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Backdraft

Backdraft

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: IT IS THE BEST
Review: i have wached this movie at least 50 times. I had the VHS and it broke i wached it so much so I got the DVD. It is evin better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hot action and even hotter men
Review: I love the film 'Backdraft'.Many firefighters watching have criticised it but it's not real life is it? The film stars a very good-looking William Baldwin and a muscley looking Kurt Russell.They star as the McCaffrey brothers,whose father was killed in a fire years before.The two feuding siblings are forced to work with each other in the same firefighting unit which neither is happy about.Stephen (Russell) feels he has to protect his younger brother and Brian (Baldwin)feels he has to do well in front of his 'kick-[bootie]' firefighter big brother.It is good to see Russell attempt some emotional roles and he plays his brotherly role well,the scenes where Brian rescues a mannequin and Stephen chases him up to the fire-station roof always have me laughing as well as the 'War' song.And the wonderful lines 'Look at him,that's my brother ...' and 'who's your brother Brian' have me blubbing like a baby 10 minutes before they even come on.The great scenes with Stephen fixxing Brian's fire-suit always get to me too.Brothers hey,you gotta love them and this film is such a great example of fire,bravery and brotherly love.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Spectacular Thriller.
Review: Two feuding Fire Fighters Brothers (Kurt Russell & William Baldwin), who lives and anothers are endangered by the activties of a Clever Arsonist.

Directed by Ron Howard (Nightshift, Splash, Williow) has made a Spectacular Special Effects movie Hightlight this Melodramatic film. Howard has a great supporting cast-including:Scott Glenn, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Jason Leigh, J.T. Walsh, Rebecca De Mornay and Donald Sutherland. This film has a Exciting Action Moments, it`s a well done film. Super 35. Grade:B+.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ENGINE CO. 17
Review: This is the greatest movie of all time! Kurt Russell IS Lt. Stephen McCaffrey,William Baldwin IS Brian McCaffrey, Scott Glenn IS John Adcox, this si the greatest movie ever! I have seen it hundreds upon hundreds of times, and it always gets better. If only Hollywood made more movies like it. Kurt Russell does an excellent job as Lt. Steve McCaffrey, the hardnosed, veteran Lieutenant, whose life is all about fire, and putting it out. It si simply a great movie. The plot is good, Robert DeNiro does an excellent job as Don Rimgale, and the subplot about why Az did what he did with the closing of firehouses with Swayzak is great.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Firemen-Our many unsung heroes
Review: My father was a fireman having reached the rank of Assistant Chief before he retired. This movie displays the courage and dedication the average man exhibits just doing his job. To hell with the critics.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: FIRE - IT IS ALIVE
Review: Ron Howard did an excellent job - how he pulled this off to look so real I don't know. Kurt Russell was his usual magnificent self. Cast great - the fires & backdrafts intense/superb!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MUltiple plots well connected
Review: Backdraft has an excellent cast that meshes well together. It has several plots, a serial arsonist, economic cutbacks and two brothers working in the shadow of their fireman hero father - klolled in the line of duty.

This whole film works well. DeNiro is excellent as the arson investigator for the fire department. Russell and Baldwin are also compelling as two brothers - one a career firefighter and the other a novice who turns to the firedepartment only after all other ventures have fizzeled out.

Both brothers are complex. Russell is seperated from his wife - or maybe divorced that part is a little vague. What has driven them apart is his attitude towards the job and the emotional toll it is taking on his wife who wants to raise her son in a more normal environment. Baldwin on the other hand, is trying to work under his brother's pressure and the shadow of his dead father.

While some actors and actresses have short screen time, DeMornay and Sutherland, they are critical to the overall success of the film.

The alderman and mayor wannabe is the perfect sleezy corrupt politician who knows no bounds in getting his politcal career advanced. The fact that he is getting associates killed is of little seeming consequence.

The fire screens were excellent. You could almost feel the heat of the flames.

The funeral cortege through the streets of Chicago are breath-taking and moving. The camera cutting to the massed ranks of firemen, is breath-taking. The music is magnificent and makes the scene more telling.

In all, this is an excellent adventure and mystery film that is a fine work depicting the life of firemen in a major metropolitan city. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hollywood-itis
Review: I am usually a big fan of Ron Howard's films. He has directed some of my favorite movies over the past few years. "Parenthood, Apollo 13, the Paper". But unfortunately, Howard succumbed to what I consider "Hollywood-itis" with this film. This is taking subject matter that is inherently dramatic and interesting, and yucking it up with too many sub-plots and other distracting story elements. He could have stuck with the fire mystery, the De Niro and Sutherland characters and cut out all the other junk and still had a good movie. The movie is recommended for the great fire effects though.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Freaky Fire!
Review: The fire in this movie has a life of its own and almost seems to have evil intentions. When you see smoke under the door move back into a room, that is a bit freaky!

When I started watching this film, I almost didn't finish the first 15 minutes. Then I made myself watch it and found that I was captivated by the "mystery" elements.

The main story is about two brothers, but there is also the question of "who" is starting the fires and why?

This movie has a touch of romance, but is definitely more a "guy" movie. If you are fascinated by fire, the special effects will amaze you.

What I didn't like about the movie was the casual attitude towards death in some scenes. But nearer the end, you started to feel a great debt of gratitude to the men and women who fight fires to save our lives.

One scene to watch twice is when Kurt Russell saves the child and comes out of the smoke. Best scene in the movie for sure! If you enjoy Kurt Russell's acting, you won't be dissapointed. My favorite Kurt Russell movie is Overboard and he has more of a comedic role in that one.

They could have made the love scene on top of the fire engine a little less gratuitous and removed some of the swearing. That would have given it a full 5 stars. ....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Story, Great Effects...
Review: Backdraft is the story of two feuding brothers tryng to keep the legacy of the McCaffrey fire fighting clan going. Steven (Kurt Russell) does a suberb job as the leutinunt of station 17 in Chicago. He has a more succesful job as a fireman than his brother Brian (William Balwin). Baldwin, does an outstanding job as well as his older brother. Brian quit fire once and decides to try it one more time. He ends up quitting halfway thru the movie. Detective Rimgale does what i think is the best job of any actor in Backdraft. His role played by Robert DeNiro is to find out whether the fire is natural or arson. Donald Suthrland, although not in it too much, does a great job playing phsycho, Ronald Bartel. Ronald helps Brian find the killer. John "Axe" Adcox is played by Scott Glenn. He does a fine job as the senior fireman. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Jennifer, Brian's girlfriend. She could've done a better job playing her role. Rebecca DeMornay plays Steven's ex-wife. She does not appear a whole lot. Fire is the main character in this film. It has awe-inspiring special effects and some of the most amazing fire scenes ever caught on tape.


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