On B List of Movie Reviews

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Backdraft (1991)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 5/12

5/12: I remember seeing Backdraft during the early 90's and not liking it much.

After trying again, my sentiment remains unchanged. Despite the star-studded cast which includes Kurt Russell, Robert De Niro, William Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, it's been mediocre. Only Kurt Russell shines.

A lot of critics panned William Baldwin's performance, but he's as good as everybody besides Kurt Russell. The chief reason why the movie doesn't work is the ludicrous plot. Worse is the unrealistic firefighting scenes. Backdrafts don't occur that often in real life.

The idea of firefighters saving babies and kids every time a fire breaks out is overboard. They also keep putting themselves in harm's way only because it looks cool. Impossible. In real life, they'll be mostly outside, spraying water on the building to extinguish the fire. Back to the plot, why does the alderman assist the fire inspector in his search for the cause of the victim's death? It's like he wanted to be caught on purpose which makes no sense.

All in all, Backdraft is probably the best film made about firefighters, but it isn't even good.

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