Hot Stuff (1971) User Reviews

Beware of the fire!

[LeRoyMarko · 7/10 · 17 December 2002]

The history of the fire and the danger of it. That's the story in this short film from the National Film Board of Canada. It's actually presented by the Dominion Fire Commissioner and it was probably use as a way to educate people about the danger of fire, in all its forms.

We're shown Adam and Eve (and of course the snake). They're cold. But God gives them fire. He's got an advice for them though: "The fire must be your slave. You must never set it free. It will devour all of mankind if given half the chance".

Out of 100, I give it 74. That's good for **½ out of ****.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on December 15th, 2002.

Decent

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 10 August 2009]

This is an animated short sponsored by The National Film Board of Canada--an organization that has been responsible for bringing a lot of talented people's films to life. Many of the Oscar nominated animated shorts from the last half century were products of this government organization, though this one was not nominated.

The film starts with the gods creating the Earth and man. The first man, Adam, had a friend, the snake, and they were both extremely cold. Feeling sorry for them, the gods sent down fire--on the condition that man takes this responsibility to heart and is careful. Then, the animation jumps to the present day. An irresponsible couple are doing lots of stupid things--oblivious to the risk of fire. Eventually, mankind is destroyed by the fire and the gods have a little talk about where it all went wrong.

The animation is pretty decent quality for 1971 though compared to some earlier and later animations with higher frame-rates it is a bit simple. However, compared to other shorts from 1971, it's pretty good and very watchable--with a nice sense of humor, though it also is a tad preachy now and again.