THE STORY: Kurt Russell and William Baldwin star as two feuding firefighter brothers who must set aside their personal differences in order to survive the burning, churning infernos set by a maniacal arsonist. Co-starring Robert DeNiro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rebecca DeMornay, this collectible, digitally remastered edition includes hours of bonus features that take you behind the heart-pounding pyrotechnics and Academy Award nominated special effects!
THE REVIEW: A lot of movies today try to match the realism of Backdraft—a movie made fifteen years ago. Backdraft is a great looking movie and that is what makes it so convincing. Too bad the story isn’t great enough to make this a classic.
Backdraft is the kind of movie that if it’s on cable and you have nothing else to do you watch it. As lame as the story is it’s also highly entertaining. Then again all of the narratives that try to make up the film end up muddying the real premise—dealing with the deadly force of nature; fire. Instead we have to deal with politicians who are crooked and a sibling rivalry between Kurt Russell and William Baldwin. Of course we have to deal with the age old story of a haggard man, Russell, who seems to always self destruct and ruin everything good, even his marriage, because he loves his career more.
At the center of Backdraft are the effects—even though filmmakers try hard to create characters and a plot for us to care about. The fire creates so much tension and fear. It puts you on the edge of your seat as the characters get stuck in a virtual hell.
THE EXTRAS:
Disc 1:
Ron Howard offers an introduction to the movie by saying that there were no special effects in hopes of creating a feeling of real danger. The first disc also offers over 40 minutes of deleted scenes.
Disc 2:
“Igniting the Story” – Director Ron Howard, Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer and others discuss the evolution of the film from script to screen.
“Bringing Together The Team” – From the casting room to firefighter clinics see how director Ron Howard brought together a talented team of actors and real-life firefighters.
“The Explosive Stunts” – Filmmakers reveal the state-of-the-art technology and heroic stunts that created the explosive action of the film.
“Creating the Villain: The Fire” – See how an overwhelmingly talented team of special effects creators and stunt coordinators worked together to bring the fire to life.
“Real-Life Fireman, Real-Life Stories” – Get an insider’s perspective on what it takes to be a firefighter in this round-table discussion with the crew of Station 73, Santa Clarita.
FRANKLY: Backdraft is fun to watch. The excitement is created mostly by the special effects. There is a lot of dead weight that is barely held together by a lackluster script. There are clichés regurgitated with the only substitute being fire—and yet Backdraft is still highly entertaining.
+ Charlie Craine
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