Backdraft

Backdraft (1991)

Timing: 2:17 (137 min)

6.643/10
1359

7.69/10
28088

6.7/10
93000

All about film

Video 4

Photo 33

Actors and characters

Release date

1991-05-24

Country

United States

Production

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Trilogy Entertainment Group

Genre

Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime

Budget

$40 000 000

Revenue

$152 368 585

Website

https://www.uphe.com/movies/backdraft

Director

Ron Howard

Actors

Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, Rebecca De Mornay, Jason Gedrick, J.T. Walsh, Anthony Mockus Sr.
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Gregory Widen

Producer

Pen Densham, Richard Barton Lewis, John Watson, Brian Grazer, Raffaella De Laurentiis

Operator

Mikael Salomon

Composer

Hans Zimmer

Artist

Gregory A. Weimerskirch

Audition

Janet Hirshenson, Jane Jenkins

Editing

Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
All team (134)

• Kurt Russell, Kevin Casey, Scott Glenn, and William Baldwin performed many of the stunts themselves within the scope of their roles, which impressed stunt coordinator Walter Scott so much that their names were listed among the stunt performers in the credits.
• Many Chicago firefighters played minor roles in the film. Numerous firefighters from the Chicago suburbs were involved in the funeral procession.
• Screenwriter Gregory Widen worked as a firefighter for three years. The script was based on the story of his friend, also a firefighter, who died in the line of duty, caught in the backdraft.
• To ensure greater authenticity during filming, the film's cinematographer Mikael Salomon wore a fire-resistant suit and filmed with a handheld camera directly in the flames.
• William Baldwin and Kurt Russell underwent a so-called “young firefighter course” and even lived in a Chicago fire station for a month.
• During the filming of one scene, Scott Glenn was actually engulfed in flames. He was wearing a fire-resistant suit, and a special protective gel was applied to some parts of his body. As soon as the scene was finished, the flames were immediately extinguished with water and chemicals.
• Over 5,000 firefighters volunteered to participate in the scene where firefighters march down Michigan Avenue. Firefighters from the suburbs also wanted to participate, but they had different uniforms and were therefore refused. More than 200 firefighters from the suburbs still came to the filming.
• The film was shot several years before it became possible to create realistic flames using computer animation. At one point, the assistant director, Aldrich La'Auli Porter, rushed into the burning room in search of an actor he believed was lost in the fire. Acting by touch due to the thick smoke, he found no one there, because Kurt Russell, it turned out, had already escaped the burning room through a back exit.
• A device (cinematographers called it the “Peple-O-Matic”) was created for the film, which operated on the principle of a vacuum cleaner, but in reverse – it cut pieces of cardboard, ignited them, and blew them into the air.
• Allen Hall was responsible for the special effects in the film. Three months before the start of filming, he equipped a special laboratory for himself, where he worked with explosive substances and various types of flammable materials, studying fire and combustion processes in general.
• Director Ron Howard donated a portion of the film's proceeds to the local fire department.
• A significant portion of the sets were burned before filming even began, and then placed inside the building.
• The filmmakers repaired and restored six pieces of firefighting equipment and, upon completion of filming, donated five of them to the Chicago Fire Department. The sixth was a fire truck that did not survive the shooting.
• Over 200 children auditioned for the role of the child saved and carried out of the fire by Kurt Russell's character.