The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine

Where’s the smoke?
There are a plethora of films out there to do with
firefighters and fire in general. Periodically we will be
watching these films and reviewing them. Both from
a theatrical position but also from a plausibility
point of view – do the actors portraying firefighters
give off a realistic air? Is the fire done properly?
If you know of any good fire films, please email
them to us on fire.rescue@fire.org.nz.
This month’s film will be the first film anyone thinks of
when asked to name a firefighter film, Backdraft.
Made in 1991 and starring Kurt Russel, William Baldwin
and Robert De Niro, Backdraft tells the story of two
brothers – Stephen and Brian McCaffrey who lost their
father in a fire in the 1970s. Following in their father’s
footsteps the two grow up to be firefighters at the same
station, but here’s the kicker, they’re rivals! They don’t
get on, at all.
The two are forced to lay their differences aside when a
serial arsonist strikes Chicago, he’s already killed three
people, maimed a firefighter and personally attacked
Brian. Can the brothers put aside their differences to
save the day?
On to the review:
The attention to realism is…non-existent. Firstly, Stephen
McCaffrey enters every single fire without a BA, his coat
is open, and he goes skipping into the heart of the fire –
often by himself – regularly. They break open doors by
standing in front of them and they don’t check to see
if they’re hot. Perhaps most amusingly, all fires have
a definite lack of smoke. Understandably this was done
to ensure we could see the actors, though it does
look ridiculous.
The acting itself is good by the leads, William Baldwin
and Kurt Russell put in good performances as the rival
brothers and there seemed to be some genuine animosity
between the two. Robert De Niro was hardly used and
his character seemed a bit mysterious for mysterious’ sake
whilst no-one else really played a major role to be
considered – though special mention must go to Jennifer
Jason-Leigh whose performance as William Baldwin’s
love interest is hopelessly bad.
In terms of a plot it’s pretty sharp. As mentioned above
the brothers fight fires and an arsonist and fight each
other. Novel! It doesn’t get boring and at a tick over two
hours the length is substantial without being onerous.
From a film point of view, 3.5 out of 5, from a realism
point of view 1 out of 5 giving it an average score of
2 ¼ out of 5.
Fire Films
The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine February 2008
7