you always have to be careful with the first official studio release out of the gate each year . 
they're obviously films for which the studios have no great hopes ( having missed both the deadline for academy award eligibility and the big box-office holiday season ) . 
combine that with howie long's first starring action role , and you've got a doozy of a movie that , while not as bad as it could have been , isn't a very good film . 
howie stars as an ace smokejumper ( a firefighter who parachutes into forest fires unreachable from the ground ) . 
in the slightly contrived opening scenes , we witness his heroism in action , as he , and his mentor ( played by scott glenn ) attempt to rescue a small girl and her dog from an oncoming forest fire . 
william forsythe plays the bad guy , a mass murderer who has several million dollars tucked away to help fund his jailbreak . 
he ( and five convict cohorts ) manages to get selected for firefighting duty when a woodland blaze just happens to ignite nearby . 
his escape plan bets a lot on the laxity of the guards , but ( since there must be a movie ) luck is with him . 
soon the now-escaped convicts are masquerading as canadian firefighters . 
why canadian ? 
who knows , eh ? 
along the way they pick up a pretty birdwatcher ( suzy amis ) to be their hostage . 
enter howie long . 
he's called in to help fight the blaze , and when he spots the group of " ground pounders " , apparently lost , he parachutes in to help . 
when he discovers their true identity , he is the only thing standing between them and escape , and the only hope of help for the hostage . 
long's acting talents are above those of , say , steven seagal , but not by much . 
although his delivery is mostly flat and wooden , he's a likeable hero , and there are some hints here and there that he may get better . 
the script doesn't help him out any , however . 
all too often , it veers into the realm of the unintentionally funny . 
the dialogue is strictly b-movie material , and the plotting relies too heavily on coincidences to be believable . 
long's co-stars are a mixed bag . 
at least they're all comfortable in their respective roles . 
forsythe has the scenery-chewing villain down cold , down cold , and scott glenn is always enjoyable to watch , even when he doesn't seem to be stretching his talents ( as is definitely the case here ) . 
suzy amis plays peril pretty well , but isn't given much more to do . 
some of the nature and wildfire shots are interesting , but many are rather bland . 
you'd think that the director , dean semler , a former cinematographer , would at least produce a film with interesting visuals . 
that's not the case . 
there's a lack of originality to nearly all the sequences . . . we've 
seen this stuff before . 
it's not the most auspicious start to 1998 , but it could have been worse ( just think back to 1996's debut , bio-dome ) . 
however , after a month of oscar-caliber pictures , a movie like firestorm at least gives you some perspective on how good those movies really were . 
in fact , there's a good chance that some of them are still playing near you . . .