Fires of Kuwait (1992)

After Saddam Hussein had the Kuwait Oil wells lit up, teams from all over the world fought those fires for months. They had to save the oil resources, as well as reduce air pollution. The ... See full summary »

Director:

David Douglas

Writer:

David Douglas

Stars:

Rip Torn

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Rip Torn	...	Narrator

Storyline

After Saddam Hussein had the Kuwait Oil wells lit up, teams from all over the world fought those fires for months. They had to save the oil resources, as well as reduce air pollution. The different teams developed different techniques of extinguishing the fires. From TNT-shockwaves blowing out the flames to Tank-mounted twin MIG-jet-engines (from Hungary) blasting away the flames (and nearly lifting the tank into the air), man's emergency creativity can be seen at it's best.

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Plot Keywords:

kuwait | firefighting | imax | narration | gulf war | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Also Known As:

Das Flammenmeer von Kuwait

Filming Locations:

Kuwait

Company Credits

Production Co:

Black Sun Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

36 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.44 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first IMAX film to be nominated for an Oscar (Best Documentary).

User Reviews

weak sister of Lessons Of Darkness

It may not be fair to review this work from the DVD version rather than the IMAX adventure it was meant to be - the Warner DVD picture quality being uncomfortably compressed. Still, for a purely visual experience as this was meant to be, camera placement counts for a lot and David Douglas has nothing on Herzog's team. It's the difference between hack prose and epic poetry.

Douglas' approach to the ruination of Kuwaiti oil fields juxtaposes the horrific fire geysers underneath didactic narration about firefighting (voiceover by the lackluster Rip Torn), reducing the impact to that of an in-house industry video or recruiting tool for the Army Corps of Engineers. After showing the colossal scale of environmental devastation, Douglas has the temerity to put a feel-good spin at the end, creating a bizarre agenda that is anything but convincing.