Review by John Delia
The indie Nation’s Fire is not half bad considering what’s playing on the crowded cable systems that are getting very competitive for the VOD market. But, what pushes this film over the competition is the recklessness of the plot, the acting and a director who’s knee deep in the Genre. Working with some notables like Bruce Dern, Gil Bellows, Lou Ferrigno Jr., Kristen Renton and the up and coming Krista Grotte who steals the show, Thomas J. Churchill brings a good offering. The film plays out to an older crowd that likes high powered action and not a lot of superfluous dialogue. But, most anyone from 21 to 60 should enjoy all the chaos and revenge. The production crew gets the job done in spite of the noticeable low budget.
Brought up in a home that was divided between an alcoholic mother Myra (Laurene Landon) and a wayward father (Bruce Dern) that paid more attention to his motorcycle club, the two split leaving there daughter Gloria to the mom. It’s now present time and we find Gloria (Krista Grotte) with Thomas (Wyatt Walter) her teenage son, memories of her Marine stint, and now working for herself as a bounty hunter taking down bail skippers. It’s a tough life, but her dad is still around taking some of the stress off raising her son. Her trailer trash mom is still as wild and condescending as always and pushes all the wrong buttons on Gloria pushing her away. Her ex-husband Vito (Chuck Liddell), leader of the Reino De La Furia bikers, is still in prison serving time that probably won’t ever expire and he holds the key to Gloria getting something she really wants in life, a divorce.
Heading up an all-female biker club the 1 Percenter’s, she shows her courage and power. On this one day a school shooting ricochets and gets Gloria out of sorts when her son gets blamed. Finding out that it’s the daughter of a Russian mobster (Gill Bellows) who was at fault, sets Gloria on a quest to take him down. But, she’ll have to go through her husband’s gang first. Director and writer Thomas J. Churchill moves his film along at a good pace with a lot of backstory mixed in with present day. It gives his audience a better feel for Gloria and what she will later have to face. His fight scenes look very realistic and the bloody aftermath gives the film a strong feeling of the results of Gloria’s vengeance.
Even though Bruce Dern is only in the film for a short duration, he brings a lot to his role as the father figure for young Thomas. He’s Gloria’s shoulder to depend on and you can see the empathy for his daughter who has had to face a lot of opposition and adversity. It’s always great to see Bruce on the big screen bringing back memories of his long career starting in the 1960’s and amassing 170 plus credits playing cowboys to cops and everything in between. He was nominated for Oscars as Best Supporting Actor in the movie Coming Home (1979) and in 2014 was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in the film Nebraska. Now in his 80’s he’s still going strong with five films completed and waiting for distribution in 2020.
Krista Grotte has made a bid for stardom with Nation’s Fire. There’s always a need for another action character in the business and in Nation’s Fire she shows her stuff. The film gets very chaotic for her character Gloria, especially when the Russian mob is responsible for her son’s death. Diving in head first as the single mom in a rage, her fighting style looks believable, her attitude perfect for the woman who has lived a tough life and showing her revenge face she’s a powerhouse to be reckoned with. Give her a thriller flick with a hefty budget and a good director and she should rival some of the current action stars.
Nation’s Fire has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains extreme violence, language throughout, drugs, sexual innuendos and gore. The movie can be found via Video On Demand on most cable services.
FINAL ANALYSIS: An exciting thriller. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Krista Grotte, Bruce Dern, Gil Bellows, Lou Ferrigno Jr., Kristen Renton, Chuck Liddell, Rachel Sterling, Laurene Landon, Tom Proctor,
Directed and written by: Thomas J. Churchill
Genre: Action, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, extreme violence, language throughout, drugs, gore
Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.
Opening Date: January 21, 2020
Distributed by: Vision Films
Released in: VOD