Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

adonis98-743-186503 Two Chicago firefighter brothers, who don't get along, have to work together while a dangerous arsonist is on the loose. The biggest problem with Backdraft i think it's easily the fact that it's more of an action movie instead of a drama about firefighters and in general it's plot it's kinda messy but the overall perfomances from the amazing and talented cast are great, Ron Howard's direction of course well done and Hans Zimmer Score just amazing and the special effects for their time scary realistic. Overall a decent 90's film. (7/10)

generationofswine It is nice to see an action movie that is about civil service and not about the police isn't it? Kind of refreshing. Cop, cop, cop, cop, cop, cop, cop, firemen.I might be bias, my brother-in-law is a firefighter...but I never really liked him, and I loved this movie long before I met him.There are a lot of people here criticizing it because "the fire is the real star." All I have to say is that they are right, just like the action is the real star in a lot of movies. I mean, wasn't the car the real star in "Bullet?" The car is sort of the star in "Supernatural" too, isn't it...and besides, how many movies have you seen that star fire and well, it's so cool in a pyromania action adventure sort of way.They also say it is full of clichés and, well, they are right on that count too. BUT, well, a lot of other action movies are wall-to-wall clichés and have cops and guns and are loved. This is the same thing only with fire, and should be loved for the same reasons.At least clichés with fire is far more original than clichés with guns in the action movie trope.The acting isn't as melodramatic as people say. There are one or two scenes where, yeah, everyone has to admit that they are over-the-top, but on the whole we still see a lot of naturalistic acting.What you have here is just a fun movie...but it is a fun movie written by Gregory Widen and he really is a great screen writer with some truly original and fun ideas. You see his name attached as a writer and you know you're in for a fun time. It's just a shame the people that wrote the sequels to his films ruined his career.

SnoopyStyle The movie starts in Chicago 1971 when Brian McCaffrey witnesses his fire fighter father's death on the job. 20 years later, Brian (William Baldwin) returns home to be a probie working under his brother Stephen (Kurt Russell). The brothers don't get along. Stephen has moved out on his wife Helen (Rebecca De Mornay). Jennifer Vaitkus (Jennifer Jason Leigh) knows Brian from the past and is now working for ambitious alderman Swayzak (J.T. Walsh). There's an arsonist loose in the city and arson investigator Rimgale (Robert De Niro) is on the case. On his first fire, Brian rescues a mannequin but is mistaken with a heroic rescue. Stephen is knocking heads with Swayzak over cutbacks. Swayzak offers Brian a job to work with Rimgale.Director Ron Howard is showing that he has technical skills. The fires actually look beautiful. The action looks great. There are good stunts. There are great actors around. The action scenes are incredible. However there is a little too much unnecessary family melodrama. Then there is the criminal arson case and political intrigue. This is a case of less is more. It doesn't need all the complications. Kurt Russell is great but William Baldwin slinks around without much charisma. De Niro is doing his thing. Generally this is an over-written movie with some great fire action. The crime investigation is fine but it feels like an extension of the firefighting movie. This movie is just overloaded.

FlashCallahan As a child, Brian McCafferty watched his fire-fighter father die.He joins his brother, Steven in the force by becoming a fire-fighter. There is a history of conflict between the two that is heated up by working together.A series of suspicious fires are set, each made to kill a specific person. After becoming unnerved during a fire, Brian pulls strings to get into an investigative office.But he is now not putting out the arsonist's fires, but trying to track him down.....It's the cinematic equivalent of Baywatch, fire fighting is sexy and cool, but makes the person a little edgier, because it's dangerous.And at the end of the day, every goes to a bar, and gets drunk and acts really happy. Because they are. They have beautiful homes, beautiful families and life is just peachy.Or so Ron Howard would have you believe.It's the type of film where the lead character has a boat, and you will find him there drinking beer.It's the kind of film that guest stars Robert De Niro, because he's prolific, but on the wain slightly.Add a silly sub plot involving arson, and you get a decidedly average movie.At least the flames look good, and Russell is on fire (ha ha), as usual.