Firewalker is a film of it's time. A time when video-shop shelves overflowed with cheap American action movies (from American Ninja to Zebra Force) that were essential lads viewing and that made brand names out of the actors that starred in them.

Made at the height of the Indiana Jones phenomenon that spawned Romancing The Stone, King Solomon's Mines and Jake Speed - Firewalker was every bit the modern-day swashbuckling-fortune and glory flick that sought to jump on the bandwagon.

It saw Golan-Globus’ golden boy team up with Oscar winning black actor Louis Gossett Jr to take the lead. In it, they play two professional adventurers who are hired by a wealthy woman with a treasure map.

The trio tread the jungles and deserts of South America to do battle with mercenaries, indigenous tribes, dictators and a dude with an eye patch in their search for a temple full of gold.

Aside from the clichés and continuity errors, Firewalker is notable for couple of reasons. It was directed by Oscar nominated Brit J. Lee Thompson. And although he'd become one of B-movie Hollywood's favourite hacks by the end of his career – churning out the likes of The Evil That Men Do, Murphy's Law and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown – there was a time when he made great pictures such as Ice Cold In Alex, The Guns Of The Navarone and Cape Fear (1962).

Secondly, the film put Norris and Gossett in the lead before the likes of Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout came along and before producers Simpson and Bruckheimer managed to sophisticate the action movie.

Firewalker is archetypal of a period in Hollywood history that has grown in cult status. It must be seen to be believed on how tacky, brainless and unpretentious the mainstream Hollywood action movie once was.

Raaj Rana