I made a vow to myself when I started doing these reviews that I would watch every film from start to finish no matter how bad it might be. Over time however, I've managed to allow myself some latitude without actually going back on my word. The secret lies in the fast forward button, which was used rather liberally here while watching this flick.
It all starts with the dialog. Presumably this was in English because I could understand a line every now and then, but overall the poor sound quality had me going 'huh?' time and time again. If this were a silent picture without title cards, I would have figured out there was some kind of insurance scam going on here with Tom Skerritt's construction project going up in flames more than once. Notable by his presence was veteran character actor James Mason as some kind of insurance investigator, but I don't know if he figured things out by the time it was all over.
Adding to the confusion was the rather random appearance of characters throughout the story who seemed to come and go at will, sometimes never to be heard from again. Scenes also seemed to jump randomly as well, and did I see a train full of passengers actually ride directly into a fire? I swear I was awake when that happened.
Topping things off, I saw this flick under the title "A Dangerous Summer", even though the events of the story occurred the week before Christmas. OK, OK, this was Australia and I get it about the reversal of seasons, but for American audiences, couldn't they have re-named it "A Dangerous Winter"? Never mind, no snow. This picture was hopeless right from the get go.
It all starts with the dialog. Presumably this was in English because I could understand a line every now and then, but overall the poor sound quality had me going 'huh?' time and time again. If this were a silent picture without title cards, I would have figured out there was some kind of insurance scam going on here with Tom Skerritt's construction project going up in flames more than once. Notable by his presence was veteran character actor James Mason as some kind of insurance investigator, but I don't know if he figured things out by the time it was all over.
Adding to the confusion was the rather random appearance of characters throughout the story who seemed to come and go at will, sometimes never to be heard from again. Scenes also seemed to jump randomly as well, and did I see a train full of passengers actually ride directly into a fire? I swear I was awake when that happened.
Topping things off, I saw this flick under the title "A Dangerous Summer", even though the events of the story occurred the week before Christmas. OK, OK, this was Australia and I get it about the reversal of seasons, but for American audiences, couldn't they have re-named it "A Dangerous Winter"? Never mind, no snow. This picture was hopeless right from the get go.