Inferno (1999 film)

Inferno
DVD cover
Directed by	John G. Avildsen
Produced by	Lawrence Levy Evzen Kolar
Written by	Tom O'Rourke
Starring	Jean-Claude Van Damme Danny Trejo Noriyuki "Pat" Morita
Music by	Bill Conti
Cinematography	Ross A. Maehl
Editing by	J. Douglas Seelig
Distributed by	Columbia TriStar Home Video
Release date(s)	September 25, 1999
Running time	95 min. 81 min. (German cut version)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15,000,000

Inferno (aka Desert Heat) is a 1999 American action film directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Danny Trejo and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita. Depending on the territory the film is released and the length of the film's cut, Avildsen is credited as Danny Mulroon. Occasionally, the country/length discrepancy is interchangeable.

Eddie Lomax (Van Damme) is a veteran soldier sick of life, wandering the desert looking for a reason to die. An incident with a few thugs from the nearby town who steal Eddie's motorbike and beat him almost to death, starts in Eddie a flame for revenge. Helped by Mr. Early, and some other good fellows, Eddie is out for vengeance.

This film is a remake of and a self-conscious tribute to Yojimbo (1961) by Akira Kurosawa.

Plot

The film opens as Eddie Lomax (Jean-Claude Van Damme) drives an Indian motorcycle in an open desert plain (referred to as the Dry Lake). Soon enough, the motorcycle breaks down and Eddie dismounts, carrying nothing but his jacket, his .45 pistol, and a bottle of tequilla. As he lies in the desert drinking, he eventually sees his friend Johnny Sixtoes (Danny Trejo), a Mexican Indian, whom he had sent a postcard notifying him of his arrival.

In their conversation, Eddie reveals that the surprise he wrote about in the letter was, in fact, the Indian motorcycle. He also reveals that he's there to kill himself as he goes into a drunken rage, revealing deep regret from their days in the Army, claiming that the souls of those that he killed haunt him. Firing shots off in all directions, he vents his buried feelings to Johnny, and hopes he will "give him the OK to take a journey".

Soon after the shots are fired, a truck pulls up to Eddie, Johnny disappears, it gets clear that Eddie was hallucinating about him being present. Matt (David "Shark" Fralick), Jesse (Silas Weir Mitchell), and Petey Hogan (Jonathan Avildsen), sons of Ramsey Hogan (Larry Drake) get out of the truck, Matt furious at one of Eddie's drunken shots almost killing him.

Eddie staggers to them, not wanting any trouble; Matt, however, insists that he apologize. Matt then proposes that they take the motorcycle, and they'll forget about the gunshot. Eddie persists that the motorcycle is a gift for his friend, telling Matt to get off. Matt seems to comply, until he delivers a cheap blow to Eddie. After a small fight, Eddie is left beaten and shot in his right shoulder. As the brothers stand over Eddie, another truck passes with a local restaurant waitress Dottie (Jaime Pressly) and cook Vern (Kevin West (actor)|Kevin West). Dottie expresses extreme concern; Vern, simply drives on, not wanting any trouble from the Hogans. Matt begins to load the motorcycle onto the truck, instructing Jesse to make sure that Eddie is dead.

Jesse asks for Eddie's gun from Pete, who took it from the earlier struggle. Being the youngest of the three, Petey insists on doing the job. As Jesse and Matt load the motorcycle, Petey aims at Eddie's head. Eddie's eyes open briefly, which makes Petey uneasy. Two shots ring out, which make Matt and Jesse think that Pete shot Eddie twice. However, Petey froze and simply shot two rounds into the ground.

Johnny Six Toes finds Eddie and nurses him back to health. Eddie then comes back to town to recover his pistol from Leon (Gregory Scott Cummins) and Lester (Neil Delama) in the pawn shop by killing them. Eddie falls for Rhonda Reynolds (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), the other waitress and enlists the help of Jubal Early (Pat Morita) to help him dispose of the bodies. He then sets the two rival gangs against each other in a bloody path to get his prized motorcycle for Johnny, get his revenge from the Hogans, and ultimately find a reason to carry on living in the end Eddie defeats Jesse and is once on the road with johnny

Cast

• Jean-Claude Van Damme as Eddie Lomax
• Danny Trejo as Johnny Six Toes
• Noriyuki "Pat" Morita as Jubal Early
• Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Rhonda Reynolds
• Larry Drake as Ramsey Hogan
• Vincent Schiavelli as Mr. Singh
• David "Shark" Fralick as Matt Hogan (as Shark Fralick)
• Silas Weir Mitchell as Jesse Hogan
• Jonathan Avildsen as Petey Hogan
• Jaime Pressly as Dottie Matthews
• Bill Erwin as Eli Hamilton
• Ford Rainey as Pop Reynolds
• Kevin West as Vern
• Priscilla Pointer as Mrs. Henry Howard
• Robert Symonds as Henry Howard
• Paul Koslo as Ives
• Brett Harrelson as Buck
• Jeff Kober as Beserko
• Gregory Scott Cummins as Leon
• Neil Delama as Lester
• Nikki Bokal as Carol Delvecchio
• Kelly Ewing as Rose Delvecchio
• Lee Tergesen as Luke
• Steve Adell as Joe Bob
• Erik Aude as Soldier
• Ray Chang as Mr. Chang
• Evelyn Guerrero as Bertie Early
• Lisa McCullough as Irma
• Ed Trotta as Jack

External links

Film portal

• Inferno (1999 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Inferno (1999 film) at the TCM Movie Database
• Inferno (1999 film) at AllRovi