| Overall Grade: |
A- |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Probably Ron Howard's best film
by Adam (movies profile)
Apr 2, 2007
5
of
7 people found this review helpful
Firefighting would not be so tough if it weren't for backdrafts. I wonder if they're real or not? This movie makes them look stunning and almost real, but do they exist in real life?
Brian(William Baldwin) always loved watching his dad fight fires in the burning buildings of Chicago. But one day while Brian was down on the ground watching, the unexpected happened. Out of nowhere, a huge blast of fire bursted right out the window, scorched up the entire top floor of the building, and of course killed Brian's dad.
But Brian has not given up his dream. Now 17, this is Brian's first shot at being a firefighter. But Brian's older brother Steven(Kurt Russell) is already in the firefighting force, and the two brothers find themselves feuding against eachother. While Steven is still bravely facing fire and saving lives, Brian is only trying to measure up to him and still hasn't become a hero. But Steven has his problems, too. Steven doesn't live with his wife and son anymore because his wife is afraid that he'll get killed one day doing his job. Steven is stuggling to get back together with them, but for now he's often drunk and lives in his dad's old boat.
Brian quits his firefighting job after he doesn't think he'll be anything like his brother, but he hasn't left the firefighting business. Brian is now teaming up with a man played by Robert De Nero to investigate a strange phenomena that seems to make fire come alive: backdrafts. Backdrafts are when fire is somehow sucked by an air vent or something, and then is suddenly released to create a large dome of fire. The cool thing about backdrafts is that they make a hissing sound before they burst through a door. It was a backdraft that killed Brian's dad, so he'd like to discover how they work. But there's a mysterious person in the city who's creating backdraft traps in many buildings around Chicago, and the culprit may very well be a member of the firefighting force...
I haven't seen many movies directed by Ron Howard. I guess my first one was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The next one was A Beautiful Mind, which I though was Howard's best film. But Backdraft was even better then those two movies, so so far it's his best movie. The visuals are stunning, the direction is fabulous, and the acting from William Baldwin, Kurt Russell, Robert De Nero and Scott Glenn is perfect. And let's talk about William Baldwin. He's the brother of Alec Baldwin, and though he's not as famous, he got a good reputation from Backdraft, which is a mind-blowing film. I'd definately reccomend it to disaster film fans. |
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