Backdraft (DVD)

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The bravery of firefighters is a fact of life that should go unquestioned. Men and women who put their lives on the line by combating burning blazes. It's easy to take them for granted, but our post-9/11 environment has really put the spotlight on the firemen, police officers, military, and rescue workers of the world. "Backdraft" celebrates the lives of those firefighters through an effects-laden Hollywood blockbuster.

Kurt Russell and William Baldwin lead the charge as Stephen and Brian McCaffrey, a pair of brothers who haven't gotten along in years. Both McCraffreys live in the shadow of their father, Dennis (also played by Russell), a legendary firefighter who was killed in action. Stephen exuberantly follows in his father's footsteps and has earned a reputation for throwing caution to the wind. It's easy to see how his headstrong behavior brought him the nickname, "Bull", which is proudly written on the back of his jacket. Unfortunately, Stephen's willingness to dive right into the inferno has estranged him from his wife, Helen (Rebecca De Mornay), and son, Sean (Beep Iams), who constantly worry he might not come home one day.

Brian has it harder now that he has the reputations of both his father and brother to live up to. Brian had already dropped out of the academy and bounced around from job to job, trying to find purpose for his life. He finally decides the fire station is where he's supposed to belong. Returning home, Brian finishes what he started and earns a spot with Fire House 17, right alongside Stephen, who's just waiting for little brother to drop the ball. Brian also tries to pick up the pieces of his relationship with former girlfriend, Jenny (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who now works as the assistant to Alderman Swayzak (J.T. Walsh), a politico that's slashed the fire department's budget substantially.

Just when it seems Brian has gotten his act together, he panics and takes an office assignment from Jenny and Swayzak. Brian is told to aid fire investigator Donald Rimgale (Robert DeNiro), a former firefighter himself who bears some particularly nasty burns across his back. A painful badge of his former life. Together, they look into the work of an arsonist whose fires have killed two people. The title of the film refers to the type of fire used by the arsonist in which the fire burns up all the oxygen in the area, but is not extinguished. Any sudden introduction of more air (by opening a door, for example) causes a massive eruption. It is, perhaps, the most dangerous and unpredictable fire that these men can encounter.

The script was written by Gregory Widen, an ex-firefighter that was inspired to do this story after witnessing a friend killed by a backdraft. In his review, Roger Ebert describes the screenplay as "brain-damaged." While I won't be as harsh, Widen and director Ron Howard take a very formulaic approach to the film. One rookie firefighter practically paints a bull's eye on his back with his overly eager manner. He might as well be wearing one of those red shirt uniforms from "Star Trek." And what would a manly man movie be without the ever-present montage set to a cheesy rock song?

Howard takes a pretty heavy-handed approach to the film's visuals. When Dennis McCaffrey is killed, a young Brian is there to witness the whole tragedy. The top of the building explodes and the father's burnt helmet lands right at the feet of the son. Another sequence finds Stephen emerging from a smoke-filled doorway with a young child in his arms. The most ludicrous moment in the film has to be Stephen's squad battling a fire which is intercut with Brian and Jenny making love on top of a fire engine.

The score by Hans Zimmer is a bit melodramatic at times, but is quite rousing overall. It's very similar to the pomp and circumstance that Zimmer composed for "The Rock." Anybody who's watched "Iron Chef" might be amused as much of Zimmer's score was reused for that cult hit cooking show.