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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Amateurish film, even for Bullock or Amazon fans, July 13, 2000
"Fire on the Amazon" was a major disappointment...With Sandra Bullock ("Speed", "The Net") and Craig Sheffer ("Fire in the Sky") in an Amazon rainforest setting, I was sure "Fire on the Amazon" was going to be a keeper to add to my collection of favorite films. Unfortunately, I was dead wrong and extremely disappointed! The plot starts out with our "reporter" (Sheffer) meeting Bullock working with a Sierra Club type of environmental group in a nameless South American country. The character of our "reporter" fluctuates from "don't give a damn" about the rainforest, to suddenly demanding to venture into the rain forest with Bullock in a dugout canoe to determine if an Indian was murdered by the police. The entire plot is weak, and the excuses for plot development are not at all credible. Character development is thin, as there is really no strong chemistry between Bullock and Sheffer - the cliche animosity towards each other at the beginning of the film is weak and not developed, and there is little or no excuse for them to team up in the middle of the film. And there is no character development or warming up towards each other as the film progresses. Suddenly there is the requisite cliche "love" scene for no reason at all (let's just call it a "skin and sex" scene with no feelings), which is so poorly edited that there is no continuity at all (some scenes mostly nude, with other partially clad scenes edited in, all with no sense of flow, buildup, or climax.) The overall quality of the cinematography was extremely poor and appeared to be low budget - in many cases handheld, poor focus, poor framing, and just plain noticeable sporadic amateur jerkiness, quite obviously not intentially meant to be handheld POV shots. The film color is dismally washed out and out of focus throughout most of the film, the editing looked like it was done by amateurs (the credits revealed two Editors and two "Apprentice Editors" who may have done much of the editing). Weak acting and botched lines seemed very "high schoolish" throughout the film. Native costumes were not at all authentic (looked like Polynesian towels and grass skirts, not at all like the breechcloths and ornamentation I have have experienced firsthand of real rain forest tribes!), setting was not established well (no shots of rainforest villages or developments of Indian characters that I was hoping for), hair styling was mostly wet and ragged for both main characters throughout the film, music was for the most part amateurish or non-existent in many scenes, and even the theme-song at the end of the film was extremely amateurish (was it Bullock herself trying to sing the theme-song? No mention of the song or singer in the credits). Overall the film was extrememly amateurish, unbelievable, and highly disappointing. It wasn't until later that I realized this film was an early, apparently low-budget film for Bullock, shot in 1990 and never released until now that she is popular. If you like Bullock, don't get this film! If you like Amazon rainforest films, I would rather recommend seeing "Emerald Forest", "The Medicine Man" or "The Mission" instead.
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