Director – J. Lee Thompson (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes)
Starring – Chuck Norris (Invasion U.S.A.), Louis Gossett Jr. (Enemy Mine), and Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon)
Release Date – 1986
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “A pair of down-and-out fortune hunters cash in on high adventure”
Chuck Norris is a pop culture phenomenon that I grew up watching. His films Invasion U.S.A., Lone Wolf McQuad, and Breaker! Breaker! were some of my Dad’s favorite films so I had to watch them a lot when I was younger along with Walker, Texas Ranger which I’m sure most people my age was forced into watching due to their parents.
As I got older my father’s appreciation of Norris rubbed off on me and I started collecting his films slowly. One film I was having a hard time tracking down was the 1986 action adventure film Firewalker co-starring Lou Gossett Jr. When I was able to find the film on DVD the seller was wanting more than my cheap ass was willing to pay for it. Lucky for me, Olive Films just recently released the film on blu and was kind enough to send me a copy. Thanks Olive!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a pair of treasure hunters, Max (Norris) and Leo (Gossett), who try endlessly to capture lost fortune and buried treasures only to come up short each time. On the brink of calling it quits, they are visited by a beautiful young woman who asks for their help in securing the treasure of the Firewalker. She has a map and information that could lead to it’s discovery.
They accept and head out to claim their gold. However, they are not the only ones seeking the tomb of the Firewalker. A group of Native Americans are looking for the tomb as well so they can make a blood sacrifice that could grant them the power of the Firewalker. It is a race to get there first when they kidnap Leo and then the girl to get their first.**Spoiler Alert**
When I first started collecting Chuck Norris flicks I was told to stay away from a few of them with Firewalker being among those titles. A lot of people told me to just grab an Indiana Jones flick and skip this one altogether because this one ripped off so many action adventure films that came before it. There is so many films being released that it hard for a film to come up with something completely original. So many films, past and present, borrow from other films and turn something we have seen before into something that truly stands out. I was hoping that was the case for Firewalker but I was wrong. The film was still fun but it had been done better before.
The acting in this one is not consistent but it is something that you come to expect from a Norris flick. Norris is known for playing overly-serious characters that show no signs of emotions and is usually a killing machine. However, this role is different. He still portrays a fighter but he can’t shoot a gun and is goofy at times. This was something I am not used to seeing in a Norris flick. The remainder of the cast follows the same. Some try to be bad ass but follow it up with something goofy and unexpected ruining every effort established before.
The story for this one is like so many other action adventure films that came out before it with Indiana Jones leading the charge. The film borrows heavily from Indiana Jones, Romancing the Stone, and King Solomon’s Mines. All these films follow treasure hunters looking for riches only to be tracked down by some sort of evil group wanting the treasure for themselves with a dastardly deed in mind. This film follows that same story and even borrows several gags and iconic scenes from each of these and made it their own. This film is not original but does have several entertaining and memorable scenes with my favorite belonging to the scene where Norris dresses up as a Catholic priest.
Also, the film has several scenes full of action but a lot of these scenes have botched stunts and horrible fight scenes which is the biggest let down of all. Norris is known the world over for his martial arts skills but watching him blindly kick and punch where no one is ruins the film for me.
Finally, this release from Olive Films is a bare bones release. The film has no special features at all which is not something a collector wants to hear. The film does have amazing artwork that looks crisp. I love the poster used on the cover and it looks great in my collection. Sadly, the film transfer is not the best and that may be a result of the source material. Overall, the Olive Films release of Firewalkeris decent and a must have for Norris fans. However, this release is basic at best with a solid film transfer but it is far from Olive’s best work.
