“I have a collect call from Travis Walton. Will you accept the charges?”
Some of the most popular films ever made were released in 1993. It was an amazing year for film and yours truly was around to witness a ton of these films on the big screen. Hit films like Jurassic Park, Mrs. Doubtfire, Sleepless In Seattle, Carlito’s Way, Schindler’s List, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Indecent Proposal were released that year as were cult classics like Army Of Darkness and Falling Down. Another film released in 1993 that was successful but not necessarily a massive hit was the allegedly true story of the alien abduction of Travis Walton, Fire In The Sky. It was based upon the 1978 book The Walton Experience written by Travis Walton about his supposed 1975 abduction. The film has gone on to become a cult hit in its own right and holds up extremely well as both a science fiction/fact thriller and a biopic.
I say that the film is based upon an allegedly true story as the only evidence that the event occurred comes in the form of a number of polygraph tests taken by Walton and other members of the logging crew that witnessed the event and the fact that Walton was missing for five days and six hours and then miraculously reappeared along a highway in Arizona. I’m not here to question whether or not the event actually occurred. Personally, I do believe that extra-terrestrials probably exist but I do not have any hard evidence to support my belief nor do I have any proof that if they do exist that they are necessarily more advanced than humans. In any case, Walton’s story makes for a genuinely creepy tale and, with a little bit of Hollywood magic, Fire In The Sky makes for a very creepy movie.
The film is basically divided into two parts. The first part, the bulk of the film, shows us how the logging crew deals with the abduction of their friend and the fallout from him going missing. All of the men are accused of murdering Walton and are grilled by Lt. Frank Watters, who has never failed at solving a case according to the film. The leader of the group, Mike Rogers, is not only struggling with the loss of Walton but is also trying to deal with family and financial matters as well. A drifter who finds work with the group, Allan Dallis, becomes the primary suspect in the case, as he and Walton had an altercation prior to Walton’s abduction. The rest of the group, young Greg Hayes, spiritual David Whitlock, and hardworking Bobby Cogdill, are well known in the community like Mike Rogers, and have trouble dealing with their newfound infamy. The film does an amazing job showing how these men deal with their problems.
The second part of the film deals with Walton’s unexpected return, the terrifying events that took place during his abduction, and the fallout that occurs when he learns that his friends abandoned him when he was knocked down by a light emitted by the UFO that they all witnessed. The abduction sequence is particularly unsettling. The film’s screenwriter, Tracy Torme, was told to enhance that specific part of the film to make it more interesting because Paramount Pictures found the actual abduction story to be too boring. Torme outdid himself in my opinion. The abduction sequence is right up there with the extremely claustrophobic escape sequence from The Descent (2005) in my opinion. Watching Walton helplessly struggle against forces he cannot stop is uneasy to witness, and it’s one of the best parts of this film.
Robert Patrick heads up a loaded cast of amazing actors. Patrick stars as Mike Rogers. We get to see more of his story and how he interacts with the others more than any other character in the film. D.B. Sweeney stars as Travis Walton, the man who is abducted and tortured by the aliens in the film. The rest of the cast is a litany of character actors and leading men like James Garner (Lt. Watters), Henry Thomas (Greg Hayes), Craig Sheffer (Dallis), Bradley Gregg (Cogdill), Peter Berg (Whitlock), Noble Willingham (Sheriff Davis), and Kathleen Wilhoite (Katie Rogers, Mike’s wife).
The special effects for the film were handled by Industrial Light & Magic and they were brilliant. They hold up extremely well today and featured puppets and a ton of practical effects. During the sequences on the alien ship, Walton is shown in a bio-cocoon full of some type of goop. When he breaks out of the cocoon he finds himself in a zero gravity chamber. He accidentally falls into another cocoon where he finds another human being that is biodegrading into the goop. From there he stumbles upon alien suits, is captured by the aliens, and is dragged to an examination table where the aliens begin torturing him. The entire sequence is amazingly executed.
This film is a real treat. It does take quite a few liberties with Walton’s account of the events that occurred so if you are interested in Walton’s real story, look up his book The Walton Experience or Fire In The Sky: The Walton Experience. They are both the same book, just a different title. Walton apparently wasn’t happy with the way that his story was told and has been looking for a new film to be made that tells his true story. In any case, Fire In The Sky is definitely worth a look and if you’ve never watched it before, take my advice and check out this movie!
Thanks for checking out my post. I haven’t done a Throwback Thursday post in awhile now so it’s nice to get one more in the books before the end of the year. Tomorrow I’ll be posting my final The Year Of KISS post and on Saturday I’ll finish off 2022 with an end of the year summary!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 