Wordiezett So much average

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Leofwine_draca You know, it's funny. All I've seen on this site have been negative reviews for CITY ON FIRE, a late-stage disaster movie from Canada and directed by Alvin Rakoff, the guy who made the underrated DEATH SHIP. Having just watched CITY ON FIRE, I found it a thoroughly absorbing movie and certainly nowhere near as bad as some claim. It's not up to the standard of THE TOWERING INFERNO - few films are - but it's certainly a film comparable to EARTHQUAKE, for instance.The story is straightforward. A messed-up arsonist (the intensely unlikeable Jonathan Welsh) decides to burn down an oil refinery that just had him sacked. The whole city is soon aflame, with a hospital providing a focus point for the climactic action. An ensemble cast go through the motions, and you just know some of them won't make the end credits. Leslie Nielsen's the mayor, Barry Newman a doctor, Shelley Winters a nurse, Henry Fonda the fire chief.There's very little to dislike about this film. The budget is surprisingly high and the disaster scenes have an authentic ring to them, with plenty of death and destruction to keep you on your toes. The script is a bit cheesy but this is normal for the era. The '70s ambiance is just right and the film has a relatively brief running time which means the action is short and snappy. The whole street gauntlet climax is well-staged with a maximum of excitement. I thought CITY ON FIRE as a whole was very good, so ignore the naysayers.

eabinder02 Poor Henry Fonda. In the end of his career, he had to be in City on Fire. This movie had the most ridiculous dialog ever. I actually cringed when some of the characters said their lines. None of the B-plots made enough sense to follow through on. The start of the fire was absurd. There was no attempt to build up to an actual motive. The writers thought that CPR was the only action to take in an emergency and that old men using a bedpan was necessary for the audience to see. This movie was made purely to burn some gasoline for the big fire scenes and so that stunt men could be lit on fire. 1 out of 10 is generous.

mstomaso MST3K did a nice job with this in their first season. It is one of the better films Joel and the Bots have roasted - not saying much since most of their little treats occupy the worst 300 films of all time here on IMDb.The acting is variable, and you occasionally feel as if you are watching two different films which were spliced together in order to reach an hour and a half. Leslie Nielson, as ridiculous as it may seem, delivers the best dramatic performance of the lot.Basically, a obsessive individual gets the wrong promotion at an oil refinery, mouths off at his boss and then, after getting fired, leaks oil all over the entire city and sets it ablaze. Like most of the disaster films of its time, we are introduced to 3-4 different characters who will play some role as either heroes or commentators on the events. The film climaxes as the massive fire approaches a brand-new hospital where Mr. Numan plays one of the heads of surgery.If you get a chance to see this in its MST3K version, by all means do so. It is one of the earliest truly funny episodes of the legendary show. If you can't see this with Joel and the bots, avoid it at all costs. It burns....

RealLiveClaude This movie had a good idea at a start: the city being burned the same way as Chicago in the 19th Century, London on the 18th Century or Rome, under Nero's rules in about 70 A.D. And shall we say Pompei in 79 A.D. under the wrath of the Vesuvius volcano ?But in the 20th Century. Good idea ! But the genre has passed an earthquake, a high rise building, a cruiseship and so on... And passing again the City of Montreal as a Midwest city, with a big oil field next to it...Bring on some big stars, some washed up, others who still has it and some second rates, then throw this scenario like The Towering Inferno with soap-like intrigue, with the center subject: the opening of a brand new hospital...The result: a boring, too slow and predictable movie, with low-rated special effects and the worst cinematography ever for a movie. And noticing for the climatic scenes that it remained in one city street set build on an old quarry in East End Montreal. And to think of it, looking closely, all cardboard...Sad that the genre was washed-up at the time.Acting was so-so. Thank God Mr.Fonda did won an Academy Award two years later in a better film (On Golden Pond), but I believe he should have passed this one...And to listen to the French Dubbing made in Paris... Wondering who dubbed this crap... Unbearable !Maybe this film should be redone one day... But hey, aren't we tired of seeing those artificial catastrophes when real ones occurred recently ?A movie to forget... Despite its all-star cast...