Backdraft has some of the raw filmmaking excitement that has been missing from Howard's recent work.
Backdraft (1991)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:7
Fresh:3
Rotten:4
Average Rating:4.4/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: Two feuding brothers carry on a heroic family tradition in the Chicago Fire Department. Before the smoke clears, love affairs are rekindled and lives are shattered as the brothers fight to resolve... Two feuding brothers carry on a heroic family tradition in the Chicago Fire Department. Before the smoke clears, love affairs are rekindled and lives are shattered as the brothers fight to resolve their differences and solve a puzzling series of arson attacks, each ignited by explosive phenomena known as backdrafts. [More]
Starring: Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Starring: Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Donald Sutherland, Rebecca De Mornay, Robert De Niro
Director: Ron Howard
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: Gregory Widen
Composer: Hans Zimmer
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Reviews for Backdraft
Visually, pic often is exhilarating, but it's shapeless and dragged down by corny, melodramatic characters and situations.
Visually speaking, the film does pretty well with fire-as-spectacle, less well with everything else (Howard tends to trot out fuzzy-toned Spielbergian backlighting on any pretext).
The spectacular fire sequences, which must have been hellish to film, are powerfully enveloping on screen, thanks especially to the eerie effect of the title.
Director Howard is so mesmerized by the flames, he squirts formulaic lighter fluid over everything.
Backdraft is sure to do for fire what The Poseidon Adventure did for water.
[The scenes involving fire] are so good they make me recommend the movie anyway, despite its brain-damaged screenplay.
Latest News for Backdraft
May 08, 2006:
Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, and Cast Discuss "Poseidon" Adventure
Josh Lucas knows that actors have it easier than other people. But the making of "Poseidon" was an incredibly difficult undertaking, he said. "I never compare... More...
June 06, 2005:
Dreyfuss, Russell & Rossum Climb Aboard the "Poseidon"
Richard Dreyfuss ("Jaws"), Kurt Russell ("Backdraft"), and Emmy Rossum ("The Phantom of the Opera") are the first high-profile cast members to... More...
May 25, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: "Sky High"
Yahoo! Movies brings us our very first look at "Sky High," which is Disney's cross between family comedy and superhero adventure flick. Kurt Russell... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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