This film is based on real events in Arizona, 1975.

Fire in the Sky follows a group of young men who work as tree loggers. After a busy day of working in the woods, the men share a ride home. As they drive through the dark, they begin to witness strange occurences in the woods, including red lights beaming from the trees. As they investigate and take a better look, they are shocked at what they find. One man even steps out of the car to take a closer look and disappears after being surrounded by a white light. Filled with fear and panic, the remaining men flee, but they all know what they just saw—a flying saucer.

Eventually, the survivours agree to tell the authorities about the abduction, no matter how crazy they will sound. This resolution introduces us to Sheriff Frank Watters (James Garner) who begins to question the group and search for the missing man. Did Aliens take the life of this young man? Or are these young men just crazy?

Fire in the Sky has a beautiful opening. We witness a car with a group of men driving crazily and dangerously on the roads. Quickly, we understand that these men have just encountered something tragic. The film continually builds up to the third act where it delivers something unexpected.

Visually, Fire in the Sky is pleasing, and the level of creativity here is outstanding. As a Blu-ray release from Imprint Films, I was also impressed with the film’s audio track, which was a nice compliment to the story. Performances is one area that is weaker. Some line deliveries are questionable, but this is an issue that seems to come and go during the film. If you’re someone who loves lots of details in a sci-fi movie, you may also be slightly disappointed as some elements are left up to the viewers to fill in unexplained mysteries.

Overall, this is a delightful sci-fi film with a solid mystery and wonderfully building tension. It’s an Alien abduction film unlike anything I’ve seen before, and the film builds to a haunting third act which I’m still processing after my first viewing. Visually, Fire in the Sky is tremendous, and has a stunning audio track. If you seek a classic alien film, this one comes highly recommended, even if some key performances don’t quite feel overly convincing.

7.2/10