Hey folks, Harry here... wonder how valid a test screening on a film about firefighting heroes is, if you test it right smack dab in the midst of Southern California coming off the greatest fire disaster in California history is? I mean, testing it there should yield really high results, I mean, for the last 2 weeks they've been flooded with heroic firemanship on the news and papers every day. NOT THAT I don't doubt this movie being good, it's just... seems an odd time and place to test it. MEANWHILE, I'll wait for someone who's seen Johnny To's firefighting epic to do the comparison... GOD - I love that flick. Johnny To rules!
Harry,
I like to compare the reviews I read on your site with the one's in the papers. And today, since I can't email my thoughts to a paper -- I have use this opportunity to share with you my thoughts on a movie that really caught me off guard me last night.
LADDER 49
I got picked for this screening and never go, but, with all the fires here in southern california I was really curious to see it. Fire fighters really are hero's after all.
No pun intended: It blew me away. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that had action, romance, comedy and drama -- all in one incredibly engaging movie. But here's the thing -- it's not about the fire. It's about this one guy who badly wants to fight fires and save people. This one guy who is so eager to do his job -- his character really reminded me of a SUPER HERO, only REAL.
I'm 31 and the metaphor couldn't have been more loud and clear to me -- this guy falls in love and the further along his family grows the more they want him to leave his fire behind. (Before it kills him) His "fire" being the stuff of a man's life, like his job and his pals. The only difference between him and me is that my job has a very small chance of killing me.
I barely remember Backdraft and if I'm correct it's because it's ABOUT the fire. But LADDER 49 is about the firefighters. You get deeply attached to the good this one guy wants to do. It's inspiring and exciting to watch.
And the ending is such a surprise that it will catch you off guard. I'm not into spoilers and such, so if you get a chance to see this please do. I think it's the best movie I've seen in a long time, with the exception being 28 DAYS LATER and SCHOOL OF ROCK.
Best,
Buffalonickel
and now.....
Harry:
I'm a long time reader and a first time reviewer.
I went to sneak showing tonight of a new Disney movie about firemen called Ladder 49 with John Travolta and Joquine Phoenix in Woodland Hills, California.
When I was recruited to go see it I had forgotten that Matrix was opening today so I have to say I went in to this pissed off. But while this movie is no Matrix it was a whole lot better than I expected. It is a really really good movie about real life heroes.
Phoenix plays an everyday fireman named Jack. At the start of the movie he goes in to some kind of a giant burning industrial building to save some guys trapped in there. But just as he is saving this one guy a big explosion goes off collapsing the floor he is on leaving Phoenix in a very fucked up situation. He is trapped in this blazing place and nobody can get to him.
Then it goes back in time and shows him coming in to the fire house for the first time as a rookie. The movie goes back and forth between the firemen and Travolta trying to save Phoenix to scenes from his life leading up that fire.
There's some really funny scenes of the jokes firemen play on each other in the fire house and some good action scenes of the guys fighting fires. Some of the firemen get hurt and some get killed and this is where you see how dangerous the job really is.
Before the movie started a studio guy said that the special effects were not finished but what I saw looked very real and dangerous. Adn that's what I found worth recommending about the movie. It looked and felt very real. There was a minimum of Hollywood bullshit in this movie. The guys looked real and the fire looked real not like a special effect.
As for the acting Joquine Phoenix is an actor I really only know from Gladiator and Signs. This is a very different part for him and the best I've ever seen him. He was very believable and likeable. John Travolta is someone I don't like very much. I think his movies usually suck but he is pretty good in this one. The more I think about it he was acutally very good in this one.
I recognize some of the other firemen from other movies but I can't remember their names but one who was good was the guy from the X Files and T2. The girl who plays Phoenix's wife is really good but I don't know who she is. She played the emotional part of a fireman's wife and the hard times they experience. She had me choking back some tears at the end. I'm not going to drop the big spoiler on this by the way but I think you can guess. Anyway she is pretty hot and in one scene I thought we were going to see her naked but we didn't.
But the thing that makes this a really good movie is the realism of what these guys go through every day. We've just had some big fires here in California and a lot of guys put their lives on the line for stranger's houses. They really are the bravest of the brave as it says in the movie. Ladder 49 is a great tribute to these everyday heroes.
Thanks for the great site and I hope to contribute more some day.
My name is _________ but call me Bludsucker100!
