Ladder 49 DVD Review (Joaquin Phoenix) Empire Movies

LADDER 49 DVD REVIEW

Ladder 49
(Buena Vista Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

8.5/10

8/10

Brendan

Ladder 49 stars Joaquin Phoenix as Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison. We meet Jack in the opening scene of the movie making a dramatic rescue inside a flaming highrise. Jack becomes trapped in the building and, as he and his fellow firefighters work to save him, we relive Jack's life in the fire department from the day he arrived as a "wet-behind-the-ears" rookie to his development as a husband, a father and a seasoned veteran in the fire department. We meet Jack's wife Linda (Jacinda Barrett) and many of Jack's co-workers, who include Captain Mike Kennedy (John Travolta), Lenny (Robert Patrick), Keith (Jay Hernandez), Tommy (Morris Chestnut), Billy (Dennis Gauquin) and Ray (Balthazar Getty). We witness many of the trials and tribulations of being a firefighter and a family man and enjoy some spectacular rescues, some heroic moments, lots of drinking and some shocking and tense scenes.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ladder 49. I even went so far as to rate it number 6 on my prestigious top 10 list of 2004 and took a lot of heat for doing so (excuse the pun). Nevertheless, I stand by my original rating. Ladder 49 had everything you could expect from this type of movie - action, emotion, likeable characters and some very human moments. The acting was excellent. Both Joaquin and Travolta were outstanding and their supporting cast was very good. I absolutely loved Travolta's "not in my house" speech. In fact, I can't really think of a reason not to like this movie. Out of all the people I personally know who saw it, only one person didn't like it and she has no heart anyways, so I wouldn't really swear by what she had to say.

Besides watching a great movie, the DVD for Ladder 49 offers quite an array of bonus features. First up is an audio commentary by director Jay Russell and editor Bud Smith. Despite the fact that I was disappointed not to hear from either Joaquin or Travolta, the commentary is interesting nonetheless. The men talk passionately about their movie and provide some interesting insight into making a movie about firefighters and fire. Listening to their commentary will only give you more reason to like Ladder 49.

Next up is "The Making of 'Ladder 49'". This section is broken down into three features - "On Location", (talks about filming in Baltimore), "Fire Academy: Training the Actors" (an excellent bit on how the actors prepared for the movie - which is way more work than you could imagine), and finally "Anatomy of a Scene: The Warehouse Fire" (an in-depth look at the big fire scene in the movie). All three features are interesting, not too long (the entire section runs 21:09) and worth checking out. They also include interviews with most of the cast and some of the always important behind-the-scenes people.

Everyday Heroes takes us into the lives of real firefighters from the Baltimore Fire Department. It includes interviews, a look into a few of the men's personal lives and families and some heartfelt comments from John Travolta. This piece is a must see.

The deleted scenes are made up of five different scenes that never made it past the cutting room floor. They include some lunch room horseplay, Jack's first date with Linda, the introduction of the new captain, a drunk firefighter and a reaction to 9/11. Nothing here that would have really changed the course of the movie but still worth a look.

Finally, there is the video for Robbie Robertson's "Shine Your Light". Not sure if I would ever buy this CD but still worth a listen. The video features the lovely Jacinda Barrett which is reason enough to watch.

Overall, Ladder 49 is a movie that I recommend checking out. Will it win an Academy Award? Obviously not. Especially since they were already handed out and I don't recall hearing the phrase "And the Oscar goes to Ladder 49". Will it entertain? Well, if you have a heart, it should. Ladder 49 is not a perfect movie by any means. But it is a humanistic movie with some exciting and tense moments, likeable characters and a real human touch and I know from the 150 movies I saw last year, that is hard to come by. A lot of movies try but just don't seem to hit the nail on the head. Ladder 49 nailed it and then some.

Features
Audio Commentary by Director Jay Russell and Editor Bud Smith, Deleted Scenes, Everyday Heroes Featurette, Making of "Ladder 49" Featurette, Shine Your Light Music Video Performed by Robbie Robertson

Video
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, French Dolby Digital Stereo

Subtitles
French, Spanish, Closed-Captioned

Release Date
March 8, 2005

Rating
PG-13

Length
115 mins.

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