Backdraft (1991)
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)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Ron Howard
Written By: Gregory Widen
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro, Clint Howard, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, J.T. Walsh, Rebecca De Mornay, Jack McGee, Irma P. Hall
Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Action, Adventure
Franchise: Backdraft
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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Backdraft belongs to 15 collections
1. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (collaborative: moderated by Gregzilla - 40 stars)
2. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
3. #1 at the US Box Office (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub - 10 stars)
4. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)
5. fire truck (collaborative: moderated by livelove - 2 stars)
6. Netflix Watch Instantly (public: dgeiser13 - 2 stars)
7. Hans Zimmer (composer) (collaborative: moderated by nauru - 1 star)
8. Netflix Sverige (collaborative: moderated by Jakobostgren - 1 star)
9. Firefighters (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 1 star)
10. Pendientes (public: juglar103)
11. 1991: Year in Review (public: polanski28)
12. My Movie Collection (public: elhenzo)
13. My Movie Collection (public: cyrax_36)
14. My ratings (public: tpbradbury)
15. Blu-ray Collection (public: TripEuphoric)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 3 |  |
BillyShears | 50 21st |
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The schmaltz, it buuuurrrrns
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| 2 |  |
Timon88 | 19 7th |
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The noble profession of firefighting deserves WAY better than this shlock. Even worse than the writing and directing is the bathetic score--whoever is responsible for it ought to be shot. Its "uplifting" droning rendered a run-of-the-mill, heartstring-tugging funeral scene utterly nauseating, and made the last 15 minutes of the flick totally unwatchable.
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| 2 |  |
nauru | 43 38th |
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There are some nice fire effects, but the whole thing is just too over-the-top, too Hollywood for my liking. From the beginning of the film it is entirely predictable who will live and who will die, who is crooked and who is honest. The film tries to be an arson mystery -- which could be a really interesting idea -- but the script is so watered down and Hollywood-predictable that any original elements lose most of their intended effects. Decently entertaining, but not much more than that.
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| 2 |  |
hellboy76 | 66 51st |
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Had this been played straight as opposed to so far over the top melodrama and sensationalism it would have been much better. The fire effects are stunning, but the whole thing feels like a music video at times.
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| 2 |  |
The Pirate | 70 31st |
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These guys fight overly aggressive fires just like the movie fights an overly melodramatic plot.
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| 1 | svicciarelli | 89 73rd |
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Good drama and special effects. Well made.
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| 1 |  |
ozymandius10 | 48 16th |
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Insanely over dramatic. All the quality actors you would expect good performances from (they aren't many, but they're there) live up to it, and all the bad ones are just as bad as you'd expect as well. The firefighting scenes are pretty cool, and it is occasionally pretty tense. Unfortunately most of the other scenes (the stuff with Rebecca De Mornay specifically) are just really hollow. It's an ok movie to watch if you have a little over 2 hours to kill, but nothing special at all.
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| 1 | rdwn29905 | 38 25th |
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unless you're a firefighter, this is a terrible film
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| 1 | ThaneOfFife | 90 76th |
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Very good
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| 1 | sammage | 50 2nd |
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I saw it, sat through it all, then couldn't remember a single thing that had just happened. Utterly forgettable.
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| 1 |  |
MJVmovieMan | 81 81st |
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A great mystery-thriller mixed with impressive firefighting scenes.
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| 1 |  |
martryn | 64 37th |
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It's just boring and seems to drag on, and then they ramp the drama up to 11 and throw in some family bullshit. Yawn. It's not terrible by any means, but you'll watch it, roll your eyes, decide to get up to raid the pantry and consider pausing it so you don't miss anything, but then decide... naw. It'll be a quick trip. You might sometimes check your phone. Scott Glenn... how do I know him? Oh, that's where. It's that sort of movie.
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| 1 |  |
Freder | 15 17th |
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Eh. It's not bad. I just didn't give a damn for it.
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| 1 | st_fly | 75 75th |
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good
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| 1 |  |
NathanDarko | 92 87th |
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Excellent work by Howard with an awesome cast. up ahead robert de niro. A great action flick with some very nice fire and special effects, in a time cgi crap wasn't the only solution for movie makers. thank's god for this.
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| 1 |  |
Squarehead | 25 13th |
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This is a classic Ron Howard film...Hollywood bollocks. And how does an actor of DeNiro's calibre end up in a heap of crap like this? Last time I searched for "horseshit" on imdb this was at the top of the list. Honest, try it for yourself.
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| 1 |  |
glumpy_99 | 39 5th |
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Overblown (sorry) melodrama could have been interesting if developed as a more lean and low-key B-movie about two brothers on opposing sides of an arson investigation. Fundamental problem is Howard's typically workmanlike direction, which pads out an overstuffed script featuring every hokey cliché in the book (with the funeral sequence epilogue a howler of bad melodrama). A fine cast is left to founder, with only peak De Niro, and a nice batshit appearance from Sutherland, bringing any heat.
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| 1 |  |
Paxton | 71 68th |
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You had your chance and you blew it!
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| 1 |  |
Mist600 | 39 7th |
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Cheesier & drippier than a fondue! Includes a laugh outloud unintentionally funny montage (shot like a Diet Coke commercial) & VERY invasive ("Feel this now!") score. Conspiracy/Thriller Plot & ideas fine. Scott Glenn, DeNiro & Kurt R all OK to Good. The Lesser Baldwin lead & De Mornay are at times totally cringe-worthy. Sutherland is wonderfully creepy. This movie is NOT subtle & could be edited by 20m+ easy to make a far superior film than this version.
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| Average Percentile 41.62% from 2285 Ratings |  |