1991 · thriller · drama · firefighting
Backdraft
Directed by Ron Howard2h 17m1991
Two feuding siblings carrying on a heroic family tradition as Chicago firefighters. But when a puzzling series of arson attacks is reported, they are forced to set aside their differences to solve the mystery surrounding these crimes.
Our read: Backdraft (1991) reads as a sombre, breathless, grounded thriller · drama · firefighting entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Sombre, breathless, extreme thriller / drama, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- sombre
- kinetic
- extreme
Watching Backdraft tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
Your lens for tonight
?
Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
More info & search links
How Backdraft feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want firefighter brotherhood, roaring blazes, and a conspiracy thriller edge.”
Skip it tonight — You can't stomach intense burn sequences or sibling melodrama tonight.
Eight films that feel like this one.
Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like Backdraft, with why →
Discussion
Make it a movie night.
Pick a mood, get a film the whole couch will enjoy, and give everyone something to watch for.
Pick tonight's film →