Backdraft poster & wallpaper

Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kurt Russell

Two Chicago firefighter brothers who don't get along have to work together while a dangerous arsonist is on the loose.

Flixster Users

73% liked it

186,777 ratings

R, 135 min.

Directed by: Ron Howard

Release Date: May 24, 1991

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: November 1, 1998

Get It:

Stats: 4,075 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

Backdraft Backdraft Backdraft Backdraft Backdraft Rebecca De Mornay as Helen McCaffrey in Backdraft (1991) Backdraft Backdraft Backdraft Backdraft
Upload a Photo |

View All Backdraft Photos (10)

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (4,075)

  • SirPant
    September 24, 2009
    SirPant
    Burnt hair!
  • FangsFirst
    October 17, 2008
    FangsFirst
    One of those films I simply never saw, but it seemed like everyone around me had seen. I can't recall if I learned this little "fact" after its theatrical run from classmates discussing it (thus rendering it "assumed," which means "required," viewing) or during its actual theatri...( read more)cal run. I remember feeling like I had missed out, and I have no idea why that happened now--whether it slipped by and my family just didn't care and I came to it after it was too late, or whether someone in my family saw it without me and no one liked it enough for me to see it, or who knows what. I wasn't forbidden R-rated movies, and only suffered personally from horror and the like back then. I did have a pretty mortal fear of fire after a sort of assembly about firefighters and fire safety, convinced I needed to then plan an escape route to meet with my family in the case of it and so on (which I never got around to, as I recall). I'm still struck paranoid occasionally, especially with neighbors whose absent-mindedness I'm not familiar enough with to vouch for.

    Dennis McCaffrey (Kurt Russell) is a star firefighter in 1971 Chicago, his young sons arguing over the correct method of use in firefighting equipment when an alarm sends their father out on the job, a last-minute decision having him bring youngest son Brian with him. A wrong move ends Dennis' life and leaves Brian sobbing over his charred helmet in the street below the burning building. Twenty years later, Brian (William Baldwin) is a graduated official firefighter, having drifted from business to business prior, with fellow probie ("probational firefighter," the abbreviation being explained here but being familiar to me from Rescue Me) Tim (Jason Gedrick). Brian has bribed his way onto Engine 15, but a nearby fire during their graduation celebration leads the exuberant Tim to drag Brian to it--where they find that Stephen "Bull" McCaffrey (Russell, pulling double duty, managaing to surprise me twice by dying early and then re-appearing, but mostly because I couldn't believe they'd use Kurt for both father AND son, though I suspected this from his lead billing) from Engine 17, who chides Brian and informs him his bribe was "cheap"--Brian is on Stephen's Engine. After Brian witnesses the difference in drive between himself and his brother in a fire, he pulls back from it and takes an offer from old friend Jennifer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to work under fire investigator Donald "Shadow" Rimgale (Robert De Niro), at the behest of prospective mayor Swayzak (J.T. Walsh--and if you know that name and almost doubtless know that face, you can take a wild guess where his moral allegiance lies in this movie). Rimgale is investigating a series of fires that seem to resemble arson, focused on the phenomenon known as backdraft, where the actual burning, flame portion of a fire loses oxygen but remains dangerous until oxygen is re-introduced--this re-introduction consistently caused by the opening of doors at the hands of intended targets.

    The major criticisms levelled at this film (and a decent bit of Ron Howard's directorial work) are similar to those levelled at Spielberg by the new anti-majority film mentality, the anti-sentimentalist sorts. Essentially, the film is de-cried as inaccurate (lacking in factors which would make character identification difficult like impenetrable smoke and face protection on firefighters) and unrealistic, and as overly sentimental. I've never been a fan of this approach--the hatred of that style, I mean, not the style. I've mentioned it in previous reviews, and I'm just going to have to mention it again. It does get a bit thick with Hans Zimmer's relatively sappy score, and with the inclusion of a montage set to Bruce Hornsby (I like Bruce, but I know he's going to cause diabetes and/or nausea in some people), I can at least see the point this time. Howard's not quite as skillful at blending the sentiment into his films as Spielberg, but he's no hack either, and puts together extremely entertaining films that catch you up in them enough that those things are less noticeable, and they're certainly not as pronounced as they are in the works of people with zero interest in actual emotion like Michael Bay.

    A few people are in the cast that I didn't work into my synopsis above that are reason for me to take interest in this film (having set my interest in it aside after all these years because my lack of opposition to this type of film does not mean that I then seek them out)--other than Baldwin*, Russell and De Nro, of course--are Donald Sutherland (as firebug Ronald Bartel), Jack McGee (as Schmidt, one of the men on Engine 17), and Scott Glenn (as John "Ax" Adcox, one of the faces maintained from both the '71 crew and the "modern" one). I'm a well-known sucker for either Sutherland, and tend to think Donald has greater acting chops than his son. His part here is second only to De Niro's. De Niro is the glue of realism the film needs, managing to impress me not as "Ooh, look how deep in he is!" but just accepting him as the character. He slides more easily into this role and is less obviously himself than usual--and turns out what I think is strangely one of his best performances, as a cynic who insists on an idealistic motivation and occupation all the same. But Sutherland, oh, Sutherland, he's brilliant as a firebug, talking of his love for "the animal" with a quiet awe, smiling on the inside to himself for what he knows that no one else does, pursuing the interest in other people that he only has when fire was involved, cheerfully lost in his own bizarre world built around fire. When he asks Brian if the fire looked at him and Brian freezes, for we know it has, his realization of that truth and his following wide-eyed awe and comradeship is fantastic. McGee is just always nice to see, a former New York City fireman who has been doing bit parts for a couple decades now, with a continuing role on, well, Rescue Me. And Scott Glenn just has a fantastically stoic, deeply lined face like Lance Henriksen, with a similarly distinct (but not quite as good--sorry, Scott) voice.

    So is it less real than the fires depicted in Rescue Me (which are apparently pretty accurate, though of course I thankfully wouldn't know)? Yeah. Is it a little tame compared to their firehouse talk? Sure. Is it a little more worshipful? Yes. But so what? That's what it wants to be--it wants to show the importance and the danger, and portraying it realistically would have been confusing and disorienting (like real fires) and not helpful to that image. It's a good big chunk of great, exciting entertainment--that's what it wants to be and it succeeds perfectly.

    *Any of them but Stephen. He has a few roles I'm okay with, but he's the one I am not going to say, "Ooh! A Baldwin!" to, unless it's followed by, "Oh...Stephen. Nevermind."
  • irisheyes686
    June 17, 2008
    irisheyes686
    AWESOME movie! That's pretty much all there is to say. This is a must-see.
  • Chiefilms
    March 2, 2008
    Chiefilms
    Good casting, no real plot besides someone is setting buildings on fire, who did a bad job.
  • darmstrong3
    February 9, 2008
    darmstrong3
    Great movie, fire scenes were amazing, story was great.
  • Yelverton
    November 11, 2009
    Yelverton
    You'll never look at a campfire the same again.
  • chomz
    October 27, 2009
    chomz
    yet another heart-breaker movie.. unexpectable and break my heart in the end .. i wish there would be another ending... lol
  • karenpackace
    October 22, 2009
    karenpackace
    This was a good movie all around.
  • cherylxx01
    September 9, 2009
    cherylxx01
    A good action movie where firefighters go in search of an arsonist. Shows what an everyday firefighter could go through in order to protect us.
  • smurfette2323
    September 1, 2009
    smurfette2323
    Very good Human story!

View All Backdraft Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

Comments

  • MrsJackHarkenss
    June 4, 2007
    MrsJackHarkenss
    This movie really paints a picture of what my mom, dad, cousins, and uncles go through almost on a day to day basis.
  • pickupman7
    May 7, 2007
    pickupman7
    One of the best movies I've seen about firefighters, comes close to the real thing as far as look, doesn't quite capture the feel of it though.
  • norwood35
    July 6, 2006
    norwood35
    This movie is the best!!!
Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Official Trailer

View Larger Backdraft Trailer

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Gladiator
    Gladiator (46%)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    Buffy the Vampire Slayer (57%)
  • World Trade Center
    World Trade Center (70%)
  • Saw III
    Saw III (50%)

More Movies like Backdraft

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Backdraft : Watch Free on TV

Backdraft Trivia

  • In Backdraft, who is Kurt Russels character?  Answer »
  • Tag line : One breath of oxygen and it explodes in a deadly rage. Name what movie this is from.  Answer »
  • Many extras in the film Backdraft are actual Chicago Firefighters ?  Answer »
  • Which movie has Kiefer Sutherland not starred in?   Answer »
More Backdraft Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Backdraft Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Backdraft to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

shrkntz Skin by shrkntz
131 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins