Irish American accents might be challenging for pre-intermediate speakers.
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I really started getting interested in going to the cinema to watch films in 1989. Batman had come out and had been such a phenomenal success that I went not once, but twice. Id been to the cinema before of course, having seen Superman 2, Indiana Jones and at least 2 Bond films along the way, but it was Batman that confirmed my passion for all things cinema. A birthday present form my sister on VHS later that year was the first of literally thousands I've collected in various forms since.
So by 1991 I was already very interested in going to the cinema as often as possible. Which meant checking the cinema wall for "upcoming attractions". That was the first time I saw the advert for Backdraft. When the ten-second TV spots started appearing, I knew it had to be on my list. I wasn't disappointed.
Backdraft tells the story of 2 brothers who are both firemen, but while the elder brother Steven is a highly respected leader of one of the station houses around CHicago. Brian has only just qualified as a fire fighter after trying various other professions in the hope of avoiding the one that killed their father. Add to this a serial arsonist who has claimed the lives of several local businessmen using an arson technique known as a backdraft, and you have the ingredients for a decent popcorn flick. Then Universal turned it up several notches hiring Ron Howard as director and then adding Kurt Russell, Rebecca DeMornay, Donald Sutherland and even Robert De Niro.
Backdraft was an "event film" before the term really became common. It had a stellar cast, an original story that hadn't really been explored up to that point, and, as the cherry on the cake, incredible special effects.
In this movie, ALL the effects involving the fires are REAL. I watched this movie recently with my daughter and she couldn't believe it wasn't CGI. You consistently feel the characters are in genuine danger which creates incredible tension at times.
And did I mention, there's a serial killer element, too?