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Hellfighters

G 1968 2h 1m Adventure List
13% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 74% Audience Score 5,000+ Ratings
Chance Buckman (John Wayne) has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. He, his assistant Greg (Jim Hutton) and his team of skilled firefighters extinguish raging oil field fires all over the world, cheating death every time. Madelyn (Vera Miles), his wife, is tired of worrying about Chance every time he leaves, and their marriage is beginning to fall apart. As Chance falls for Greg's daughter, Tish (Katharine Ross), he must battle both the flames in the field and the ones in his heart. Read More Read Less
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Hellfighters

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Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
A.H. Weiler New York Times Our indestructible Duke again has made actionful, if not stirringly meaningful, child's play of exotic disasters. Rated: 1.5/5 May 9, 2005 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times A slow moving, talkative, badly plotted bore. Rated: 1.5/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The suds from all these soap-opera shenanigans theoretically should have been enough to douse all the fires seen throughout this draggy picture. Rated: 2/4 May 30, 2021 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com All the ingredients (cliches) of the John Wayne hero are here, from commitment to his job as firefighter to a wife who couldn't accept him to a daughter who affects reconciliation. Rated: C Jun 13, 2007 Full Review TV Guide The Duke is an oil-fire fighter running around the world putting out blazes. Rated: 2/4 May 4, 2007 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A dull adventure tale about macho men who fight oil fires. Rated: C- Nov 10, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (138) audience reviews
Audience Member I have no clue what the critics are on about. Although basic, this was a nice film that’s totally worth watching. The acting was decent, the firefighting looked great, and the story was well put together. The 74% from the viewers is correct in my book. 4.5/5 stars. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/24/24 Full Review Paul C When you see such a wide disparity of the critics reviews and the moviegoer reviews... this is where critics have lost their way. Movies don't have to be Oscar contenders to be good- sometimes they are just damn entertaining! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/15/24 Full Review Blu B What's there really to say. They put out fires and drama happens. I suppose the drama is supposed to mirror the fires but that's one of the biggest problems. Unlike something like Backdraft or Only the Brave this never is able to tie the personal drama together with the fire action. They feel like two completely seperate movies. The other issue while this makes perfect sense and all it's very unfocused as this feels like Wayne is forgotten about in the middle and this becomes more about his daughter more than anything out of nowhere and she just dominates the middle of this. On top of that, she's just not that interesting and is a borderline strong independent female character and very boring. She doesn't carry anywhere near the charisma of Wayne. The music isn't bad in this and is probably the best thing. It can be a bit forgettable at times. Outside of that everything else is just very unremarkable about it. The fires are kind of cool but the problem is once you've seen one you've seen all of them really. The direction is pretty basic also. On top of that Wayne is just ok in this because again he's kind of forgotten about in the middle and the supporting cast just isn't that interesting or memorable. There very stock characters and the drama isn't that compelling at all. The runtime also can feel a bit bloated as well and oddly enough kind of just wraps up on a somewhat blunt anticlimatic note. This could work if it focused more on Wayne, and found a better way to tie the two together more than anything on top of better direction. Even if your a die hard Wayne fan I can't really recommend this because he isn't in this enough even if it is cool to see him in a non war/western role. It isn't broken at all it's just not that interesting. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/06/24 Full Review Neil S Excellent sets, pacing, acting and locations. Very enjoyable drama based on the real life of Red Adair who had been fighting oil fires since 1946. It is about a subject that has not been covered before on film - oil firefighters. informative and interesting. Convincing performances by Hutton and Ross. Great to see veteran actors Bruce Cabot, Jay C. Flippen, Edward Faulkner, Valentin D. Vargas & Barbara Stewart all in the same film. Didn't find this movie boring at all but rather refreshing without the annoying sound track and constant CG of many of todays films. This is not an "Action adventure" film. It is a drama with some laughs. Most mature people will enjoy this film. Sadly, negative reviews were ubiquitous for John Wayne during this period - despite the quality of his films. In an honest review A. H. Weiler of The New York Times wrote that John Wayne made "actionful, if not stirringly meaningful, child's play of exotic disasters" and remarked that "the unrestrained cast and director maintain a welcome sense of humor." Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/30/23 Full Review Liam D It's well acted but it's an surprisingly dull firefighter drama that had action that feels repetitive Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member I know I'm in the minority, but this is my favorite John Wayne movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Chance Buckman (John Wayne) has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. He, his assistant Greg (Jim Hutton) and his team of skilled firefighters extinguish raging oil field fires all over the world, cheating death every time. Madelyn (Vera Miles), his wife, is tired of worrying about Chance every time he leaves, and their marriage is beginning to fall apart. As Chance falls for Greg's daughter, Tish (Katharine Ross), he must battle both the flames in the field and the ones in his heart.
Director
Andrew V. McLaglen
Producer
Robert Arthur
Screenwriter
Clair Huffaker
Production Co
Universal Pictures
Rating
G
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 5, 2019
Runtime
2h 1m
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