Backdraft or Ladder49?
I have seen both movies and I thought they were both good,but I was a bit surprise that the Backdraft movie did not have the firefighters wear masks in the resure scene. How come??
shareBackdraft didn't go for the amount of realism that Ladder49 was trying for. Also, Kurt Russell's character in the movie portrayed an old fashioned type of smoke-eater who never liked wearing his mask.
shareI always thought that was an unwise decision, in terms of character development.
It made Russell's character look like a fool who had no regard for safety. It wasn't even realistic, as his character was supposed to have had some anywhere from ten to fifteen years of service in the department. Thus, he would have joined the department long after air masks were made part of mandatory training and regulation. Thus, he would never have served at a time when masks weren't standard.
Not true. Let's say he's got ten years in in the early nineties. He'd have joined early eighties, which makes sense movie wise, if not even earlier. I'm assuing that Stephen joined as soon as he was 18, or even 21, which means he was in in the mid to late 70's. I know from my dad, and others from that time, that even though masks were around, and training on them was mandatory, use of them was sporadic at best. Stephen is meant to be sort of the last of a generation of firefighters, the "real smoke eaters" of yesteryear.
share[deleted]