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Critics Consensus: It's not particularly deep, but Backdraft is a strong action movie with exceptional special effects.
Critic Consensus: It's not particularly deep, but Backdraft is a strong action movie with exceptional special effects.
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (12) | DVD (1)
Backdraft truly shows us fire the way we've never seen it before.
"Backdraft" is a spectacle worth observing; it may also generate a little more respect for firemen, everyday heroes who don`t need the movies to polish their image.
Backdraft has some of the raw filmmaking excitement that has been missing from Howard's recent work.
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 fire sequences are stunning, and the build-up to them, complete with blaring sirens and bellowed conversations, has an aggressive immediacy.
The story line is not always discernible, but the special effects are spectacular throughout.
...a top-notch thriller trapped within a poorly-paced and needlessly bloated piece of work...
Ron Howard's film is one of smoke-eaters, crispers, and torches... and it bestows a renewed respect on a profession all too often taken for granted.
Absolutely fantastic setpieces strung along an absolutely dimwitted script.
Manipulative? Yes. But damn, citywide funerals, a cranked score, and some Baldwin blue steel redemption poses clears away any irksome storytelling dissatisfaction.
Ron Howard popcorn-muncher is sappy, not smokin'.
Good film. Good story. Almost good acting (I'm looking at you, Kurt Russell.)
Super Reviewer
Lt. Steven McCaffrey: Look at him... That's my brother god damnit. "Silently behind a door, it waits." Backdraft was a pretty big disappointment for me. The fire scenes were pretty cool, but they weren't enough to make up for everything that was wrong with the film. A great cast is wasted on terrible dialogue and by the numbers filmmaking from Ron Howard. Everything about the firefighters and the story is cliche and everything that occurs is predictable. Nothing in the film is at all original, and we pretty much end up watching the same movie we have seen countless times, except this time it is about firefighters. I have trouble grasping how this movie doesn't work. I love the subject, I love the cast, and I even like Ron Howard. Sure he always goes for sentimentality, which is on full display here, but he also has a way of making entertaining and exciting movies. The problem with Backdraft is that it is only exciting when we are in a burning building. Outside of that, it is dull and too unoriginal. The brothers relationship has been done so many times, and Backdraft adds nothing new to the formula. Two brothers who don't get along, but work together, get over there differences through their job and a tragedy. This story had potential. Two firefighter brothers are working together while an arsonist is running wild in Chicago. If the movie wasn't so dumb it could work, but every time Howard had the chance to take the story somewhere new, he instead chose to keep it in familiar territory. The result is a lackluster film, be it with some cool effects, that doesn't give any insight into firefighters, brothers, or human beings at all. When I want to get my firefighter kicks, I'll stick with rewatching episodes of Rescue Me.
This firefighter adventure about two brothers and their unit, fighting their personal struggles and what turns out to be a murder series offers some excellent pyro action in pretty impressive scenes. Excellent actors like DeNiro and Sutherland also manage to make the investigation parts fun, even if the solution to the case is a bit silly. It's built into such an impressively fiery showdown that you easily forget about that, though. Here, director Ron Howard is in his true element, stylizing the fire as a living, breathing villain. Those scenes make this a pretty impressive adventure with some minor flaws in the more every day sequences. Of course the American firefighters are depicted as the heroes of our time with the help of a bombastic Hans Zimmer soundtrack, slow motion and all that jazz.
Backdraft is a near flawless action drama film. A terrific film directed by Ron Howard, Backdraft is THE firefighter film to watch. Fuck Ladder 49, this is the film to watch. The film boast equal amounts of drama and action to create a memorable film, and with a terrific cast to support this film, it truly makes Backdraft a remarkable film from Ron Howard. The special effects are amazing and The fire in this film is the real deal, it's no CGI. and it adds an atmosphere of reality to the film. The fire itself can be considered a character. Backdraft is a brilliantly directed and told film, and for me it's one of Ron Howards best films. Kurt Russell and William Baldwin play the rival McCaffrey brothers. They constantly butt heads in the film. Backdraft comprises a terrific cast including Donald Sutherland in a brief but a very memorable role as Pyromaniac Ronald Bartel. Sutherland's performance is chilling, and for the brief minutes he's on screen, he truly steals the show from bigger actors such as Robert DeNiro. The film steadily builds it's suspense as a deadly arsonist targets city officials. Ron Howard never gives into the mystery, and he effectively builds the story to an explosive action packed climax. Of all the films that Ron Howard has made, this is one of my favorite films and like I've said, this is also one of his best. The cast deliver something powerful on screen and the story is action packed with lots of drama, which adds a lot more to the initial storyline. The film doesn't suffer from overbearing cliches such as Ladder 49 tried to do. Instead Backdraft shows you exactly what it must be like to step into the shoes of a fireman. Firemen themselves have said that this is a pretty good portrait at what they do, despite of course for the fact that the film is fictional. Backdraft doesn't dwell on sentimental cliches to try to coax an audience in spilling buckets of tears when someone dies on screen. Backdraft does have drama, but it doesn't overdue it, and with a good mix of action, Backdraft is more than just a film that you should watch. This is a monumental film that delivers something great on screen. No bad cliches, just terrific action and drama mixed with great acting make this a definite must see film.
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