On Hostile Ground (2000 film)
Encyclopedia
On Hostile Ground is a 2000
television movie
starring John Corbett. Directed by Mario Azzopardi
, the film originally aired on TBS
on June 11, 2000.
who is asked to investigate why there have been two large sinkholes affecting the city of New Orleans. Jessica Steen
plays his girlfriend Allison Beauchamp, assistant to the Mayor, who has to decide whether the problems with the sinkholes will spread far enough to require that the remainder of Mardi Gras
be cancelled, which would be an economic disaster to the city.
Matt has a number of personal issues because of a disaster which happened at a mine he was advising on its operations. Although cleared of responsibility for the accident, he still blames himself, which may be causing him to be overcautious. Matt admits the potential problem of the sinkholes becoming so serious as to endanger the city could occur next week, or not for three hundred years. Based on the lack of real evidence of immediate danger, and because some evidence that she should have received has been destroyed by the mayor's political flack, Allison has decided not to close the festival, only to have the disaster metastasize, like a cancer devouring the city's underground.
The only answer is to obtain a binary liquid
which when combined produces an aggressive foam that will fill the huge sinkhole cavern. The foam
will expand to hundreds of times its size, and becomes as hard as concrete. Due to an emergency, while Matt is underground inspecting the caverns, he becomes partially trapped, and has to ask to have the foam started (which will kill him if he can't find an escape) because if they don't start the flow of the liquid immediately, the ground underneath downtown New Orleans will collapse similar to the effects of soil liquefaction
and thousands to tens of thousands of people will be injured or killed. The last few minutes of the film become a race against time as Matt attempts to find an exit before the foam overwhelms him.
The film points to an event that would happen five years after the movie was made. Matt points out the sinkholes, if they do fail and open up, could be as serious a disaster to the city as if its levees collapsed, an event that did happen as a result of Hurricane Katrina
in 2005.
, Uxbridge, Ontario
, and Toronto
.
It is noted that there are a number of errors in the making of the film. Despite the fact that New Orleans is actually below sea level, the movie shows sinkholes in a cavern extending more than 60 feet (18.3 m) underground, and bone dry, despite the fact that virtually any digging underground in the real New Orleans would result in flooded ground.
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
starring John Corbett. Directed by Mario Azzopardi
Mario Azzopardi
Mario Philip Azzopardi , is a television and film director and writer.He has worked on such shows as The Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1 , and Stargate Atlantis...
, the film originally aired on TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
on June 11, 2000.
Plot
Corbett stars as Matt Andrews, a geologistGeologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
who is asked to investigate why there have been two large sinkholes affecting the city of New Orleans. Jessica Steen
Jessica Steen
Jessica Steen is a film and television actress, noted for her roles in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Homefront, Earth 2, Armageddon, Left Behind: World at War, NCIS, and Flashpoint....
plays his girlfriend Allison Beauchamp, assistant to the Mayor, who has to decide whether the problems with the sinkholes will spread far enough to require that the remainder of Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
be cancelled, which would be an economic disaster to the city.
Matt has a number of personal issues because of a disaster which happened at a mine he was advising on its operations. Although cleared of responsibility for the accident, he still blames himself, which may be causing him to be overcautious. Matt admits the potential problem of the sinkholes becoming so serious as to endanger the city could occur next week, or not for three hundred years. Based on the lack of real evidence of immediate danger, and because some evidence that she should have received has been destroyed by the mayor's political flack, Allison has decided not to close the festival, only to have the disaster metastasize, like a cancer devouring the city's underground.
The only answer is to obtain a binary liquid
Binary liquid
Binary liquid is a type of chemical combination, which creates a special reaction or feature as a result of two liquid chemicals, normally inert or having no function by themselves, being mixed. A number of chemical products are produced as a result of mixing two chemicals as a binary liquid, such...
which when combined produces an aggressive foam that will fill the huge sinkhole cavern. The foam
Foam
-Definition:A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping gas in a liquid or solid in a divided form, i.e. by forming gas regions inside liquid regions, leading to different kinds of dispersed media...
will expand to hundreds of times its size, and becomes as hard as concrete. Due to an emergency, while Matt is underground inspecting the caverns, he becomes partially trapped, and has to ask to have the foam started (which will kill him if he can't find an escape) because if they don't start the flow of the liquid immediately, the ground underneath downtown New Orleans will collapse similar to the effects of soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid....
and thousands to tens of thousands of people will be injured or killed. The last few minutes of the film become a race against time as Matt attempts to find an exit before the foam overwhelms him.
The film points to an event that would happen five years after the movie was made. Matt points out the sinkholes, if they do fail and open up, could be as serious a disaster to the city as if its levees collapsed, an event that did happen as a result of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in 2005.
Cast
- John Corbett as Matt Andrews
- Jessica Steen as Allison Beauchamp
- Brittany DanielBrittany DanielBrittany Ann Daniel is an American television and film actress. She is the twin sister of actress and photographer Cynthia Daniel...
as Cindy Evers - Ardon BessArdon BessArdon Bess is a Canadian actor best known for appearing in a Heritage Moment television commercial about the 1958 Springhill mining disaster portraying survivor Maurice Ruddick...
as Smiley - Eugene ClarkEugene Clark (actor)-Football career:Before he began acting, he played college football. He was an all-conference offensive guard at UCLA and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the ninth round of the 1975 NFL Draft...
as Mayor John Lafitte - Ron Gabriel as Councilman
- Quancetia Hamilton as Mrs. Smiley
- Derwin Jordan as Remy
- Andrew Kraulis as Dalton
- Shawn Lawrence as Andre
- Roger McKeen as Jimmy Gutro, PW Supervisor
- Peter StebbingsPeter StebbingsPeter Stebbings is a Canadian veteran actor who started practicing his trade at the Vancouver Youth Theater when he was just 12 years old. He worked at various odd jobs growing up, including bus boy and bike courier, before making the serious move to acting...
as George Regan
Production notes
On Hostile Ground was filmed in New Orleans, Stouffville, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Uxbridge, Ontario
Uxbridge, Ontario
Uxbridge is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Durham, in the Greater Toronto Area.The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge...
, and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
It is noted that there are a number of errors in the making of the film. Despite the fact that New Orleans is actually below sea level, the movie shows sinkholes in a cavern extending more than 60 feet (18.3 m) underground, and bone dry, despite the fact that virtually any digging underground in the real New Orleans would result in flooded ground.