Fire from Below

A careless excavation opens a pocket of pure lithium beneath a rural landscape, and when that reactive metal meets water it bursts into blazing, spreading fires that threaten farms, towns and lives. Local residents, scientists and military figures struggle to understand the bizarre chemistry as the blaze grows, while a handful of central characters, including Toni Nelson and Jake Denning, try to coordinate rescue and containment efforts. The film follows their attempts to stop the fast-moving hazard and limit casualties, with tension coming from the uncertain nature of the threat and competing agendas among industrial, scientific and government players.

Released in 2009, Fire from Below was directed by Jim Wynorski and credited to creators Andrew Stevens and William Langlois, featuring GiGi Erneta, Kevin Sorbo and Alex Meneses among the principal cast.

The movie had a limited commercial presence and didn’t register as a mainstream box office success, reaching most viewers through home video, cable and genre-focused screenings rather than a wide theatrical run.

Among fans of B-movie science fiction, Fire from Below has a modest afterlife, partly because of its unusual premise about lithium reacting with water and partly due to Kevin Sorbo’s recognizable name. It turned into an obvious pick for late-night cable rosters and sci-fi discussion boards that enjoy disaster scenarios with unconventional causes.

Critically the film scored poorly with most reviewers and users, reflected in a low average rating on aggregation sites, and it’s generally judged as a low-budget genre effort with thin character development and straightforward plotting. Themes include industrial negligence, environmental risk and the limits of emergency response when crime or greed has created a new kind of hazard. Fans of pragmatic, effects-driven thrillers may find it entertaining at a surface level, while viewers looking for depth or originality will probably be disappointed.