An interesting movie landed on my desk recently courtesy of Arrow Film, the French/American/Turkish/Italian action movie White Fire (aka Vivre pour survivre).
Bo and Inga are a brother and sister jewel thief team who were took in as chilren after thier parents were shot and killed while on the run. They have been given the challenge of getting ahold of the White Fire diamond, a precious gem that is so hot due to radiation that it will actually burn anyone who dares to lay theirs hands upon this precious gem.
When tradgedy strikes the duo, however, it looks like the heist may well be over, until Bo devises a crazy scheme so he can still continue with the theft, involving plastic surgery and explosives to infiltrate the mine that contains this stunningly priceless gem...but another spanner is thrown in the works in the shape of smooth-talking Noah Barkley, who is on the search for a prostitute who vanished and he suspects that Bo and Inga are somehow involved in her disappearance!
Frankly, this movie is...well...mad! This is supposed to be an action movie, but this was made by a man who was associated with soft pornography (highlights of Jean-Marie Pallardy's career being Erotic Diary and A Very Special Woman), and the serious action part of this movie was ruined by the misspelling of Istanbul at the beginning of the movie. Add to that the WORST fight choreography I have ever seen (this is actually highlighted by Fred Williamson in an interview which is part of the extras) and this is truly one massive slice of international exploitation cheese. If you have not seen this at least once, it is certainly worth a watch at least once as it is entertaining and a huge slice of nostalgia....then there's the theme song by Limelight...that song is just the typical 80s action movie theme song fayre, so you probably know what to expect there (think "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor...but MORE).
So...exploitation with hints of akward brotherly love (minus the incest), and chainsaw mayhem...and blended into a kinked-up take of the action adventure movie in the 80s.
So now I've checked out the movie, what about the disc and the extras?
The movie is a visually clear presentation, and the audio is clear too although you can tell it's a monaural track as it does feel "dull" but it's expected.
Well, It's got some French mono and English audio, new interviews (with Jean-Marie Pallardy, Bruno Zincone and Fred Williamson), feature length audio commentary by critic Kat Ellinger, English subtitles and first pressings of the Blu-Ray also get an illustrated booklet featuring new writing by film historian and author Julian Grainger.
All in all, this is another nice disc for Arrow collectors to snap up, and fans of the explotation genre should grab it to, it's a pretty good Special Edition.
White Fire is rated 18 and to be released on Region B Blu-Ray by Arrow Home Video on 25th May 2020 and you can get your copy directly from Arrow Film by clicking HERE.