Backdraft

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BACKDRAFT Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 Sound formats: 6-track Dolby Stereo / Q Sound (35mm and 70mm release prints) Two firefighting brothers (Kurt Russell and William Baldwin) are forced to confront the ghosts of their past whilst pursuing an arsonist who targets prominent members of Chicago's political elite. Former TV actor Ron Howard ("Happy Days") directed this high-profile Hollywood blockbuster, in which a cast of solid B-list actors and A-list supporting players (Robert DeNiro, Donald Sutherland, et al) are upstaged by scenes of fiery devastation, wrought with frightening intensity by incredible stuntwork and state-of-the-art visual effects. Plot-wise, the film is an old-fashioned barnstormer, directed with gee-whizz efficiency by Howard, whose attempts to wring high emotion from Greg Widen's corny script rings entirely false from the outset. Hans Zimmer's generic music score is overbearing in places, particularly during the 'tragic' finale.

Firefighting brothers Stephen McCaffrey (Kurt Russell) and Brian McCaffrey (William Baldwin) and the rest of their Chicago fire department find themselves in a battle of wits with an arsonist who is manufacturing explosions which create a 'Backdraft' which kills anyone in its path. Fire investigator Donald Rimgate (Robert DeNiro) is the man responsible for tracking the arsonist down. On paper this should have worked; it has talented actors like Kurt Russell, Robert DeNiro and Donald Sutherland on board and an interesting premise which to me seemed to suggest a mix of social commentary, action and cat and mouse antics. To say that this film did not live up to my expectations would be a massive understatement because it didn't even come close.... For a start, Ron Howard suffocates the film with all kinds of different themes; strained relations between brothers, strained relations between spouses/girlfriends, firefighting, investigating. Usually I like films with a wide variety of themes as invariably they have depth, complexity and give the mind something to chew on, but here Howard introduces these themes but doesn't expand upon any of them. The two firefighting brothers don't get on- why exactly? The younger brother disappeared for a number of years - where did he go and why did he disappear? The lack of clarity makes it very hard to care about or form any understanding of the brothers (them both being so unlikeable doesn't help either neither did their continuous squabbling). The melodrama between the brothers and their partners was also tiresome and uninteresting and took up far too much of the running time. Even if we focus our attention on the action then Howard failed to really engage me in what should have been an open goal; the action scenes are good at first, but they become repetitive and I was never enthralled or interested at any point during the film. The investigative side of the film (which should have been the real focus) is very choppy and Howard failed to make it interesting or engage me in that aspect of the story. The acting is a bit of a mixed bag; Kurt Russell has his usual cocksure swagger about him, but he does at least make the film fun. William Baldwin is bland and De Niro is fairly low-key (aside from one scene where he gets to flex his acting chops). Donald Sutherland is convincing as a crazy guy, but he felt more like an afterthought than anything else. However you look at Backdraft it is a poor film which has too much going on for its own good. I appreciate what firefighters do and think they are very brave so I do feel a bit bad bashing this film, but I was never given a reason to care at any point in this film and if I'm totally honest I found it pretty boring.

Although Backdraft got Oscar nominations for Best Sound and best visual and audio effects what drives this Ron Howard film is the performances he got from Kurt Russell and Billy Baldwin as the firefighting McCaffrey brothers. The brothers have a lot of distance in their ages as Russell practically raised McCaffrey after their firefighter father was killed on the job. Baldwin realizes he has a big legacy with the Chicago Fire Department and he's hesitant about it. After some issues with Russell, Baldwin gets assigned to arson investigator Robert DeNiro. Which gets Baldwin involved in DeNiro's investigation of some strange arson fires that were set to Backdraft and cause homicides and there is a connection between three seemingly unrelated deaths. The fire effects were great and the location shooting in Chicago a definite plus. Backdraft is the kind of a film you just cannot make on a studio back-lot which 50 years ago it would have been. I'm surprised some Oscar nominations didn't come for either Russell or Baldwin. Their performances are so good you forget they're actors and you think you are watching firefighting drama. And Donald Sutherland's bit role as the Hannibal the Cannibal of arsonists is one you'll remember. He has two scenes, one with DeNiro at a parole hearing and later one with Baldwin as Baldwin seeks expert opinion on the arsonist's technique. In that scene Sutherland evokes Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter when FBI agent Jodie Foster seeks his expertise. And this review is dedicated to all the firefighters all over the world who take on that terribly important job to protect citizens from flame. After watching Backdraft you might get an insight into why the ancient cave people worshiped this phenomenon.

The movie starts in Chicago 1971 when Brian McCaffrey witnesses his fire fighter father's death on the job. 20 years later, Brian (William Baldwin) returns home to be a probie working under his brother Stephen (Kurt Russell). The brothers don't get along. Stephen has moved out on his wife Helen (Rebecca De Mornay). Jennifer Vaitkus (Jennifer Jason Leigh) knows Brian from the past and is now working for ambitious alderman Swayzak (J.T. Walsh). There's an arsonist loose in the city and arson investigator Rimgale (Robert De Niro) is on the case. On his first fire, Brian rescues a mannequin but is mistaken with a heroic rescue. Stephen is knocking heads with Swayzak over cutbacks. Swayzak offers Brian a job to work with Rimgale. Director Ron Howard is showing that he has technical skills. The fires actually look beautiful. The action looks great. There are good stunts. There are great actors around. The action scenes are incredible. However there is a little too much unnecessary family melodrama. Then there is the criminal arson case and political intrigue. This is a case of less is more. It doesn't need all the complications. Kurt Russell is great but William Baldwin slinks around without much charisma. De Niro is doing his thing. Generally this is an over-written movie with some great fire action. The crime investigation is fine but it feels like an extension of the firefighting movie. This movie is just overloaded.

The Special Effects in this film are really well done. I found the remainder of the story to be pretty poor. I wasn't enamored of any of the actors performances. The writing is mediocre at best. Ron Howard's direction isn't up to his usual standards, which are high. I'd heard so much hype about this film that I hit the Play button with the greatest of expectations. I was severely let down by the whole thing. I kept thinking "any minute now, this thing's going to take off", but it never did. There is a fair bit of tension and suspense, but none of the characters made you even want to drink a beer with them (and I'll drink a beer with dang near anybody). All in all, a disappointing, over-hyped yawner.