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Backdraft
R1 - America - Universal Pictures Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (23rd October 2006). |
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The Film
 Before Ron Howard won Oscars he was making movies like "Backdraft", dramatic films with a twist of action and adventure. This film incorporates fine performances (from the support cast, more on this later) with plenty of thrills and danger to keep you on the edge. Where else can you see a film that has Robert De Niro and a then at his peak Kurt Russell alongside some of the best fire effects captured on film? "Dackdraft" tells the story of two Chicago firemen, Stephen McCaffrey (Kurt Russell) and his younger brother Brian (William Baldwin). Brian has spent his life in the shadow of his father, Brian was made famous at a young age as he was the subject of a now famous photograph taken when he witnessed his father die battling an apartment fire. Years have passed and after trying out different careers Brian has decided to return to being a fireman and is assigned to his older brother's outfit. But when things get hot in the city the guys are on the trial of a serial arsonist and Brian works with investigator Donald Rimgale (Robert De Niro) to catch the menace who could be closer to him than originally suspected. Part family drama, part detective story and part firefighters action-adventure "Backdraft" delivers on almost (almost!) all accounts, Ron Howard has crafted a tale that captures the audience. The basic elements of the story are involving but the main characters aren't as interesting as they should be. Kurt Russell and William Baldwin do a serviceable job at best in their roles in what felt like a hollowed delivery. A lot of the surprises came from the film's excellent supporting cast that includes Robert De Niro, Scott Glenn, Donald Sutherland and Jennifer Jason-Leigh who to my surprise wasn't cast as a whore or sex fiend as she seems to fall into those roles really well, in fact she was sweet and in control. A nice change for once. The filmmakers were successful in capturing an authenticity that makes it easy for the audience to accept these actors as firefighters, to add to the authenticity most of the cast did their own stunts, local area firefighters participated in the film not only as technical consultants but were also featured as firefighters in the film. The true star of the film is the fire, Howard wanted to feature fire as another character in the film and it certainly seems like it has a life of its own, the fire effects created for this film were all real, no CGI fire was used, in fact CGI fire elements were still in their infancy back in the early 90's when this film was made and did not look real enough. The filmmakers utilized several methods to achieve the fire shots from shooting in various film speeds and using different lenses to give the fire a robust menacing feel as well as going to the extreme of outfitting the cameramen in fire-proof suits so they can shoot through the flames! Now that's dedication, it's amazing the footage they managed to capture. There were some elements of this film that were cheesy, some of the dialogue is laughable such as Stephen proudly confessing "Look at him... That's my brother god dammit" while Brian is fighting a raging fire and cue the emotionally manipulative music...which this film also has in spades. Despite these minor issues the film still does what it should...entertain. Over the course of his career Howard has made some entertaining films and "Backdraft" is no exception, I'm glad that after all these years Universal has finally released this film with a treatment that it deserves in the film's original theatrical widescreen ratio for the first time in this Anniversary Edition. If you haven't already seen this film then perhaps you should consider giving it a spin, if you're already a fan then you already know what I'm talking about.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this anamorphic transfer is the first time we've seen this film in its correct ratio. The film has been given a much needed clean up and I was constantly impressed with this transfer. Some minor issues are exhibited such as film grain and the occasional (and rare) bit of dirt on the print, some edge-enhancement was detected but overall the print was sharp and displayed detail well. The red, orange and yellow hues of the fire are rendered beautifully, in fact colors are solid especially skin tones. After 15 years since its release this film has finally been given a decent transfer.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included in English Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as a French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround tracks. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English soundtrack. This is one hell of an aggressively power-packed track. It hits you in the gut repeatedly with its intensity. The surround channels are almost always active whether its ambient environment surrounds or screeching fire and destruction of a building collapsing under the heat or the film's score blaring over key action sequences. This is the total package, a totally immersive experience and another top job from Universal. Optional subtitles are also included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Universal have released this film with a series of extras that includes an introduction, a collection of deleted scenes, a series of featurettes plus a handful of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements for this Anniversary Edition DVD. DISC ONE: The first disc includes a video introduction by the film's director Ron Howard which runs for 2 minutes 52 seconds, in this brief clip he talks about his fondness for the film and its subject matter as well as the complications in shooting with practical fire and creating a character out of it. Following that are a series of 39 deleted scenes that play in a reel running 43 minutes 8 seconds. These scenes are in full screen and aren't in the best shape, constant dirt and damage run through it and color is faded. But thankfully these scenes have been put on this disc. The scenes include Brian cleaning up in a bathroom of a diner before work, Brian trying to convince his chief to let him back into the academy, certificates handed out at graduation. The arsonist breaks into a house and rigs it up, Brian celebrates by driving drunk, plus additional investigation footage of a damaged building. We get extended moments with Brian and Stephen on the boat that provides further insight to their relationship. Brian dresses in his uniform and a sequence were he's riding the train to work is also included. Additional scene include Brian is humiliated in front of Jennifer, more shots of fire crew after a blaze, Jennifer and Alderman confront Rimgale about his report, a sex neighbor shows her breast to the firemen, Brian sees his brother's scars, Brian tries to reconnect with Jennifer at the party, plus a few more scenes at that party with Brian, Alderman and the fire crews. An additional scene of the fire crew helping out Mike's widow is also includes, plus Pangelly is is told he's made the Captain's list, Stephen looks for evidence in a fire damaged building, plus more scenes with Bartel at his hearing and with Brian. The fire crew play a prank on Brian and drench him in water, Stephen shares a moment with Helen on the roof, Brian and Rimgale talk about the properties of trychtichlorate, a bored Brian takes a call from Jennifer, later Brian tells her about some findings of their investigation and then shows her around the equipment they use in a sexually suggestive manner. Rimgale fires Brian over a press leak and Brian confronts Jennifer about it as well as additional fire crew scenes among others. Also included are a series of bonus trailers, these are start-up preview and can all be skipped. The previews are for: - "Waist Deep" which runs for 1 minute 15 seconds. - "Inside Man" which runs for 33 seconds. - "Conviction: The Complete Series" which runs for 1 minute. - "The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition" which runs for 1 minute 19 seconds. DISC TWO: This second disc is where you can find these newly produced featurettes that cover the making-of process. These new clips include vintage footage from the production as well as new interviews from cast and crew and cover various aspects of the production. Although these individually segments are short they do cover a lot ground and are certainly worth a look. The first featurette is "Igniting the Story" which runs for 15 minutes and covers the genesis of the story and the script writing process. The filmmakers talk about the core of the story, the development of the fire as a character, the relationship with the brothers, the use of Chicago as the principle location as well as building sets that could withstand fire and the challenges the script delivered for the location and production design crew. We also get a look at the costumes which are authentic fire fighter's gear as well as the film's emotionally heroic score. Next up is "Bringing Together the Team" a featurette that runs for 19 minutes 8 seconds. This takes a closer look at the casting of the film. From getting the right actors for the roles as well as using real fire fighters in smaller roles in the film. The filmmakers discusses the qualities of the cast and what they brought to the character, the cast reminisce about how they got the part and talk about their experience on the film. "The Explosive Stunts" featurette follows and runs for 14 minutes 41 seconds. We get an insight into what it's like working with fire and performing all the difficult stunts for the film. The actors also did a lot of their own stunts and got credited for it as well. The camera crew also suited up and got right into the action. The clip also looks at the tipping of the fire truck and the stunt coordinator shares a few of the close calls they had during this production. Next up is "Creating the Villain: The Fire" featurete which runs for 12 minutes 51 seconds and takes a look at how the physical effects crew created the effects for the film. This covers the preparation period where they tested the effects and had time to develop the different types of fire for the film such as the rolling fire, the tornado fire, the dense fire, etc. They reveal their secrets as to how they did what they did using various materials such as burning propane, diesel, shoe glue among other things. It also looks at creating constant smoke filled atmosphere as well as the coordination between all departments that made it happen as we look at several key scenes. Finally "Real-Life Firemen, Real-Life Stories" featurette round off the disc's extras and runs for 8 minutes 58 seconds. Real life fire fighters talk about the influence of the film on them and share their stories from the job, they talk about the importance of brotherhood and why they do what they do. These extras are worth the purchase price of this disc, but I was disappointed that the director's involvement was minimal. It would have been nice to have included an audio commentary. For the time being however this is a very good release with some well produced extras.
Packaging
This DVD comes packaged in a amaray case that is housed in a cardboard slip-cover.
Overall
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