Skyfire (film)

Young Meng Li loses her mother when a volcano erupts suddenly on the Southeast Asian island of Ting-Hao. As an adult, Meng returns to the island to set up research equipment. Jack Harris has built a resort, claiming that he knows the volcano is not expected to erupt for 150 more years, and believing people like to live on the edge. Meng's father Wentao comes to the island to warn her she should leave because the volcano is about to erupt again. While she wants to stay, she and her father are soon tasked with rescuing a group of tourists observing the volcano from a platform inside the crater. Most of the tourists survive, but Meng and Wentao must save a village from the lava flow. The tourists still at the hotel end up having to leave in a hurry as flaming rocks rain down. Meng and Wentao and the rest of their group face numerous challenges getting to a control center where they can release water from a reservoir and divert the lava. Wentao then finds himself trapped on the wrong side of the lava flow and unable to escape when a helicopter arrives. Later, he joins the others on a ship, explaining that thanks to his daughter's research, he was able to hide in a hole.

• Wang Xueqi as Wentao Li
• Hannah Quinlivan as Meng Li
• Shawn Dou as Zhengnan Xiao
• Jason Isaacs as Jack Harris
• Beeland Rogers as Young Meng Li

The film is China's first big-budget disaster film, and producer Jennifer Dong expressed hope that it would be a "breakout film" for the genre in China the way The Wandering Earth was for science fiction. While promoting the film, Simon West said Chinese audiences preferred to focus on the rescue aspect of the genre rather than the apocalyptic spectacle, leading him to view the volcano as a monster and adding animal noises to its accompanying sound effects.{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Simon |title=Jason Isaacs And Simon West Talk ‘SkyFire’ And Their ‘Con Air’ Connection |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonthompson/2021/01/11/jason-isaacs-and-simon-west-talk-skyfire-and-their-con-air-connection/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

The costumes for the movie were designed by Vera Chow.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Vera Chow Website|url=https://verachow.com/project/skyfire/|access-date=|website=}} The helmet design for Hannah Quinlivan was provided by the Indian fashion studio The V Renaissance.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Movies worked on by The V Renaissance|url=http://thevrenaissance.com/movies/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=The V Renaissance}}

Two versions of the movie were filmed, one in Chinese and one in English, but a member of the production team said that the acting was more natural in the Chinese version and thought that the English version would not be used.

In interviews, Jason Isaacs said his portrayal of Jack Harris was influenced by Elon Musk, viewing him as a similarly "risk-taking entrepreneur", which led to Isaacs adopting a South African accent based on Musk's heritage.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrn2-DJ972g |title=Jason Isaacs interview by Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo |date=2020-11-13 |last=Kermode & Mayo |type=Podcast |access-date=2025-03-28 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite web |last=Westgate |first=Grae |date=2021-05-21 |title=Jason Isaacs discusses Spitfire with Filmhounds Magazine |url=https://filmhounds.co.uk/2021/05/acting-is-a-very-serious-job-jason-isaacs-the-filmhounds-interview/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=FILMHOUNDS Magazine |language=en-US}} He also noted that the character's costuming and make-up was more "Trumpian", a parallel also noted by critics.{{Cite news |last=Clarke |first=Cath |date=2020-11-18 |title=Skyfire review – fiery volcanic action thriller fails to generate much heat |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/18/skyfire-review-fiery-volcanic-action-thriller-fails-to-generate-much-heat |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=the Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Though originally scheduled to be released in July 2019, it debuted in China on December 12, 2019, and ranked #1 at the box office on opening day.{{cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-12/13/c_138627768.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213055503/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-12/13/c_138627768.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 13, 2019 |title=Disaster film 'Sky Fire' leads Chinese mainland box office |accessdate=2019-12-13 |last=Xinhua |first= |date=2019-12-13 |publisher=Xinhua News Agency}}

Western critics were largely dismissive of the film, criticising it for weak characters{{Cite web |last=Kuipers |first=Richard |date=2021-01-14 |title=‘Skyfire’ Review: It’s Raining Magma in This Cheerfully Cheesy Chinese Disaster Movie Set on a Volcanic Island |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/skyfire-review-tianhuo-1234884112/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} and action that was formulaic and derivative, particularly of When Time Ran Out and the imperilled theme park premise of Jurassic Park.{{Cite web |title=Skyfire movie review & film summary (2021) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/skyfire-movie-review-2021 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.rogerebert.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Manson |first=Dave |date=2020-11-16 |title="Every conceivable cliché" - Skyfire (Film Review) |url=https://filmhounds.co.uk/2020/11/every-conceivable-cliche-skyfire-film-review/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=FILMHOUNDS Magazine |language=en-US}} It holds a rating of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes.{{Cite web |title=Skyfire {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/skyfire_2021 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}

Skyfire was intended to be the first film in a trilogy.

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{IMDb title|tt9203190}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-1zrJSy6k&feature=emb_logo Official Trailer (English)]

{{Simon West}}

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Category:2010s disaster films

Category:2010s Mandarin-language films

Category:2019 films

Category:2019 action films

Category:Chinese action films

Category:Chinese disaster films

Category:Disaster action films

Category:Films directed by Simon West

Category:Films scored by Pinar Toprak

Category:Screen Media films

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