Backdraft (1991)

Even with its flaws, "Backdraft" is still one of Ron Howard's best films that stood the test of time and still delivers as an unique piece of entertainment set in the world of the courageous firefighters.Written by Gregory Widen (who penned "Highlander"), himself an ex-fireman that based the story in real life facts, this was an unusual movie for its time, an action packed big scale epic melodrama with the fire itself as the main character portrayed here as a somekind of a live entity escaping to the control of its own arsonist.Howard directs it with a great sense of visual impact, especially during the fire scenes, and led his actors to do their best for the roles, even if the screenplay kind of underwhelms the female parts envolved.The special effects are outstanding, even for nowadays standards, it was nominated for 3 Oscars: Sound, Sound Effects Editing & Visual Effects, but lost to "Terminator 2 - Judgment Day", the big technical winner of the year, but in retrospective, "Backdraft" would be more deserving, it totally embraces the viewer in the heat, the smoke, the flames and the sweat like as if we were there battling alongside the firefighters.Besides the action parts, it works well as a family drama: the antagonism between the two orphan brothers, whose father was killed 20 years before in the line of duty and their messed up' private lifes, and also as a mystery / thriller / 'whodunit', even if Howard keeps it in a moderate light mode, yet emotional & soulful almost resembling a modern Greek tragedy.The strong (and well directed) cast helps to elevate the film to another level with Kurt Russell, in the movie that saved his almost dead career at the time after several box office disasters in a row, leading it in the dual role of Stephen "Bull" McCaffrey (the older brother) & Dennis McCaffrey (their father, in a tiny cameo at the beginning). Kurt was always a great actor that could do everything from comedy to drama to musical or horror, but his critical breakthrough role as a 'serious' performer came with "Backdraft" delivering a skillfully constructed performance, as well human and sincere, that entranced the public and caught the attention of the critics.Billy Baldwin, after his big brother Alec declined the role, stepped in as the younger McCaffrey (in a role originally written for Tom Cruise) and even if he was still a bit green with his acting ("Backdraft" was only his 4th movie and 3rd as a prominent character), he fared better than most critics said and that wasn't an easy task for him trying to standout, acting alongside Russell or De Niro in about 80 per cent of his scenes in the movie.Scott Glenn was always a kind of roughed cowboy, but a rather mysterious & charming individual as well and he was well cast as John "Axe" Adcox, with Howard filming him in a dubious manner, sometimes only as a background character, removing his focus and playing with the audience making him suspicious or just a 'red herring'.Jennifer Jason Leigh & Rebecca De Mornay play the love interests for the McCaffrey's brothers with Jennifer in a kind of a bland role (due to the writing, not the actress herself) and Rebecca, with a couple of good scenes almost all with Russell, fares a little better.Donald Sutherland and Robert De Niro reunite 15 years after "1900", the epic tale they did together for Bernardo Bertolucci in the mid-70's, with Donald playing the sociopath arsonist Ronald Bartel in a 2 scenes' cameo that the viewer will never forget and De Niro, surprisingly restrained (well, except for 1 or 2 scenes...) playing the investigator Donald Rimgale, knew his place as a supporting player and did not try to upstage the protagonists.Jason Gedrick, the cocky hot shot from the cult movie "Iron Eagle" (the "Top Gun"'s rival in the summer of '86) and the late great character actor, J. T. Walsh as the Mayor Marty Swayzak, complete the main cast which also featured ex-firefighters turned character actors such as Kevin Casey, Jack McGee, Cedric Young or Richard Lexsee.Last, but not the least, the late Hans Zimmer's music score is a piece of outstanding orchestration which was criminally snubbed for an Academy Award nomination back in '91.In short, "Backdraft" is an artistically and technically (almost) perfect achievement, a well paced firefighter's opera that is emotionally endearing as much as visually fascinating and even if the script tends to be a bit flimsy in the characters' motivations and the direction focused too much on the fire and its incredible special effects and less in the development of some of its characters, it stills holds very well and it's probably one of the best movies that came out in the 90's.As a side note, the original theatrical trailer is one of the best ever made and several quotes from this movie are still often used nowadays (well, it's a Kurt Russell movie after all...) such as "Look at him... That's my brother goddammit !"; "Let me go, Bull !!"; "You go. We go."; I'm Brian." / "I'm sorry." among lots of others.Recommended !!

It is nice to see an action movie that is about civil service and not about the police isn't it? Kind of refreshing. Cop, cop, cop, cop, cop, cop, cop, firemen.I might be bias, my brother-in-law is a firefighter...but I never really liked him, and I loved this movie long before I met him.There are a lot of people here criticizing it because "the fire is the real star." All I have to say is that they are right, just like the action is the real star in a lot of movies. I mean, wasn't the car the real star in "Bullet?" The car is sort of the star in "Supernatural" too, isn't it...and besides, how many movies have you seen that star fire and well, it's so cool in a pyromania action adventure sort of way.They also say it is full of clichés and, well, they are right on that count too. BUT, well, a lot of other action movies are wall-to-wall clichés and have cops and guns and are loved. This is the same thing only with fire, and should be loved for the same reasons.At least clichés with fire is far more original than clichés with guns in the action movie trope.The acting isn't as melodramatic as people say. There are one or two scenes where, yeah, everyone has to admit that they are over-the-top, but on the whole we still see a lot of naturalistic acting.What you have here is just a fun movie...but it is a fun movie written by Gregory Widen and he really is a great screen writer with some truly original and fun ideas. You see his name attached as a writer and you know you're in for a fun time. It's just a shame the people that wrote the sequels to his films ruined his career.

How did this movie receive Academy nominations? The acting is awful and the storyline is just terrible. I remember starting to watch this when it came out on VHS and couldn't finish it. I gave it another shot 23 years later and hated it more the second time. I like William Baldwin and Kurt Russell, but this movie is just terrible. Predictable. Living in Chicago, I'm quite aware of the history of corrupt politics in the city. This movie is only embarrassment towards the real firefighters of Chicago. Pick another city have correct politics. Again, too predictable. The only positive thing I can say is that some of the special effects were decent.

This is one of Ron Howard's best movies, but it is viewed by many as one of his worst. The fact is, it is indeed one of his best. The characters are perhaps a bit simple, with simple perspectives, but this a movie about firemen. From Ron Howards perspective, these are simple people who risk their lives because they love the rush. But within this community there is one individual who starts fires for the rush. Who and why? That is the challenge for the viewer and the answer is the whole point of the movie. Most critics miss the point of the whole movie and think this is a movie about two brothers who don't get along and are in competition. Then the movie is indeed superficial and not all that interesting.Treat this movie as a mystery, and you will appreciate the plot. The acting is excellent, the music is superb and the scenes involving fire are unique and engrossing. Enjoy the movie for what it is. Don't complain about what it was never intended to be. Anyone who looks at this movie as Greek tragedy deserves to be disappointed. This is great entertainment.