06-05-2017, 01:55
Backdraft (1991)
Kurt Russell and William Baldwin are the estranged brothers who become firefighters in the same Chicago company to honour their late dad's memory. They must learn to put aside their differences in order to stop a dangerous arsonist and bring down a corrupt city politician. The story's a little thin if I'm honest with many of the characters forgettable. Fortunately, the action sequences are anything but forgettable - it becomes clear very early why the film reaped a total $152.4 million at the box office worldwide. The fire and smoke effects are excellent, if a little unrealistic, but from an action movie this is obviously what you'd expect. From a technical point of view the film delivers and is easily deserving of it's Academy Award nominations for sound, editing and visual effects. It became the highest earning movie about firefighters and even spurned a theme park attraction at Universal Studios. Despite some shortcomings, this action movie remains good fun and boasts a great soundtrack from Bruce Hornsby and Hans Zimmer. Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, JT Walsh and Scott Glenn complete an impressive cast. 3/5
Kurt Russell and William Baldwin are the estranged brothers who become firefighters in the same Chicago company to honour their late dad's memory. They must learn to put aside their differences in order to stop a dangerous arsonist and bring down a corrupt city politician. The story's a little thin if I'm honest with many of the characters forgettable. Fortunately, the action sequences are anything but forgettable - it becomes clear very early why the film reaped a total $152.4 million at the box office worldwide. The fire and smoke effects are excellent, if a little unrealistic, but from an action movie this is obviously what you'd expect. From a technical point of view the film delivers and is easily deserving of it's Academy Award nominations for sound, editing and visual effects. It became the highest earning movie about firefighters and even spurned a theme park attraction at Universal Studios. Despite some shortcomings, this action movie remains good fun and boasts a great soundtrack from Bruce Hornsby and Hans Zimmer. Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, JT Walsh and Scott Glenn complete an impressive cast. 3/5