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Backdraft
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 12 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Drama | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: Gregory Widen
Directed by: Ron Howard
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 24, 1991
DVD: December 9, 1997
Running Time: 132 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R
Starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, Rebecca De Mornay, and J.T. Walsh
Stephen McCaffrey (Russell) and his younger brother Brian (Baldwin) are two feuding siblings carrying on an heroic family tradition in the Chicago fire department. Stephen is so relentless that he drives Brian out of firefighting and into arson investigation. Brian becomes involved in a puzzling series of arson attacks, each ignited by explosive phenomena known as backdrafts. Before the smoke clears, love affairs are rekindled and lives are shattered as the McCaffrey brothers fight to resolve their differences and solve the mystery. (Universal)
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What I regret is that all of the expertise lavished on this movie couldn't have been put at the service of a more intelligent story about real firemen, real working conditions, real heroism, and the real craft and art of fire-fighting.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Fire, as this movie makes clear, is nothing if not photogenic, and Howard has done a beautiful job of conjuring both its danger and its deceptive, primal beauty.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
Not only do the firefighting scenes evoke a feeling of gritty authenticity, but the fire itself really does seem to be alive.
Read Full Review >Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Visually, [the film] often is exhilarating, but it's shapeless and dragged down by corny, melodramatic characters and situations.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
It's sad to see two talented actresses, Rebecca de Mornay and Jennifer Jason Leigh, wasted in puppet parts. [17 June 1991, p.28]
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
While Mr. Howard ably maintains a strong forward momentum, Backdraft often feels directionless beneath its overlay of frantic activity. One clear story line would have been worth more than a series of subplots and tangents.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kathleen Maher
Absolutely marvelous special effects are the salvation and the curse of this movie.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Howard, as usual, seems bent on mixing genres to make several movies at once--monster movie, crime movie, coming-of-age movie, and action-adventure movie (among others)--yielding an overall narrative that's not boring but not especially suspenseful or focused either.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Michael Sragow
Gregory Widen's script is like a Mad parody played straight, full of "Scenes We Wouldn't Like to See."
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Director Howard is so mesmerized by the flames, he squirts formulaic lighter fluid over everything. A conflagration of hyped-up movie cliches, courtesy of George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic special effects shop, scalds your face.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The flames sure look real, but everything else in Backdraft, director Ron Howard's inflatable ode to firefighters, seems about as genuine as a plastic log in an electric hearth. Howard's particular type of schmaltz works well enough in small dabs on comic canvases (Splash, Cocoon, even Parenthood), but pumped up to heroic proportions, the sentimentality is just plain silly - in this case, cheap melodrama on a two-hour jag.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
A noisy, impenetrable and totally nonsensical cogitation on the nature of firefighters and the sizzling "animal" they love...We just wish somebody would call 911 for boredom.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Pam L. gave it an8:
Saw this movie on VHS as a rental and liked it enough to buy it. I found it to be an interesting tale about brothers, teamwork, risk-taking, and trust.
Bob gave it a9:
memorable realistic action and great actors.
