Fire in the Sky (1993) Paramount/Sci-Fi-Drama-Thriller RT: 109 minutes Rated PG-13 (sci-fi violence) Director: Robert Lieberman Screenplay: Tracy Tome Music: Mark Isham Cinematography: Bill Pope Release date: March 12, 1993 (US) Cast: D.B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg, Henry Thomas, Bradley Gregg, Noble Willingham, Kathleen Wilhoite, James Garner, Georgia Emelin, Scott MacDonald, Wayne Grace, Kenneth White, Robert Covarrubias, Bruce Wright, Robert Biheller, Tom McGranahan Sr., Julie Ariola. Box Office: $19.8M (US)
Rating: ***
I believe there’s intelligent life on other planets. There’s no way we’re alone in the universe. I believe in UFOs. I’ve been watching the skies since I was a child. I believe in close encounters of the first, second, third and fourth kinds. I think some of the stories are true, but I also acknowledge most are BS made up by people desperate for the kind of attention that comes from appearing in trashy tabloids alongside dubious articles about bat boys (NOT the baseball kind!) found living in caves, Elvis sightings at 7-11s and people with bizarre physical features. I’m even open to the idea of alien abduction. Surely, they want to study us as much as we do them. Call me crazy if you want, but I’m convinced all that I’ve said is true. As Shakespeare wrote, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in man’s philosophy.
If I met Travis Walton in person, I’d probably believe his story. He claims to have been abducted by aliens after seeing a UFO hovering in the sky over the White Mountains in Snowflake, AZ. His story is told in Fire in the Sky, a compelling sci-fi-drama from director Robert Lieberman (Table for Five). In November ’75, Travis (Sweeney, The Cutting Edge) was heading home from work with his best friend Mike Rogers (Patrick, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and a crew of loggers- David (Berg, Shocker), Greg (Thomas, E.T.), Bobby (Gregg, Class of 1999) and Dallas (Sheffer, Nightbreed)- when they spot a glowing red object in the sky. Travis gets out of the pickup to have a closer look and gets zapped by a beam of light. Thinking him dead, the others take off. Mike goes back for Travis, but he’s gone.
Nobody believes their story, especially not Lt. Frank Watters (Garner, The Rockford Files), the state lawman dispatched to investigate Travis’ disappearance. He’s certain the guys are lying. He’s convinced Dallas, an ill-tempered sort with a criminal record, did the deed and the others are covering for him. The rest of the town follows suit and eyes them with suspicion and contempt. For five days, search parties look high and low for Travis. Then he reappears just as mysteriously as he vanished. He’s clearly traumatized by something, but is it real or just an act?
I’ve long been fascinated by UFO stories. It started with Hangar 18, the government conspiracy picture from Sunn Classics, the same studio responsible for sensationalistic documentaries like In Search of Noah’s Ark and Beyond and Back. I saw it twice at the movies. Since then, I’ve been a believer.
I was psyched to see Fire in the Sky when it came out. I was there opening night with my then-gf DC and a group of our friends. I was captivated from the first scene. It takes a little while to get to the good stuff. Told in flashback, Mike relates the events leading up to Travis’ disappearance after a day’s work clearing brush and dead trees. We learn that Mike’s marriage to Katie (Wilhoite, Murphy’s Law) is rocky; they’re always arguing about money. We also learn that Mike doesn’t entirely support Travis’ engagement to his sister Dana (Emelin) because he’s too much of a dreamer. We meet the rest of the guys and follow them through the work day right up to the moment of the incident. Then we see the next few days play out with everybody demanding to know what really happened to Travis and the guys trying to convince everybody their story is true. At one point, they all take a lie detector test. Finally, Mike gets a late-night call from Travis asking him to come get him at a gas station. He has no memory of what happened to him at first, but it eventually starts coming back to him.
That’s when Fire in the Sky takes us inside the spaceship to see what the visitors did to Travis during his captivity. It’s pretty freaky, but it’s one of the movie’s strong points. The set designers create something wholly original in their depiction of the interior of an alien spacecraft. I truly believed I was looking at something alien as it doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before. The design of the UFO is pretty cool too. It looks more like a big blood red orange than a flying saucer.
As interesting as it all is, I wanted to know more about Travis’ time inside the spaceship. Lieberman should have provided more details about the aliens. Also, I wish he spent more time on the UFO group that shows up to “help” Travis. There’s an interesting subject right there. There are organizations dedicated to proving the existence of UFOS. That alone would make a fascinating film, either a thriller or documentary. In any event, I wish it had been explored a bit more in Fire in the Sky (great title, btw).
Fire in the Sky boasts a likable cast headed by Sweeney, an earnest young actor who believably conveys affability and fear. Garner does his folksy, tough bit to nice effect. The casting of Henry Thomas is a nice touch. He’s had experience with extraterrestrials before. Wayne Grace (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) adds some mild comic relief as the slightly unhinged UFO expert. It’s a well-cast film. The effects by ILM are quite good. They’re not overly flashy. Subtlety is definitely the right way to go here.
The emphasis is more on human drama than sci-fi in Fire in the Sky. You’d think that the revelation of what took place on the spaceship would be the finale, but Lieberman tacks on an ending showing Travis and Mike coming to terms with what happened that night and making amends. It’s fine, but it makes for a somewhat uneven viewing experience. It’s okay though. I still love a good UFO sighting/alien encounter story.
