Video Review

Backdraft (1991)

MPAA Rating: R
Reviewed by Michael Sauter | May 09, 1997
EW's GRADE
C

Details Movie Rated: R; Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama; With: William Baldwin, Robert De Niro and Kurt Russell; Distributor: Universal

Backdraft begins as the story of estranged fire-fighting brothers (Kurt Russell, William Baldwin) but gets sidetracked by some mumbo jumbo about fire as a ''living thing'' before serving up Scott Glenn as a fireman-turned-serial arsonist. The overcooked plot not only feels forced (and false), it also shoves aside the family saga that made us care in the first place. C

Originally posted Mar 07, 2008 Published in issue #378 May 09, 1997 Order article reprints