Two Chicago firefighter brothers who don't get along have to work together while a dangerous arsonist is on the loose.
15 August 1939, UK
3 June 1935, Beaumont, Texas, USA
16 January 1926, Pennsylvania, USA
29 August 1959, Santa Rosa, California, USA
17 August 1943, New York City, New York, USA
17 July 1935, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
27 September 1960, Columbus, Ohio, USA
20 April 1959, Burbank, California, USA
18 February 1944, Laurel, Mississippi, USA
November 21, 2016
...a top-notch thriller trapped within a poorly-paced and needlessly bloated piece of work...
February 05, 2008
Visually speaking, the film does pretty well with fire-as-spectacle, less well with everything else (Howard tends to trot out fuzzy-toned Spielbergian backlighting on any pretext).
January 26, 2006
The fire sequences are stunning, and the build-up to them, complete with blaring sirens and bellowed conversations, has an aggressive immediacy.
February 05, 2008
Backdraft has some of the raw filmmaking excitement that has been missing from Howard's recent work.
May 20, 2003
The spectacular fire sequences, which must have been hellish to film, are powerfully enveloping on screen, thanks especially to the eerie effect of the title.
September 23, 2010
Ron Howard popcorn-muncher is sappy, not smokin'.
January 16, 2009
Backdraft may not be a very good movie, but it sure is great entertainment.
July 26, 2014
Absolutely fantastic setpieces strung along an absolutely dimwitted script.
September 10, 2015
Ron Howard's film is one of smoke-eaters, crispers, and torches... and it bestows a renewed respect on a profession all too often taken for granted.
February 05, 2008
Visually, pic often is exhilarating, but it's shapeless and dragged down by corny, melodramatic characters and situations.
January 01, 2000
Backdraft is sure to do for fire what The Poseidon Adventure did for water.
