History Film / Backdraft

* TreacheryCoverUp: [[spoiler:Adcox is the arsonist that has killed multiple people around Chicago as revenge for them risking the lives of firefighters in a [[TheCon real estate scam]] and dies in the climactic fire. Stephen dies without telling anybody else in his squad, Brian never tells anybody else either, and Adcox is given a burial with full honors by his fellow firemen.]]

** Real firefighters roll their eyes during Robert De Niro's "It's a Living Thing" monologue, because fire is definitely ''not''. Firefighting is straight-up gallons/minute vs. [=BTUs=] and fire obeys quite predictable laws of physics. The monologue does make some cool drama, though (and considering that we see that his character has been badly burned at one point, he can be excused for becoming a little superstitious about fire).

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** None of the firefighters wear turnout trousers to protect their legs, which may look like an error, but it's actually because Chicago didn't wear that gear until 2006. Instead, they wore a long coat and hip boots, or three-quarter boots. It was an older style of firefighting gear used in North America in most of the 20th century that consisted of a coat that went to the knees and a pair of rubber boots that had foldable sections that could be pulled up to the thigh. Most cities switched to modern gear in the 1990s, such as [[http://fdnysbravest.com/firephoto306.jpg New York City,]] which switched in 1994, and [[http://www.firenews.org/fires/b/boston/1980s/Boston011686Heath.jpg Boston,]] which switched a year later. Chicago was the last to switch.
** Due to the Chicago Fire Department's stubborn adherence to this type of protective equipment, firefighters colloquially refer to these boots as "Chicago Boots."
** Strangely enough, one thing the characters do manage to do wrong, especially Steven [=McCaffery=], leaves their boots rolled down inside burning buildings, a BIG no-no back when firefighters commonly wore this gear since it leaves the legs even less protected than they already inherently were with this type of gear.

%%* FiremenAreHot: The shower scene? Enough said......

* CowboyCop: Stephen as a firefighter. {{Deconstructed}} as it hurts his career and relationship more than anything else, and gets Tim badly burned.

* AffablyEvil: Ronald Barlet, a {{pyromaniac}} who admits he'd burn the world if he could, is genuinely fond of arson investigator Donald "Shadow" Rimgale, who'd saved his life and caught him at the same time. He's also friendly and polite to Brian. Despite this he remains a depraved and creepy man, naturally.

* {{Expy}}: Ron Bartel is essentially [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] as a pyromaniac.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: None of the firefighters wear turnout trousers to protect their legs, which may look like an error, but it's actually because Chicago didn't wear that gear until 2006. Instead, they wore a long coat and hip boots, or three-quarter boots. It was an older style of firefighting gear used in North America in most of the 20th century that consisted of a coat that went to the knees and a pair of rubber boots that had foldable sections that could be pulled up to the thigh. Most cities switched to modern gear in the 1990s, such as [[http://fdnysbravest.com/firephoto306.jpg New York City,]] which switched in 1994, and [[http://www.firenews.org/fires/b/boston/1980s/Boston011686Heath.jpg Boston,]] which switched a year later. Chicago was the last to switch.

* AssholeVictim: Seagrave, Cosgrove, and Holcomb were all part of a corrupt plan to use firemen as pawns to get rich off of while several firehouses got closed down and several firemen ended up being killed due to the cuts. So it’s ok not to feel bad about their deaths.

* CuttingCorners: [[spoiler:Swayzak's plan to get more money for him and his businessmen allies (who are also helping him with his election) involves getting rid of firehouses that, according to him, are superfluous for what a city like Chicago needs and would be more useful as community services. The fact that he's gambling with people's lives (and fellow firemen's lives in specific) because of the severe cut-down on response capabilities that this creates is the main reason why "Ax" Adcox goes into his KillItWithFire RoaringRampageOfRevenge.]]
** The consequences are shown in a deleted scene in which Engine 17 visits the widow and children of a firefighter who died in the line of duty.

* FiremenAreHot: The shower scene? Enough said......
* FollowingInRelativesFootsteps: The movie begins with the protagonist's father, who is a fireman, dying in a fire. Despite becoming terrified of fire as a result, Brian's determined to overcome this and grow up to be a fireman like his father.
* GovernmentConspiracy: [[spoiler: A local one; Swayzak made several backdoor deals with local businessmen (included a forged manpower study) to shut down firehouses across the city and convert them into community centers, with lucrative construction contracts awarded to the conspirators' shell company for work that is never done.]]

* HeroicFireRescue: Several.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Stephen and Brian's father sacrifices himself throwing Adcox clear of a gas explosion, setting the plot in motion. Bull's death in a chemical plant, confronting Adcox, is ultimately [[SenselessSacrifice pointless]]...but rescuing the mortally wounded Bull finally forces his brother to [[GrowingTheBeard grow the beard]] and become a full-fledged firefighter.]]

* HollywoodFire: Played straight and averted to varying degrees through the movie.

* MeaningfulFuneral: [[spoiler: Axe and Bull's funeral at the end.]]

* PyroManiac: Ronald Bartel (Donald Sutherland)

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Stephen is an excellent firefighter, but he has a rather reckless and lax attitude to procedure and the rules, never wearing his mask, never waiting for his hose teams, always going head-on into even the worst blazes, etc.

** Real firefighters roll their eyes during Robert De Niro's "It's a Living Thing" monologue, because fire is definitely ''not''. Firefighting is straight-up gallons/minute vs. [=BTUs=] and fire obeys quite predictable laws of physics. The monologue does make some cool drama, though.

* TreacheryCoverUp: [[spoiler:Adcox is the arsonist that has killed multiple people around Chicago as revenge for them risking the lives of firefighters in a RealEstateScam and dies in the climactic fire. Stephen dies without telling anybody else in his squad, Brian never tells anybody else either, and Adcox is given a burial with full honors by his fellow firemen.]]

* FiremenAreHot: The shower scene?? Enough said......

* HeroicBSOD: Brian, when Stephen goes into a burning apartment to find the child left behind there. Having watched his father die in a fire, and subsequently developed a fear of fire that he struggles to overcome throughout the movie, his fears get the better of him when he believes his brother has fallen victim to the fire as well. All he can do is sit there and cry until [[spoiler:Stephen emerges with the child in his arms]].

* NaiveNewcomer: Both Brian and the second probie.

** {{Deconstructed}} when two of his firefighters even complain about his recklessness, one of them nearly dies during Brian's first fire, and Stephen admits that his headstrong leadership is making the team lose confidence in him. Ultimately, his reckless attitude rubs off on one of his probationary firefighters with disastrous consequences; [[spoiler: Probie Tim, Brian's best friend, is horrifically injured by a backdraft after not checking a door properly, and Adcox and Brian (not unfairly) blame Stephen. Although in light of Adcox being the one who actually set the fire, his condemnation is more than a little hypocritical.]]

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Stephen is an excellent firefighter, but he has a rather reckless and lax attitude to procedure and the rules, never wearing his mask, never waiting for his hose teams, always going head-on into even the worst blazes, etc. {{Lampshaded}} when two of his firefighters even complain about his recklessness.
** His reckless attitude rubs off on one of his probationary firefighters with disastrous consequences; [[spoiler: the probie is horrifically injured by a backdraft after not checking a door properly, and Adcox and Brian (not unfairly) blame Stephen. Although in light of Adcox being the one who actually set the fire, his condemnation is more than a little hypocritical.]]

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Stephen is an excellent firefighter, but he has a rather reckless and lax attitude to procedure and the rules, never wearing his mask, never waiting for his hose teams, always going head-on into even the worst blazes, etc.

''Backdraft'' is a 1991 American action-drama film directed by Creator/RonHoward and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/WilliamBaldwin, Creator/RobertDeNiro and Creator/ScottGlenn. Creator/DonaldSutherland, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Creator/RebeccaDeMornay, Jason Gedrick, Hardy Patel, Brian Jaramillo and JT Walsh co-star in the film.

''Backdraft'' is a 1991 American action-drama film directed by Creator/RonHoward and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/WilliamBaldwin, Creator/RobertDeNiro and Creator/ScottGlenn. Creator/DonaldSutherland, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Rebecca [=DeMornay=], Jason Gedrick, Hardy Patel, Brian Jaramillo and JT Walsh co-star in the film.

* HallloweenEpisode: The sequel is set during Halloween.

* LikeASonToMe: Downplayed, but references are occasionally made to Adcox having stepped up however he could to help raise the McCaffrey boys after their father was killed.

* CuttingCorners: [[spoiler:Swayzak's plan to get more money for him and his businessmen allies (who are also helping him with his election) involves getting rid of firehouses that, falsely according to him, are superfluous for what a city like Chicago needs and would be more useful as community services. The fact that he's gambling with people's lives (and fellow firemen's lives in specific) because of the severe cut-down on response capabilities that this creates is the main reason why "Ax" Adcox goes into his KillItWithFire RoaringRampageOfRevenge.]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: None of the firefighters wear turnout trousers to protect their legs, which may look like an error, but it's actually because Chicago didn't wear that gear until 2006. Until then, they wore [[http://www.firecompanies.com/MFC/public/news_images/10066/171492/391166_orig.jpg this.]] It's called a long coat and hip boots, or three-quarter boots. It was an older style of firefighting gear used in North America in most of the 20th century that consisted of a coat that went to the knees and a pair of rubber boots that had foldable sections that could be pulled up to the thigh. Most cities switched to modern gear in the 1990s, such as [[http://fdnysbravest.com/firephoto306.jpg New York City,]] which switched in 1994, and [[http://www.firenews.org/fires/b/boston/1980s/Boston011686Heath.jpg Boston,]] which switched a year later. Chicago was the last to switch.

** Strangely enough, one thing the characters do manage to do wrong, especially Steven [=McCaffery=], is leave their boots rolled down inside burning buildings, a BIG no-no back when firefighters commonly wore this gear since it leaves the legs even less protected than they already inherently were with this type of gear.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: The crew are seen to be taking another call just before the credits roll.
* AppliedPhlebotinum: Trychtichlorate, which is utilized by the arsonist as the main accelerant for his rampage. It is both ''incredibly'' good at its job [[spoiler:and it turns out that Engine 17 had so much of it lying around because it had done some painting of the station earlier. Stephen taking some that was left over to paint his boat is what gives Brian an EurekaMoment (after fearing his brother is the arsonist and confronting him).]]

** Real fires tend to involve blinding amounts of smoke that force firefighters to feel around for objects and people with their hands and feet. RealLife firefighters gave this film a pass, though, admitting that a screen full of dark billowing smoke doesn't really make for a visually exciting experience. However, you can safely assume that nothing you see a fire do in this movie could/would ever happen in RealLife.

** Further, at one point he charges into a well-involved structure with Brian in tow to attempt a rescue. While it's true that search and rescue teams will usually enter a building first to make sure it is evacuated before they start spraying water everywhere, the cold fact is that no Battalion Chief worth anything would have sent a S&R team into that inferno without any backup at all, and his charging in with no BA set, no backup, into a fully involved apartment, would have gotten him killed or (if he survived) fired in RealLife.
** Real firefighters roll their eyes during Robert De Niro's "It's a Living Thing" monologue, because fire is definitely ''not''. Firefighting is straight up gallons/minute vs. [=BTUs=] and fire obeys quite predictable laws of physics. The monologue does make some cool drama, though.
** Averted with [[spoiler:Axe and Bull's funeral at the end. Real life firefighters have commented that for a firefighter killed on duty, this is exactly how a funeral goes.]]
* AssholeVictim: Seagrave, Cosgrove and Holcomb were all part of a corrupt plan to use firemen as pawns to get rich off of while several firehouses got closed down and several firemen ended up being killed due to the cuts. So it’s ok not to feel bad about their deaths.

* CuttingCorners: [[spoiler:Swayzak's plan to get more money for him and his businessmen allies (who are also helping him with his election) involves getting rid of firehouses that, according (falsely) to him, are superfluous for what a city like Chicago needs and would be more useful as community services. The fact that he's gambling with people's lives (and fellow firemen's lives in specific) because of the severe cut-down on response capabilities that this creates is the main reason why "Ax" Adcox goes into his KillItWithFire RoaringRampageOfRevenge.]]

* EnergyBeings: Sorta. Both Bartel and Rimgale describe fire as an animal and as a sentient predator as a way to understand how it behaves. This is entirely RuleOfCool and in no way realistic.

* ItCanThink: Bull, Bartel, Shadow and Brian all believe that fire is a living thing and has a mind of its own. Slightly averted in that they also know that a fire needs a variety of elements to be put in place by its initiator if it's to be used as an assassination weapon, so the place doesn't burn to the ground before it kills the target.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: An explosion throws Rimgale backwards into an iron fence. One of the decorative spikes goes into his back and comes out through his shoulder. His reaction is a deadpan:

** The procession before the actual funeral. Headed by the Chicago Emerald Society Marching Band in full Scottish/Irish regalia playing 'Balmoral' on bagpipes and drums, then two fire trucks converted to hearses carrying the caskets with the crew members of Engine/Ladder Company 17 in dress uniform marching alongsides, then the family members of the fallen firefighters walking after the fire trucks, then the senior commanders of the Chicago Fire Department and ''hundreds'' of firefighters in dress uniform marching after that.

* MoodWhiplash: The opening; Brian as a child goes along to one of his father's responses, an apartment fire that seems mostly smouldering (all smoke). Everything is all upbeat and routine until his father realizes there's a [[OhCrap leaking gas line, and Adcox just accidentally exposed it to the fire]]. He throws Adcox out of the room just before the explosion consumes him, with Brian watching it all. The photo of him holding his father's burned helmet, looking up at the inferno, follows him right through adulthood (see OldShame below).

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Firefighter John "Axe" Adcox goes from fighting Bull with fireaxes in the middle of a fire to "kid, let me go, I don't want you to die with me" while dangling over a steep drop with only Bull's grip keeping him from falling at the climax. Bull and Adcox end up falling together and Ax dies on impact, earning a TreacheryCoverUp and a full-honors burial.]]

* TenMinuteRetirement: [[spoiler:Brian, finally driven from Engine 17 into a desk job, rejoins it as a full fledged firefighter after Stephen is killed.]]

* SuddenlyShouting: After Brian's first fire, Steven finds him catching his breath outside. [[BigBrotherInstinct Worried sick about his little brother after they got separated inside]], Bull initially asks if he's okay in a nervous tone before composing himself to berate him for not following orders. When Brian tries to argue,
[[AngerBornOfWorry Steven's voice cracks and tears well up in his eyes]] as he screams, '''''"I told you to stay right be-FUCKIN'-side me, Brian!!!"'''''

* SuddenlyShouting: After Brian's first fire, Steven finds him catching his breath outside. [[BigBrotherInstinct Worried sick about his little brother after they got separated inside]], Bull initially asks if he's okay in a nervous tone before composing himself to berate him for not following orders. When Brian tries to argue, [[AngerBornOfWorry Steven's voice cracks and tears well up in his eyes]] as he screams, '''''"I told you to stay right be-FUCKIN'-side me, Brian!!!"'''''

* BittersweetEnding: Brian decides to remain a firefighter despite the fact that both his brother and father died in the line of duty on the job, Swayzak's political career is likely over, and the arsons are stopped. But there are many other arsonists out there.

''Backdraft'' is a 1991 American action-drama film directed by Creator/RonHoward and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Creator/KurtRussell, William Baldwin, Creator/RobertDeNiro and Creator/ScottGlenn. Creator/DonaldSutherland, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Rebecca [=DeMornay=], Jason Gedrick, Hardy Patel, Brian Jaramillo and JT Walsh co-star in the film.

* SuddenlyShouting: After Brian's first fire, Steven finds him catching his breath outside. [[BigBrotherInstinct Worried sick about his little brother after they got separated inside]], Bull initially asks if he's okay in a nervous tone before composing himself to berate him for not following orders. When Brian tries to argue, [[AngerBornOfWorry Steven's voice cracks and tears well up in his eyes]] as he screams, '''''"I told you to stay right be-fuckin'-side me, Brian!!!"'''''