It's November 5, 1975, and logger Travis Walton is heading to his job with his assorted friends and coworkers. A typical day goes by, but when the men travel back home, they encounter a strange, seemingly foreign object in the sky. Walton gets out of his vehicle to observe it up close, but is suddenly hit by a blinding ray of light, which sends him flying backwards. The others retreat, fearing that Travis has been killed, but when Mike Rogers, one of the man's closer cohorts, goes back to investigate and retrieve his body, it is nowhere to be found. Thus begins a five day-long search for Travis, who most of the town in which he resided believe has been simply murdered. Others, such as Mike and the rest of the men present that night, stick to their belief that foul play of the otherworld-type was involved, and the latter's beliefs may be confirmed when Mike is the recipient of a strange phone call one evening from someone claiming to be Travis...
So, we're thirteen days into this darn thing, and aliens haven't made a single appearance yet? I guess that has to change. 1993's Fire in the Sky is a movie that I'm mostly familiar with due to assorted YouTube clips that were floating around for a number of years before they were taken down by the powers that be (don't search for them unless you have no issue with most of its core moments being spoiled). Despite my lack of interest in exploring the unknown and headache-inducing UFO studies & conspiracies, I can still enjoy a fun picture about them from time to time if enough effort is put into the project itself.
I do feel as if I was slightly deceived by my prior knowledge of Fire in the Sky though, as there is a very strong case to be made about why this can't truly qualify as a horror movie. Sure, the core concept of alien abduction and the paranoia that it instills in everyone involved with it is quite the characteristic for pictures of the more terrifying variety, but save for something that I will discuss in the next paragraph below, most of Fire in the Sky is a very slow burn, moving more like a drawn-out mystery rather than a full-fledged horror flick. Some people might find this to be very distracting or disappointing, but I had no qualms with it whatsoever. When you take into account that this is supposedly based on true events, you do find yourself a little more drawn and stuck to the film, wanting to conduct some research yourself after the credits have rolled. Plus, getting to know or possibly care for your main cast is something that I don't frown upon, especially when you have such a solid list of performers at your service. Our poor unfortunate abductee is portrayed by Life as We Know It star D.B. Sweeney, and considering that he's absent for most of Fire's second act, he still manages to garner a lot of sympathy. He's a blue collar individual with a good heart, and when we see him (literally) return to Earth, the amount of sheer horror that he manages to project with his body language and facial expressions makes you feel as if you're there with him, and you just want to give the guy a hug. His concerned coworkers are also fairly easy to identify with, especially Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Faculty), who gives a solid enough performance that it actually led to him being cast in another alien-related property many years later. Craig Sheffer (Nightbreed, One Tree Hill), Henry Thomas (E.T.), and Peter Berg (Shocker) also pop up in in the cast, but I couldn't for the life of me remember anything about their characters. Nobile Willingham of Walker: Texas Ranger fame also has a supporting role as a somewhat clichéd sheriff, whose primary reason for existing seemed to be as the overseeing skeptic of the group. A big cavalcade of people, sure, but their experience and tenure help to keep the motion picture afloat.
A large chunk of Fire in the Sky's main appeal will no doubt come from the "did it happen or didn't it" scenario that is offered to the audience, but unlike some of its brethren, director Robert Lierberman's product has a firm stance of telling you that all of this is absolutely, without question true (insert a Giorgio Tsoukalos quote of your choice). For someone like me, not leaving it up to the audience to decide can be a bit of a disappointment, but when you have to bear witness to what Travis supposedly went through, you will very likely shut your mouth for a few moments. I have managed to sit through a multitude of strange cinematic releases so far this year, including ones that involved a massive, gooey orgy of special effects during its final twenty minutes, and one that included a man committing oral hara-kiri with a pair of scissors. And yet, those could not compare to a haunting, unsettling ten minute-long sequence found in Fire's third act. If ever there was a better depiction of "realistic" kidnapping and experimenting by visitors from beyond the stars, then I've yet to see it. I don't recall the last time that I covered my mouth in disbelief and almost gagged during anything affiliated with science fiction, especially during a movie that is about a subject that very rarely interests me.
The entire event's plausibility withstanding, Fire in the Sky is a pretty fine little picture when you get down to it. While it does seem to not be quite certain about what it wants to be (also classifying it as drama isn't entirely silly to do either), the overall package is fascinating enough to warrant a recommendation. Those who are uncomfortable about situations involving extraterrestrials, especially the ones who share the darker urges and tendencies that some of the worst of humanity also has to offer, could find this more of an uneasy watch than expected. Unless you are willing to drop a pretty penny for the hard-to-find DVD release, your best method of viewing this 1993 piece is to check it out on Amazon Prime.
Or maybe, if you're nice enough to the whackjobs behind Ancient Aliens, they'll lend you one of the thousands of copies that I am positive they have stashed away in their closets.
Tomorrow, we're sticking with the unknown visitors, but at least this time, they might give us a bit of a warning...
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