Part of Dastardly Difficult December: film nr.57

I've never been a fan of Ron Howard, simply because as a director he doesn't have anything to be a fan of. He directs like his alter ego from Happy Days, safe, pedestrian and reliable. As a result all his films are decent, with an occasional good one.

Backdraft falls in the decent category. Where it excels in its visuals and set pieces it completely falls short in its shallow and predictable script. The cast is great, apart from one of the 'I really can't act' Baldwins and their characters agreeable stereotypes. It has some great action sequences and the heat of the fires is almost tangible as it is all shot beautifully.

This is a solid film by Howard and for me one of his more enjoyable ones, even though it follows the rules just a bit too neatly.

My favorite part is when Jack Backdraft is in the building and he goes "Not so fast, fire!" and puts it out with water.

A stellar cast act out nonsense for 131 minutes.

But flame has not looked better since the caveman, and there is a shag on a fire engine roof!

HOT.

Alright, but very predictable. De Niro is good in the few scenes he's in, Sutherland was really great in his role.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

I loved this movie at the time it came out. William Baldwin made fire so sexy and as always, Kurt Russell is the emperor of awesome.

A decent film by Acadmey Award winning director Ron Howard and starring the ever faithful stars Kurt Russell and Robert Patrick.

This tells the story of ordinary American fire-fighters and the drama, emotion and coruption they face on and off duty in the face of danger.

Filled with horrific fire sequences that rack up as the best shot on film, it does drag on a little but is a good enough thriller to kepe you guessing, and wincing, towards the end.

It's not a very good movie but it entertainments. It is an All-Star cast with some really good performances by Kurt Russell, Donald Sutherland, Robert DeNiro and Scott Glenn.

Alright, but very predictable. De Niro is good in the few scenes he's in, Sutherland was really great in his role.

Some awesome special effects and an interesting plot line with Baldwin and Russell excellent as feuding brothers. Howard is deft in one of his first movies as director and serves up an awesome tribute to firefighters before it became the vogue after 9/11. Glenn is, as always, the solid background character needed to carry the plot along.

I like good detective stories. I like good detective stories when they involve fire detectives.

"A good Ron Howard film."