Brent Burkwell
More BS from the left, obviously the concentration on the "allied" attempts to stop the burning fields is intended to give credit where it is NOT due. The USA did the bulk of the work, mentioning the tank mounted twin Mig engines proves that the left wanted to take away the bulk of the credit from the USA and give it to less deserving nations. Hungary? Give me a break! The left seeks to alter history to fit their twisted view of the world, namely, capitalism=bad, communism/socialism/totalitarian regimes = the public good. If you are a thinking person, it doesn't take long to see through this propaganda. Utter BS, avoid at all costs.
Rodrigo Amaro
The engulfing flames that hide the whole desertic scenario, leaving only the colors yellow and black result of the combination fire and smoke, present in "Jarhead" is just an example of what's to be seen in the great documentary "Fires of Kuwait". But the CGI composed image from Sam Mendes film doesn't get near the real dimension of what happened in the early 1990's when Saddam Hussein ordered the destruction of all the oil fields in Kuwait during the Golf War. It's disturbing images, the pollution and waste of resources, haunting, a hellish nightmare yet it's strangely beautiful, astounding, hypnotizing. It's a shame that technology still isn't able to make us feel what it is to be close to an event of this magnitude, to smell, to feel the heat. The closer we can get of this effect (or at least the lucky ones who saw it in the theaters) is just the images, fully developed in IMAX with outstanding resolution. From the tragedy, we get the spectacle of fumes. It's importance isn't wholly on the burning, it's about the team effort from people all over the world who coordinated and worked to extinguish the fires the best way they could. Their operation tested several different ways to combat the fire with one team using of water from pipelines (a team even tried to make a way to the ocean through the desert) and another team had a "The Wages of Fear" kind of mission, to put out fire with more fire by using dynamite. 9 months of extreme hard work, horrible conditions and a mission that seemed impossible. The challenge and the positive outcome of it, that's where the story is, that's why we join this real venture guided by the powerful voice of the great Rip Torn. 9/10
lonflexx
It may not be fair to review this work from the DVD version rather than the IMAX adventure it was meant to be - the Warner DVD picture quality being uncomfortably compressed. Still, for a purely visual experience as this was meant to be, camera placement counts for a lot and David Douglas has nothing on Herzog's team. It's the difference between hack prose and epic poetry.Douglas' approach to the ruination of Kuwaiti oil fields juxtaposes the horrific fire geysers underneath didactic narration about firefighting (voiceover by the lackluster Rip Torn), reducing the impact to that of an in-house industry video or recruiting tool for the Army Corps of Engineers. After showing the colossal scale of environmental devastation, Douglas has the temerity to put a feel-good spin at the end, creating a bizarre agenda that is anything but convincing.
c_nordby
The neatest thing about this documentary was watching the fire crews come up with the many ingenious ways to battle the various oil well fires. I saw this film on an IMAX screen which certainly added it's own cinematic touch to the works. There's nothing quite like watching a 40 ft. pillar of flame shooting up in front of you. I've also seen the video version, and while it's not as visually stunning, it is still highly enjoyable.