The Last Chance Detectives: Escape from Fire Lake (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

Old Fashioned adventure with Kids who are smarter than the adults!

[afterdrk-1 · 8/10 · 10 November 2005]

This is a good family adventure with a message that never gets preachy. The adventure is just suspenseful enough for kids, without getting too frightening. Your kids will be yelling at the screen to tell the kid in peril (Mike) what he should do. You might just catch yourself doing the same time. Film has the obvious "made for commercial break" pauses, but it wasn't too annoying. The bad guy has a very stereotypically evil laugh which my husband and I found a bit cheesy, but the kids we watched it with thought it was just the right laugh for a bad guy to have.

The kids picked up on how the sidekick may not have been a bad guy, but he was making bad choices by following along the evil guy because it was easier than standing up for himself. I figure the value of the conversation that we had on that point was worth the price of the DVD all on it's own! Our family really enjoyed it and my daughter is already begging me to find the other two films!

Four teenagers team up to solve a mystery, and one gets thrown into the desert.

[skypirate0 · 8/10 · 25 November 2007]

Amazing! The Last Chance Detective movies are awesome! I have lots of fond memories when by Brother, his friend, and I would go next door to the Sunday School house after church and watch a Last Chance Dectective movie on an old TV probably from the early 70's. These movies are great for kids. Cool plots, typical "good guys against bad guys themes," and they even throw in some good old Biblical moral values. Definitely a must-see for pretty much any kid from age six to eleven, or beyond. I'm sixteen now and I still love watching The Last Chance Detectives. Escape from Fire Lake is the best of the three movies in the series, probably because the kids are older and the plot seems a little more plausible than the previous two films.

Challenges to a teen's faith in God

[Rich-307 · 29 October 2000]

This film revolves around faith in God to solve problems. It all starts as a group of teen detectives is walking down the street and stumbles across a bank robbery. Later, Mike, the detectives' leader is walking down the street and sees the robbers' truck and climbs in back to investigate. While in the truck, the robbers return and drive off. After several hours, Mike starts to write rescue notes on the stolen money. One of the robbers sees some of the money coming out of the back of the truck and goes to investigate. Upon opening the back of the truck, he finds Mike and immediately takes him hostage. Meanwhile, back in town the rest of the detectives and Mike's family is worried about Mike, not knowing of his kidnapping. Back in the truck, Mike is shown kneeling on the floor and his hands are being tied behind his back. While being tied up, Mike explains that he is a teen detective. Needless to say, the robber makes fun of him and tells of his plans for the young man. Later, the truck stops and Mike is taken out and untied. The robbers leave him by the side of the road and drive off. Mike is now alone in the desert and must find a way to survive. The movie is an exciting way to show how faith in God can help a person without being preachy. It is entertaining and highly recommended.