Hellfighters (1969)

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  • I like this movie, although it isn´t a classic John Wayne movie. Still enough action and interaction between the cast members to be enjoyable.


    I bought the American Blu Ray and the European version. Both have great picture quality.


    The American Blu Ray (Universal 2015, disc made in Mexico is printed on the cover) is an All Region disc that plays worldwide with no problems. It has got a whole lot of subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Arabic, Brazilian Portugese, Greek, Hungarian, Portugese, Russian, Turkish and Thai.
    Audio is in English, French, German, Japanese, Brazilian Portugese, Russian.
    The extra's are not mentioned on the cover but they include the Original trailer.


    The European Blu Ray (The German version, by Koch Media from 2015 called "Die Unerschrokkenen-Hellfighters") has English and German audio and subtitles.
    The Extra's are:
    a German trailer
    the Original American trailer
    the American Making of featurette (in bad condition, about 10 minutes long)
    Excerpts from the German Super 8 release of the movie (about 7 minutes)
    Photogallery with posters and photos from the set.

  • I am looking for the scenes in Hellfighters that was filmed in Gillette, Wyoming. This forum among many places says it was filmed in Gillette, but I haven't found any proof of that yet.


    From what I gathered October 1967 Simpson oil well #1 owned by Philip Anschutz caught on fire outside the city limits of Gillette, Wyoming. He called Red Adair to get his crew to put it out who refused at first. Adair told Anschutz that he checked him out and he didn't check out, but he agreed and told him if he didn't pay no one would ever put out a fire for him again.


    Adair sent Boots and Coots to Gillette. Anschutz didn't have enough money to pay Adair so he convinced Universal Studios to pay $100k for the opportunity to film the oil fire. Universal sent a film crew by plane to Gillette during the preproduction of the movie before the actors were involved. The crew spent their off time in Gillette drinking. Adair's crew failed to put out the fire and eventually 60mph gusts blew it out. Anschutz later said it was the biggest event of his life and was a make or break moment. There is more to the story, but that is the short version.


    Here is a photo of the oil fire.
    Campbell County, WY - Official Website


    I don't believe it was the first scene of the movie as actors are involved and the well wasn't burning yet. The oil well had already burned down by the time the film crew arrived. It isn't the scenes with all the oil wells in the background because that is Salt Creek Oil Field near Casper, Wyoming. The first night time scene has actors present and there is other oil rigs, roads, and other things not seen in the photo. The next night scene looks like a special effect setup, has actors present, and the grass is really green unlike the Gillette area at the time. The Venezuela scenes take place near Midwest and Casper, Wyoming.


    Here is a behind the scenes look at the movie. The article is called Hellfire Made to Order on page 48.
    books?id=wCkDAAAAMBAJIt says Wayne saw clips of a real oil fire to prepare him. Which I assume was the Gillette fire. Also mentions that special effects expert Fred Knoth came to Gillette to observe a real fire.


    In the book Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne it says John Wayne came to Gillette in 1968 to film the movie. That never happened. Several other books talking about the incident are also wrong about the details.


    Wyoming, A History of Film and Video, a book on CD-ROM by Walt Farmer has lengthy detailed account of the movie and Wyoming's role in it down to how many minutes each area sees in the movie. It has several behind the scenes photos of Wayne and others I have never seen anywhere else. Farmer says director Andrew McLaglen and producer Bob Arthur came to Gillette as well as Knoth to see the oil fire. Farmer also discusses in detail what Wayne did while in Casper, Wyoming, but he says little about Gillette and nothing about it making it into the movie. Walt Farmer died a few years ago so I can't ask him for more details.


    The Salt Creek Oil Museum in Midwest, Wyoming is supposed to have displays and much information about the filming of the movie. I went once and they were closed. I wasn't able to contact them via phone or email.


    I spoke with the museum director in Gillette. He told me that he couldn't find any of the scenes in the movie with Gillette either and was unable to find the original preproduction footage. He believes none of the Gillette footage made it into the final film. If anyone can point out Gillette in Hellfighters please let me know.

  • I love John Wayne and will watch almost anything he is in, just because HE is worth watching! Hellfighters isn't my favorite by far but it certainly isn’t in my bottom of the barrel list either. I have never watched (and never will watch) The Conqueror. I believe it was responsible for his death (and of many others). The Duke does a fine job in this film though unlike most others I didn’t like Katherine Ross, guess I couldn’t get past her hair! Stupid woman thing! Also thought she over acted. Vera Miles was fine as the uptight, frightened ex-wife. Always enjoy Bruce Cabot and the John Wayne gang! The fires were exciting and agree more action and less side story would have helped. Still worth watching my beloved Duke!

  • I was a big Red Adair fan growing up as a kid in the Oil Capital of the World.


    I always enjoyed this movie. Plus my dad working in the oil industry we had some interesting discussions around the oil production issues they dealt with in the movie, ie sour gas wells and how blow out preventers work.

    Tbone



    "I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please."