Fire on the Amazon (1993)

Deforestation of the Amazon is forcing indigenous Indians away, so few men can profit from cattle. Opposition gets killed. A US photojournalist tries to investigate. Activist Alyssa helps him.

Director:

Luis Llosa

Writers:

Luana Anders (as Margo Blue), Catherine Cyran

Stars:

Craig Sheffer, Sandra Bullock, Juan Fernández

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Craig Sheffer	...	R.J.
Sandra Bullock	...	Alyssa
Juan Fernández	...	Ataninde (as Juan Fernandez)
Judith Chapman	...	Sandra
Ramsay Ross	...	Pistoleiro
David Elkin	...	Lucavida
Jorge García Bustamante	...	Valdez (as Jorge Garcia Bustamente)
Baldomero Cáceres	...	Pedro (as Baldomero Caceres)
Carlos Victoria	...	Miguel
Reynaldo Arenas	...	Djamori
Ramón García	...	Chato (as Ramon Garcia)
Eduardo Cesti	...	Rafael Santos
Natalia Torres	...	Nacia Santos
Graciela Cahuas	...	Santos' Daughter
David Killerby	...	Father Benacio

Storyline

In Bolivia's Amazon basin, corporate cattle ranches are replacing the rain forest. When Santos, charismatic leader of the union of rubber tappers, forges an alliance with Indians to protest deforestation, he is assassinated. O'Brien, a US photo-journalist who has no skills as an investigator, wants a story when he thinks the police have framed and murdered an innocent Indian as the assassin. In his search for the truth, he involves Lysa Rothman, who worked for Santos and with whom he falls in love. As he gets deeper into trouble with the cops and the real assassin, he not only needs Lysa's help but that of the Indians' leader. How many will die so O'Brien can get his story?

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Plot Keywords:

deforestation | amazon | female star appears nude | indigenous rights | rainforest | 

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Taglines:

Bares all in the wilds

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, areas of strong violence and a scene of strong sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

New Concorde Roger Corman: The Official DVD Website

Country:

USA Peru

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

2000 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Lost Paradise

Filming Locations:

Iquitos, Peru

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Concorde-New Horizons

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 78 min (R-rated) 87 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sandra Bullock told Rolling Stone she was so nervous about the nude sex scene that she covered her nipples with duct tape, threw up, did the scene, threw up, removed the duct tape.

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Goofs

At 1:08, Valdez bursts into Nacia's home and threatens R.J. His rank epaulets both display 4 gold stripes. In the next scene, there are 4 stripes on his right shoulder, but only 3 on the left.

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Quotes

Alyssa Rothman: Write about what you feel, not about what you see. OK?

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Crazy Credits

At the beginning of the credits the following is shown: "Every day, more than 70,000 acres of rainforest are destroyed. The loss to humans and science is incalcuable."

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Alternate Versions

1996 re-cut version added 31 seconds to the steamy love scene.

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Connections

Featured in The Directors: The Films of Roger Corman (1999)

User Reviews

Fire? Not even smoke.

A movie filmed in 1990, with a limited 1993 release, and a video finally released in 2000. Tell you anything?

It's a typically cheapozoid Roger Corman flick about the disappearing rainforest. The film is only 78 minutes long, and about half of it is a digression that takes place in an Indian village.

Here's the general idea. A famous indigenous environmentalist is killed. Although it is obvious that the money interests wanted him out of the way, the murder was performed with an arrow to feign an Indian attack, so the local police somehow decide to arrest a taciturn Indian who "hangs himself" in his cell after signing a full confession. There's a new plot twist, eh?

When the Indian's fellow tribesmen come for his body, a local North American environmentalist (Sandra Bullock) and a magazine reporter (Craig Sheffer) try to talk to them. They are unresponsive so, on the spur of the moment, the Americans follow the Indians up the river to their reservation.

Pause. Let's think about that. Sheffer and Bullock see the Indians paddling upstream, so they commandeer a canoe and follow. They don't know the terrain, they don't know how far it is to the destination, they have no supplies, they don't even have insect repellent, and they're in a stolen canoe paddling through the unfamiliar jungle, surrounded by crocs, snakes, bad guys, corrupt legal authorities, and stone age tribesmen.

Sheffer is shot from the underbrush, their canoe overturns, and they just decide to saunter through the rainforest in a random direction, even though night is approaching, they are soaking wet, and Sheffer has a gunshot wound. Well, as luck would have it, they are captured by indigenous people - the very ones they were seeking - and after some negotiations the tribe finally agrees to advance the plot somewhat:

1. They possess secret herbs that cure the wound

2. They perform a scientific autopsy on the guy who "hanged himself", thus proving he was dead before the hanging.

3. They possess more secret herbs that make Sandra Bullock want to make nice-nice for hours with the reporter (whom she had previously detested).

Well, now that the ice is broken, the lovebirds are constantly stealing a kiss on the corner of dirt roads, or in sleazy taverns filled with environmental terrorists and would-be competitors in the Anthony Quinn lookalike contest, and all of this romance is pursued with the same nonchalance you'd have with your best girly on the streets of London.

This movie might take the award for the most abrupt ending ever. Bullock and Sheffer are pursued by about a zillion heavily armed bad guys, including all possible legal authorities. They are trapped on a dock, machine guns to the front of them, water to the rear, with only about a minute left in the film.

A minute to resolve such a predicament?? Well, I'm not going to tell you how it ended.

The production values are execrable. The photographic quality is about equal to your dad's home movies, and the sound track is both inappropriate and cheesy. In other words, the director defied the odds and managed to make a bad script into an even worse movie.

I guess you know by now that Sandra did a dimly lit nude scene, and this is a rarity in her career, but she has said that she had her essentials taped down for this scene, so I don't know exactly what we are looking at. Maybe some Pebbles and Bam-Bam band-aids.

Incidentally, it seems there are still several minutes missing from the DVD cut. According to other comments, the original unrated cut was 85 minutes, but the unrated DVD release is 78. I suspect, however, that the clamor to restore the director's vision will be somewhat quieter than the one concerning "A Touch of Evil".