Aha, here we go. Yet another opportunity to jump up on a soap box to rant and rave about subjects that will tick off some people, but be applauded by others. Today's lesson is in the area of payrolls. Yes, we all have them… well most of us do anyhow. If you’re reading this review on a laptop in the comfort of your alley way cardboard box, chances are there is no set salary involved. The rest of us however, have at least something coming in that allows us the daily pleasures of a roof over our head, food in our bellies, and DVDs in our players. A lot of you might feel that you're underpaid for what you do; I know I certainly feel that way. But there are couple of careers I'd like to mention for the simple fact that there appears to be a discrepancy. I'm talking about, of course, firemen and professional sports players. That's right. If there were ever two areas where underpaid and overpaid go hand in hand it is in these two areas. Let's start with firemen shall we?

These men and women risk their lives on a daily basis to save not only people trapped in fiery buildings, but even to save idiots who have driven their cars around barriers and onto flooded roads. Firemen don’t take the time to decide if you’re an idiot, they just jump in to save you. Occasionally these firemen die. The average salary for a fireman ranges in the 50 - 60 thousand dollars a year range.

Now take the average professional sports player (be it football, baseball, basketball, etc… ). For the most part these brainless brutes spend their days chasing little balls around a court/field/diamond (take your pick) and their nights chasing little skirts around with their balls. The only danger they have of losing their lives comes from a possible brain hemorrhage from too much physical abuse (which is rare considering that you actually need something to hemorrhage), a drunken driving accident, or an early retirement consisting of plugging Olshan Foundation Repair. These salaries often range in the millions of dollars. I do believe there is something wrong with this picture. The wrong people are getting the wrong salaries.

What does this have to do with the movie "Backdraft?" Not a damn thing. But as I mentioned before, it gave me a subject by which I could tie in a few personal opinions. You can either agree or disagree… but we know who's right.

Back in 1991, director Ron Howard continued proving he had the right stuff to helm just about any kind of movie with "Backdraft." The star studded film, which boasted the likes of Robert DeNiro, Kurt Russell, Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh, introduces us to the members of the Chicago Fire Station 17. Its newest member, Brian McCafferty (Baldwin), starts off career working with his older brother, Steven (Russell), both of whom lost their firefighter father when they were kids. Adding to the difficulties of being a probie, he has to deal with a lifelong family conflict between him and his brother.

As Brian proves himself worthy of becoming a full fledged fireman, he switches gears and takes a position in the fire investigations unit. He teams up with ex-firefighter Donald Rimgale (DeNiro) to catch an arsonist whose fires are killing both civilians and firemen alike. His M.O. is the basis of the film's title, as most of the arsonist's fires are set up in such a way as to burn up as much oxygen in an area as possible, that way when more oxygen is introduced it causes an explosion of flames.

Howard, who will forever be Opie and Richie in my eyes, has proven himself to be a formidable, if not perfect, director. I've yet to see a film of his that wasn't great, with the possible exception of "The Grinch", which was horrible (he had to have been drinking at the time… ). But each film does have a flaw or two, the biggest flaw in the film "Backdraft" being a scene of the firefighters attacking a blazing building intercut with a scene of Brian making love to his girlfriend (Leigh) on top of a fire truck. That was a rather ridiculous scene. Beyond that the film was really good.

Even though the roster of actors is impressive, the real star of the movie is the fire. At the time the film was made, there was still (thankfully) very little work done with CGI so the flames were very real. Howard relied on special effects genius Allen Hall to design a flame system that would be safe for the actors and crew, but produce spectacular visuals. To say that he succeeded would be and understatement. I don’t think any of the flame sequences in "Backdraft" have been outdone in any movie or TV show since.

Universal is releasing a 15th Anniversary DVD Edition of "Backdraft" and are filling it with explosive (no pun intended) extra features to fill the 2-disc set. The 1st disc includes an introduction from Ron Howard and a huge collection of deleted scenes. Of course, it also contains the movie… The 2nd disc offers up a 15 minute featurette on the making of the film from the filmmaker's perspective and as such has a lot of interview footage. There is also a 20 minute look at how the cast was chosen and what the experience was like for many of them. Another 15 minute featurette focuses more intently on the stunt work, specifically those stuntmen who had to be set on fire. I was also glad to see a featurette on the fire itself, where we are shown how some of the sequences were set up. Finally, you'll find a short feature that allows real firemen to talk about their reactions to the film.

"Backdraft", as I mentioned had a few cinematic flaws and a few critics might complain of it being a little formulaic (but not me), yet it still offers not only an exciting and frightening look into a fireman's daily routine, but further proves my argument about who really deserves the big bucks.

Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert DeNiro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca DeMornay
Extras: Ron Howard Introduction, Deleted Scenes, Igniting the Story, Bringing Together the Team, The Explosive Stunts, Creating the Villain - Fire, Real Life Firemen - Real Life Stories
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
Studio: Universal
Release Date: 9/19/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (Language and a Scene of Sensuality)
Website

We'll give Backdraft: 15th Anniversary Edition a B.