City on Fire (1979)

City on Fire is a 1979 disaster action film directed by Alvin Rakoff, written by Jack Hill, Dave Lewis, and Celine La Freniere, and stars Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, Leslie Nielsen, James Franciscus, Ava Gardner, and Henry Fonda (who previously appeared in Irwin Allen's The Swarm).

Plot
In an unnamed U.S. city, the corrupt mayor William Dudley has allowed an oil refinery to be built right in the center of town, far from any river, lake or reservoir. On one typically hot summer day, A doctor (Barry Newman), a fire chief (Henry Fonda), a newswoman (Ava Gardner) and hospital patients face disaster after arson at an oil refinery.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The film is way too similar to The Towering Inferno, which has very unoriginal ideas, but it takes place in a different location.
 * 2) In addition, it has too many similarities to The Towering Inferno such as a fireman saving a girl in a burning house.
 * 3) Many of the action sequences try to be thrilling, and fun, but it fails miserably.
 * 4) There are some product placements: Such as Mickey Mouse plush, which appeared in the box right before the first fire begins while the kids smoking scene.
 * 5) Despite taking place in the United States' unnamed American city (identifiable because of the appearance of USA flags in a few scenes), the television station setting for the movie has the call letters listed as CFTM-TV. In the United States, all television and radio station call letters begin with either the letter K (for states west of the Mississippi River), or the letter W (for states east of the Mississippi River). The letter C is used for all of Canada's provinces.
 * 6) *It even used footage of British/London fire trucks, which doesn't even fit the United States, or an American city theme era.
 * 7) Very cliché storyline, which it tries to be like a city inferno style like The Towering Inferno, but it doesn't work, at all.
 * 8) Bad cinematography.
 * 9) Tons of awkward, and unnecessary scenes that have nothing to do with a disaster film, such as the baby birth scene, which is out of place for a disaster film.
 * 10) The soundtrack, while it was decently done, some of them rip-off the score from The Towering Inferno.
 * 11) Very poor special effects, especially for the flames, and the city lapse.
 * 12) Almost everyone in this film is very dull, forgettable, unlikable, and not interested, especially for Dr. Frank Whitman, along with many rarely get the amount of character development.
 * 13) The acting, especially for Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, and Leslie Nielsen is very poor.
 * 14) Terrible pacing, despite the film being 106 minutes long, the film feels a lot longer than that, with many scenes were dragging on for too long, or too short.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The film's soundtrack that was composed by Matthew McCauley, and William McCauley is pretty decent.
 * 2) It does have some interesting ideas, like the idea of oil refinery spilling the water which causes a big flame to the city, which is pretty interesting.
 * 3) As said before, the oil spilling water causes a big explosion in the city, causes an earthquake, and destroying much of the city is very fun to watch.

Reception
City on Fire currently lacks a critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, but has an audience score of 24% and has received negative reviews from critics and audiences alike, It currently holds a 4.2/10 rating on IMDb. From a contemporary review, Gilbert Adair of the Monthly Film Bulletin declared that "'dull' as criticism, scarcely does justice to the ludicrous contrivance of this disaster movie" and that "its idiocy is best exemplified by the scene in which, as the crooked mayor and the jet-setting benefactress of a hospital resolve their amours differences, the camera focuses on the beatific expression of an elderly patient who has finally managed to relieve himself into a bedpan."

Trivia

 * The film was featured on an episode of the KTMA era mh:besttvshows:Mystery Science Theater 3000.
 * Some elements of the disaster depicted here reflect the Texas City Disaster: On 16 April 1947, a mid-morning fire on the SS Grandcamp, docked in Texas City, caused the ship to blow up and ignite several oil refineries around the harbor. The fire detonated approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate and the ensuing fires and explosions killed at least 581 people in and around Texas City.
 * Several actors appeared in other disaster movies. Leslie Nielsen and Shelley Winters had both previously appeared in The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

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