Harry Lags
Anyone familiar with Romancing the Stone and King Solomon's Mines will feel right at home seeing Chuck Norris in this lightweight adventure. He cracks jokes, laughs, and romances a pretty blonde while being Lou Gossett's best buddy. It's as fun and innocent as action films get. J. Lee Thompson (who did a bunch of films with Charles Bronson like Death Wish 4 and St. Ives) directed this. John Rhys-Davies (from Raiders of the Lost Ark) shows up in a cameo. Gary Chang did the electronic score.These soldiers of misfortune are drawn into a quest for Aztec treasure by Melody Anderson, as a beautiful legal secretary with psychic powers. Pursued by Indians of all sorts, guerrillas of all sorts and just one alligator, the trio seeks gems in the jungles of Central America. Hijinks ensue. High kicks accrue.Norris is still fast on his feet, stomping a Cantina full of Banditos into bean dip. The fight scenes are fine, but only emphasize the plodding pace and the moldy plot.But for Firewalker, he went more for the comedic action-adventure style and I think he succeeded in doing that very well. Because that's the way it should be enjoyed, as the Sunday-Matinée, popcorn-munching, mini-roller-coaster-ride that it is! There are still some slivers of nostalgic fun to be had here, so if you must delve into the past, why not. Don't take it too seriously and you'll do just fine!
adamc-3
Chuck Norris, playing very much against type, and Lou Gossett, appear to be having a ball in this semi-Romancing the Stone ripoff. The two play a pair of soldiers-of-fortune/treasure hunters that are hired by a lovely Melody Anderson to help find a fortune in gold. Directed by J. Lee Thompson of various Charles Bronson movies, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the movie does not take itself at all seriously, and Norris and Gossett look relaxed and energetic as they tear into the ridiculous script. Hey, it even has a great role for Jonathan Rhys- Davies as Corky, the greatest Englishman ever! It's got Martial Arts, it's got gun play, it's got a psychotic Chinese general in a golf cart, it's got Rhys-Davies singing...I mean really, what more could you want. This is one of those movies that gets reamed for being bad, when all it's trying to be is a fun diversion with scenery-chewing aplenty. Go on, watch it. I won't tell...
Frank Markland
Chuck Norris and Louis Gossett Jr star as two adventurers who find themselves running after the "Firewalker" which leads to a cave of huge treasures (Which look like brass) and along the way they are joined by a nutty blonde (Melody Anderson) who hires them out to help find the cave. While Sonny Landham stars as a big buff Native American with an eye-patch that switches eyes (Which then vanishes altogether in the climax) who is "El Coyote" the main villain of the peace. Firewalker was awful back in 1986 and is even worse now. The sets are laughably unconvincing and because the movie is PG it lacks R rated action. Worst of all is that it tries to be comedy and Norris is too humorless to make the transition. Louis Gossett Jr overacts and Melody Anderson gives a typically moronic performance (Remember she was the worst thing in Flash Gordon) and it basically is a dull rip off of the vastly superior Romancing The Stone. (We will not even compare this to Raiders Of The Lost Ark) The only good thing about the movie is, uh, the way a guy throws himself off a cliff after seeing "Firewalker" That was priceless in its unintentional hilarity.* out of 4-(Bad) (And i'm being generous...)
curtis martin
"Firewalker" is more than a bit of a mess. Like most movies from the Cannon studio, it's not low budget enough to dip into Ed Wood land, but not well done enough to rise to a major studio production. The sets are cheap and the story is not much more than a vaguely connected series of scenes referencing better films--but I think the filmmakers were well aware of these and other shortcomings and set a self effacing, tongue in cheek tone from the start. Though as sloppy and slapdash as most of director J. Lee Thompson's other 80's efforts, "Firewalker" shows Thompson turning these attributes to his advantage and giving us a breezy, goofy, self-aware-yet-totally-clueless, low budget pop culture gem. I don't think anyone was under the impression that they were making the next "Raiders of the Lost Ark," they just wanted to give us some old fashioned fun. I mean, an Academy Award winner costarring with CHUCK NORRIS? How could it not be great in its own way? And while we're on the subject, this is one of the few films where you couldn't call Norris "Old Stone Face." In this film Chuck gives one of his liveliest, most natural performances ever--almost charming. Too bad he didn't work with Thompson more often.
AD
