The first time I saw the DVD of Backdraft available at the local entertainment store, I was not at all interested in watching it because of my naive mind-set that "firefighters are boring". But then I found out that Jennifer Jason Leigh (one of my all-time favorite actresses) starred in the movie, so I decided to buy the DVD and give the film a chance.
After seeing the movie, I was mildly impressed by its spectacular fire special effects. I had never seen a film that focuses on fire as much as this one. The strong focus on fire kept me interested throughout the movie, as I had never known that firefighters had to put up with so much fire problems in their daily lives.
The movie has a great all-star cast, ranging from Kurt Russell to Donald Sutherland to Jennifer Jason Leigh. All these familiar Hollywood faces will surely appeal to movie lovers and keep them interested until the end of the movie.
I loved seeing Jennifer Jason Leigh's post-Fast Times at Ridgemont High acting skills. Her character in Backdraft was beautiful and fascinating, and her relationship with William Baldwin's character was clearly shown.
This brings me to the problems I had with this movie. First of all, Jennifer's character never interacts with any character except William Baldwin's character. This really got on my nerves because I wanted to see her be a main character in this movie. She had so much potential to be a strong character in the film.
Another problem is the movie's long running time. In my opinion, the film did not need to be 2 hours longs. There were some scenes that could have been deleted to keep the film moving better at its fast pace. After all, this film IS classified as a thriller, and thrillers should never be too long because you would get too tired to follow the plot twists & turns.
Overall, Backdraft is an above-average thriller that gives some focus on the issue of firefighting and the problems they have to face in their lives battling fires. But to tell the truth, the movie is not for everyone. It will mostly likely appeal only to real-life firefighters and fans of the all-star cast.
I give this film a 6/10.
After seeing the movie, I was mildly impressed by its spectacular fire special effects. I had never seen a film that focuses on fire as much as this one. The strong focus on fire kept me interested throughout the movie, as I had never known that firefighters had to put up with so much fire problems in their daily lives.
The movie has a great all-star cast, ranging from Kurt Russell to Donald Sutherland to Jennifer Jason Leigh. All these familiar Hollywood faces will surely appeal to movie lovers and keep them interested until the end of the movie.
I loved seeing Jennifer Jason Leigh's post-Fast Times at Ridgemont High acting skills. Her character in Backdraft was beautiful and fascinating, and her relationship with William Baldwin's character was clearly shown.
This brings me to the problems I had with this movie. First of all, Jennifer's character never interacts with any character except William Baldwin's character. This really got on my nerves because I wanted to see her be a main character in this movie. She had so much potential to be a strong character in the film.
Another problem is the movie's long running time. In my opinion, the film did not need to be 2 hours longs. There were some scenes that could have been deleted to keep the film moving better at its fast pace. After all, this film IS classified as a thriller, and thrillers should never be too long because you would get too tired to follow the plot twists & turns.
Overall, Backdraft is an above-average thriller that gives some focus on the issue of firefighting and the problems they have to face in their lives battling fires. But to tell the truth, the movie is not for everyone. It will mostly likely appeal only to real-life firefighters and fans of the all-star cast.
I give this film a 6/10.