awparran I am a pilot and believe airplanes were made to be flown and not jumped out of. That said, I salute those that are smokejumpers. I salute those that fight forest fires. As an American from Indiana, I never knew how severe such devastation could be until living in Salmon Arm, BC when in 1998 we were evacuated because of one. The first in Canadian history for mass evacuation.Since then there have been may fires that have caught national attention.So what if the plot was weak? So what if the woman had skinny legs? Sorry but I do not believe in that BS. If she can do the job, I'll root for her. Oh by the way, when I was in Vietnam, the best man for the job in many cases was someone that wasn't all brawn.And finally, having lived and traveled across British Columbia, it was great seeing the old places again.

tflynn-7 Entertaining movie but one of the most predictable movies I've seen lately. The writers tried to throw in every known plot twist: Her sister just happening to be camping in the fire area, the little girl going to the bathroom, but her parents looking for her everywhere but the bathroom, the bathroom door being stuck, her just happening to be on a date with one of the instructor when the whole thing goes down, the whole situation of a rookie being taken on a fire jump, etc. Maybe I watch too much TV, but when I can predict the whole movie after watching 5 minutes of it, does not show much originality on the part of the writers.

kimnorthrop I actually liked this movie. Not all of the actors were wonderful but it's a low budget film, I've seen worse. It's one of those overcoming-obstacles films where you root for the girl to show them what she's made of. The lead woman (Brook Burns) is pretty good, she's a genuine tough-girl without being fake or overdoing it and works out the sometimes lagging script to get the story done. I liked how the film seemed to make the most of their action sequences; with airplanes and skydivers, and their creative effects with the fires despite an obviously limited budget to make it more realistic. They used a low-key romance without going overboard into the mushy stuff, for once this wasn't merely an attempt to sell a film based on sex-appeal. It reminded me of GI Jane in that Kristen Scott (Burns) never gives up on her dream to be a smoke-jumper despite overwhelming obstacles and the disapproval of her friends and family. It's a good movie for those who like to be inspired by a female lead that is believable as a contender for a job such as a smoke-jumper. I would like to see more films like this in the future.

refdan This made-for-TV exercise is typical of those that attempt to showcase the drama associated with being a firefighter, and more particularly, a female firefighter.Brooke Burns plays Kristen Scott, a firefighter who works with her father in the local firehouse. Her father dies while helping Kristen rescue a child from a burning house. Her co-workers blame her for her father's death, and refuse to accept her back in the firehouse.Kristen decides to try out for the Smoke Jumpers, a more demanding firefighting role. There are several subplots involving family members and other, mostly male, firefighters that serve to establish Kristen as a driven, competitive fighter who is determined to make it on her own as a smoke jumper.The rest of the film showcases Kristen helping one person after the other escape a fire, including her sister and her family. She becomes not only a smoke jumper, but a true heroine.This film is simply the video equivalent of a fairy tale. After the first 15 minutes, we know what's going to happen-Kristen triumphs against all odds and becomes the heroine of the day.At the risk of sounding chauvinist, I found Kristen's character to be abrasive, unnecessarily aggressive, smug, sarcastic, and cold, even toward her own family. Her character is necessarily competitive, being a female living in an overwhelmingly male world. However, she insisted upon making comments intended to ridicule and insult male colleagues and others.In my way of thinking, a person, male or female, has a much better chance of being accepted by actually being friendly and kind, rather than hostile or sarcastic.Hence,I found this movie full of stereotypes such as hostile males against a brash female and consequently disappointing. A good family type story could have been made better by having Kristen pursue success by winning people to her side in a cooperative, rather than a confrontational manner.