phillips.

• John Bradley as Jack Thomas, a fire chief.
• Tom Arnold as Wendell Mays, the greedy owner of the oil refinery.
• Michael Dudikoff as Gary Daniels, a member on Jack's team.
• Ice-T as Albert Denning, a police officer.
• Amanda Pays as Dr. Jennifer Lewis, Jack's ex-girlfriend, and the doctor at the hospital.
• Cathy Lee Crosby as Elizabeth Sherman, a former actress who assists the doctors during the firestorm.
• Pat Harrington, Jr. as Dr. Stuart Ridgley, one of the doctors at the hospital.
• Edward Albert as Mayor Phillips, the town's corrupt mayor.
• Mary Jo Catlett as Nurse Winslow, a nurse at the hospital.
• Melissa Brasselle as Mindi Hunter, a pregnant woman about to go into labor who Jennifer and Winslow help during the fire.'
• Larry Poindexter as Andrew Thomas, Jack's estranged younger brother who is sent to report Wendell's violations.
• Carolyn Seymour as Dr. Vivian Sims, the corrupt manager of the hospital who also is a doctor.
• William Zabka as Curt Peters, Wendell's assistant.
• Richard Biggs as Garrison, a member of Jack's team.
• Michael Trucco as Scott, a new member on Jack's team.
• Michael Cavanaugh as Chief Sam Davis, Andrew's boss, and the head of the medical unit.
• Eric James Virgets as Workman, a member of Jack's team.
• David Bowe as Rick Woods, a worker at the refinery.
• Dorian Lopinto as Gwen Christopher, a woman living in the town.
• Scotty Cox as Barry Christopher, Gwen's son.
• Sharron Leigh as Alaina Charles, a news reporter.
• Christian Oliver as Tim Vester, Alaina's cameraman.
• Robert Clotworthy as Harris, a dispatcher on the medical unit.
• Dane Farwell as Freddy, a criminal that Jack and Albert kill early in the film.

The film got extremely negative reviews. On IMDb Ablaze holds a score of 3.2 out of 10. The blog Crane Shot argues that the film is so bad that it is good, stating: "Phoenician Entertainment and director Jim Wynorski (CHOPPING MALL) attempt an Irwin Allen-style disaster flick that is just unintentionally hilarious enough to be entertaining. A large cast of familiar faces and the amusement of spotting stock footage from other movies, which Wynorski uses in lieu of filming his own action scenes, provide much of the fun in ABLAZE."^[3]

• Ablaze at IMDb
• Ablaze at Letter Box D
• Ablaze at Moviefone