Fire in the Sky (1993)

A group of men who were clearing bush for the government arrive back in town, claiming that their friend was abducted by aliens. Nobody believes them, and despite a lack of motive and no ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Lieberman

Writers:

Travis Walton (book), Tracy Tormé (screenplay)

Stars:

D.B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
D.B. Sweeney	...	Travis Walton
Robert Patrick	...	Mike Rogers
Craig Sheffer	...	Allan Dallis
Peter Berg	...	David Whitlock
Henry Thomas	...	Greg Hayes
Bradley Gregg	...	Bobby Cogdill
Noble Willingham	...	Blake Davis
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Katie Rogers
James Garner	...	Frank Watters
Georgia Emelin	...	Dana Rogers
Scott MacDonald	...	Dan Walton
Wayne Grace	...	Cyrus Gilson
Kenneth White	...	Buck
Robert Covarrubias	...	Ray Melendez
Bruce Wright	...	Dennis Clay

Storyline

A group of men who were clearing bush for the government arrive back in town, claiming that their friend was abducted by aliens. Nobody believes them, and despite a lack of motive and no evidence of foul play, their friends' disappearance is treated as murder.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | woods | arizona | alien | snowflake arizona | 

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Taglines:

Alien abduction. November 5, 1975. White Mountains, Northeastern Arizona. Based on the true story.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fuego en el cielo

Filming Locations:

Idleyld Park, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$20,100,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The abduction portrayed in the movie actually had nothing to do with Walton's account. After being struck by the light, Walton remembers waking up on a table surrounded by three aliens, whom he described thusly: "Their bald heads were disproportionately large for their puny bodies. They had bulging, oversized craniums, a small jaw structure, and an underdeveloped appearance to their features that was almost infantile. Their thin-lipped mouths were narrow; I never saw them open. Lying close to their heads on either side were tiny crinkled lobes of ears. Their miniature rounded noses had small oval nostrils. The only facial feature that didn't appear underdeveloped were those incredible eyes! Those glistening orbs had brown irises twice the size of those of a normal human eye's, nearly an inch in diameter! The iris was so large that even parts of the pupils were hidden by the lids, giving the eyes a certain catlike appearance. There was very little of the white part of the eye showing. They had no lashes and no eyebrows." According to Walton's account, he leaped up from the table, grabbed an instrument on a nearby table, wielded it as a weapon, and swung it at the aliens. They filed out of the room. Walton walked into a room with a high backed chair in the middle and took a seat. Upon operating a set of controls, he deduced that he was in some sort of observatory. Suddenly, a man in a blue suit with a glass helmet came through a doorway. When Walton spoke to him, he didn't respond; he merely guided Walton through the doorway. The wordless man lead Walton through a doorway, out of a saucer-like object, into a hangar filled with other saucers, down a hallway, and into a room that featured three more humans. Walton's questions continued to go unanswered as they motioned for him to lie down on the table. One of the 'humans', a woman, placed a mask over his face and he immediately passed out. All of this was consciously recollected by Walton, and when undergoing hypnotic regression soon after the incident, he revealed no further information and stated that he felt as though delving any deeper would kill him.

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Goofs

When the aliens are about to start experimenting on Travis, the sheet they pull over his body moves up and down between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Citizen: [truck just raced into parking lot] What the hell is that all about?

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Connections

Featured in Penn & Teller: Bullshit!: Alien Abductions (2003)

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Soundtracks

"A Message Of Murder"
by Franz Waxman

User Reviews

Powerful stuff

FIRE IN THE SKY is a scary and involving sci-fi thriller about a missing logger and his coworkers' attempts to explain what happened. They claim a UFO abducted him. Law enforcer James Garner is just as convinced they injured or killed him and left him behind in the woods. Eventually the logger returns, naked as the day he was born and babbling about alien abductors. The next section of the film take us into the mind of the logger to recreate what he thinks happened to him. It ain't pretty, and at this point the film becomes far too intense for younger children. DB Sweeney plays the missing logger, and Peter Berg, Craig Sheffer, Robert Patrick and Henry Thomas are his terrified coworkers. Based on a popular book of the day that purported to be a true story. The movie, while clearly a thriller, nevertheless leaves things open to interpretation.