Backdraft - Why I Still Love It

IT MAY be as cheesy as hell but Ron Howard’s 1991 blockbuster Backdraft remains a fantastic movie experience.

It’s big in every way, from the scale of its set pieces, to the size of its performances and the bombast of its score (an early one for Hans Zimmer).

It’s powered by a larger than life performance from Kurt Russell and features a heavyweight supporting cast that includes Robert De Niro as a world-weary arson investigator, Donald Sutherland as a Hannibal Lecter-style serial arsonist capable of offering insight into the film’s mystery killer, Scott Glenn in the type of ‘quiet’ role that suggests a big reveal, JT Walsh doing shady as only he knew how, as a potentially corrupt politician, and Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rebecca DeMornay as the put upon women in the main characters’ lives.

I saw it in the summer of ‘91 and loved every single minute, so much so that it fanned the flames of wanting to become a fireman (something curtailed by a fear of unsafe heights!).

But it left an indelible impression… one that compels me to return to its delights every few years or so.

The most striking thing about Howard’s film is the reverence with which it holds firefighters - and this was pre-9/11. There’s almost a hero worship at play, with some of the cheesiest moments reserved for slow-motion shots of Russell running from a burning building clutching a child, or clinging onto stricken colleagues by his fingertips and declaring: “You go, we go.”

In many ways, there’s a togetherness that feels like a band of brothers… firefighters as soldiers willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice. They’re equally as gung-ho too.

But Howard somehow manages to prevent the film from drifting into near parody by virtue of the gusto with which he directs the big moments and coaxes believable performances from his starry cast - all of whom give it their all with utmost sincerity.

The story is primarily focused on the rivalry between two brothers: Russell’s grizzled veteran Stephen ‘Bull’ McCaffrey, prone to taking risks, and William Baldwin’s Brian McCaffrey, the relative rookie who witnessed their father die on the job while observing as a child, and then subsequently being photographed tearfully clutching his father’s helmet in an image that made the cover of Life magazine.

Brian is determined to finally confront his trauma and discover if he has what it takes to be a firefighter, but is continually berated by Stephen, now his commander in chief.

The two go up against each other just as an arsonist is targeting various city officials by creating backdrafts - targeted fires that kill their victims before burning themselves out.

And it’s down to De Niro’s cynical investigator Donald ‘Shadow’ Rimgale to figure out who is doing it.

There’s melodrama too - as Stephen attempts to find a way back into the lives of his estranged wife (DeMornay) and son, while Brian rekindles a relationship with a former flame (Leigh), who just happens to be working as secretary for Walsh’s dubious politician.

Admittedly, the plot isn’t the film’s strongest element given how much of it feels contrived. But that’s kind of missing the point.

Backdraft exists primarily to entertain by virtue of its spectacle and it does so with aplomb. The fire sequences, in particular, are still breath-taking today, aided considerably by the fact that they are practical rather than effects driven. You can sometimes literally feel the heat, while gasping for air.

Howard’s decision to treat the fire as a character in its own right, or a creature [like Jaws], may have been ridiculed by some experts, but proves undeniably effective in adding to the tension of every scene it is unleashed in.

Hence, early on it appears to peek at a young Brian before claiming his father before his eyes, while on the older Brian’s first job at a factory it unleashes its full fury on several occasions, almost toying with the firefighters in a game of cat and mouse.

For Stephen, this is clearly the thrill of the chase. He wants to confront the beast head on, suspecting it won’t flash. But this places him at odds with several of his crew, who feel he is too prone to risk taking, particularly without back-up due to fire department cutbacks (approved by Walsh’s bureaucrat and prospective mayoral candidate).

There’s also a nice ‘exchange’ between a willow the wisp style flame and Brian that establishes the kind of early relationship the latter has with fire: one of fear.

But that feeds into a narrative that later declares, via De Niro’s investigator, that “the only way to kill fire is to love it a little”.

It’s that kind of film. But it works.

Later, there’s an ominous search for a fire in a high rise building that results in a serious injury to another of Stephen’s new recruits - again, well staged with the fire almost playing hide and seek.

And the backdrafts themselves are also used effectively, using banshee-style sound effects to unleash the explosions and take out its victims.

A climactic fire at another massive warehouse also contains plenty of bang for viewers’ buck, including the sight of firefighters clinging on to each other as they hang perilously from disjointed scaffolding.

But in a measure of the film’s overall cheesiness, there’s also the sight of an injured Stephen watching Brian take charge and declaring to his colleagues: “Look at him, that’s my brother!”

Russell somehow sells it by virtue of just how gung-ho his character has been throughout the film. But then all of the cast rise above some of the more mundane dialogue to create characters you either root for or remember.

De Niro’s Rimgale is immensely likeable without ever coming close to being considered a classic performance from the acting legend and Sutherland’s playful arsonist is suitably creepy in a Hannibal Lecter-lite kind of way. It’s fun to see the two movie heavyweights share a scene.

But Baldwin is also better than usual as the troubled Brian, smouldering as the better looking cast member, yet displaying some decent acting chops whenever opportunity allows (usually alongside the likes of De Niro or Sutherland, but also when arguing with Russell). They’re believably estranged brothers.

And De Mornay also excels as Stephen’s long-suffering wife, wearing her heartbreak convincingly and contributing in no small part to the film’s emotional climax.

But the film arguably belongs most to Russell… his Stephen exhibiting a range of emotions throughout, from rampant arrogance to wounded husband and father; a man who has given his all to a career that has equally taken him for everything he’s worth. The confusion this creates as the movie enters its final straight is brilliantly conveyed.

That’s not to say Backdraft is super serious. It does have emotional depth, albeit some of which is admittedly contrived. But it also knows how to have fun along the way. The sight of firefighters smashing the windows of an illegally parked Mercedes never gets old and neither does Scott Glenn’s first dinner time speech at which he gleefully ridicules Brian for ‘rescuing’ a mannequin.

And I’m just a huge sucker for the early montage of firefighting scenes (especially the slow-mo water splashing against firemen) set against the backdrop of Bruce Hornsby’s still anthemic The Show Goes On (a track that was also featured memorably in The Bear).

Backdraft fired my imagination as a 19-year-old. And while I didn’t ever make it to becoming a fireman, I did end up reporting on fires and liaising with Richmond Fire Brigade to issue fire safety advice as a reporter for the Richmond & Twickenham Times - even attending the firehouse for a meeting with their station commander.

And I visited the Backdraft experience at Universal Studios in LA as a 20-year-old on a holiday to the US... and can still remember the thrill of being placed in a movie-style experience complete with flames and a semi collapsing platform.

I even got to interview Ron Howard a few years later (for The Dilemma), although Backdraft didn’t come up (having Clint Eastwood on speed dial did!).

Nevertheless, part of the joy of loving movies is getting to revisit them with the special people in your life. I recently revisited Backdraft with my wife and 14-year-old son, who both enjoyed it. It took a while to warm up for my son (pun intended!) - but by the time the arson investigation got into full swing and the sparks really started to fly between the various characters, he found the experience suitably incendiary.