7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
Two Chicago firefighter brothers who don't get along have to work together while a dangerous arsonist is on the loose.
Starring: Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason LeighAction | 100% |
Crime | 35% |
Thriller | 29% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 2.0
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Bonus View (PiP)
BD-Live
D-Box
Mobile features
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Films by Ron Howard have often thrived on artifice and improbability. Daryl Hannah was a modern day mermaid in Splash. The heroes of Night Shift open a bordello in a morgue. Cocoon finds a group of senior citizens reinvigorated by a close encounter of some unnumbered kind. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play a happily married couple in Far and Away. Okay, that last one is gratuitous, but you get the idea. Howard has amassed a rather impressive filmography, despite critical brickbats being regularly thrown at him for his perceived mawkishness and tendency toward “Spielberg lite” fare. But there has probably not been a more improbable film in Howard’s oeuvre than his ostensibly stirring filmic ode to the heroism of firefighters, Backdraft. Now, don’t get me wrong. Firefighters are indubitably heroic, regularly save lives and walk bravely into the gaping maws of danger and often death, as they’ve proven repeatedly in traumas both small and, as in the devastation of September 11, large. And from that standpoint, Backdraft is certainly to be appreciated, insofar as it brings attention to a class of working heroes who help to keep ordinary citizens safe and sound. But even Howard’s professional craft can’t overcome the absolute lunacy of Backdraft’s screenplay, written by Gregory Widen, whose biggest pre-Backdraft credit was the similarly lamentable Highlander. Highlander at least had the plus of a relatively innovative concept, but in Backdraft Widen takes so many film clichés, stuffs them into a Screenwriting 101 blender, presses “purée” and then leaves the audience to consume a really mind bogglingly bad assortment of poorly drawn characters, predictable plot points and by the numbers bad dialogue. Backdraft does offer some literally explosive special effects, and those at least provide the film with some real, albeit passing, interest.
I didn't own the previous HD-DVD release of Backdraft, and so can't definitively state whether or not this is the same port utilized for that release, but the slipcover of this BD states "remastered in high definition," for whatever that's worth. One way or the other, Backdraft's VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1 looks very good, with only very minor softness in a few shots hampering an overall nice looking picture. There are actually pluses and minuses to the sharpness and detail in Backdraft. While fine detail in non SFX shots looks great, with nicely saturated colors and excellent sharpness, in some of the SFX shots, the matte shots become slightly more apparent. For the first time in watching Backdraft, I became marginally aware of how some of the fire shots might have been composited, simply due to the Blu-ray's superior resolution in showing some of the "seams". The best news, for those fearful of yet another Universal catalog release, is that there's no horrible looking edge enhancement or egregious DNR here. It does look like there are minimal amounts of DNR processing, but they don't rise to the levels of some of the other, more problematic, Universal catalog Blu-rays, and grain structure here looks natural without being overwhelming.
Backdraft's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is one of the best things about this new Blu-ray. This is a bombastic and at times overwhelmingly immersive track that bombards the listener with huge waves of sound which ricochet through the soundfield. LFE is absolutely gut wrenching at times, with wall shaking amplitude. When the backdrafts occur, huge whooshes of sound clearly pan from the front to the rear channels, creating a deafening roar that will leave some listeners with heart palpitations. The quieter scenes also have great surround activity, with everything from the boisterous dialogue in the firehouse to ambient environmental sounds well placed in the side and rear channels. The only issue in this sound mix for me personally was Hans Zimmer's overly cloying score, one which tries to work the John Williams heroic mode, but which doesn't just tug at the heartstrings, it virtually rips at them until they're a bleeding mass of pulp. Aside from that personal qualm, this is a wonderful sounding track that sports spot-on fidelity and is a lot of fun to listen to.
All of the special features from the previously released Special Edition SD-DVD are included on this Blu-ray:
Firefighters are perfect subjects for a movie, but Backdraft simply works too many hoary clichés into the mix to ever feel like anything more than a programmer. What works here are some appealing performances and most especially that outrageously effective special effects, which still look state of the art two decades after the film's release. Fans of this movie will most likely love this Blu-ray, which sports excellent image and especially audio. Other, more jaded, audiences may want to rent this first to see if they can withstand the onslaught of trite conventions this film basks in. For the special effects sequences alone, though, Backdraft is Recommended.
1991
1991
1991
Remastered Edition
1991
1991
1990's Best Of The Decade Collection
1991
1991
2011
2014
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2012
2019
2008
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2018
2023
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2014
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1988
The Dirty Harry Collection
1976
Special Edition
2008
1996
2012
2017