A Ladder 49 Review That Trashes Firefighters

[x635 4,066]

I found this subject posted on another discussion board. This article was originally posted on Amazon.com's Customer Product Review Section. (Please note that this review was posted by an individual member, and has nothing to do with Amazon.com)

Make Sure To Read The Last Two Paragraphs

I'd Rather Let My House Burn to the Ground, February 21, 2005 

Reviewer:    fagsaregay.com (Corona, CA) - See all my reviews 

 

"You saw it coming; I saw it coming. It crept up on us with a few TV dramas and eventually smeared itself onto the big screen. I can only expect a line of toys and sugary cereals will follow. Not only did Ladder 49 fail to meet my already-low expectations, but it literally managed to bore the [censored] out of me; and, yes, actually, I do mean literally. 

The movie initially feigns to unfold in this "crazy" nonlinear fashion by beginning at the end. Jack Morrison, played by the still alive Phoenix brother, responds to his fantasy fire, and suddenly finds himself badly injured, trapped in an 80 story concrete building after a partial collapse. As he lay dying, Morrison contemplates his life, beginning the assault of linear flashbacks and revealing the weak, if not insignificant, story. 

As a decade in the life of firefighter Jack Morrison passes, from his hose fumbles as a rookie to his heroic rescues as a seasoned veteran, we see how the sacrifice and trauma of being part of the Baltimore City Fire Department impacts his relationships and mental health. 

Initially, I failed to understand the purpose of the flashback story telling and thought it did little for the story. Then, I had a mental conflagration of my own and realized there was no story. There weren't even characters, just very limited, two-dimensional personas placed in impressive firefighting scenes. 

As a result, it was hard, if not impossible, to identify with or actually care what happened to any of the characters. Morrison's personal development and growth didn't matter; his failing relationship with his dumb wife and kids didn't matter; and it was even hard to care about the nameless, token black firefighter who had his face melted off by the haunted steam pipe. 

Without characters and a story, what do you have? You have a bombshell movie filled with some lame one-liners and a whole lot of firefighting. Bare bones, the movie is nothing more than a sad excuse to dramatize the struggles and sacrifices a firefighter has to make in order to avoid working in an office. 

At the end of the movie, Jack Morrison is finally dead and the remaining audience finds itself sitting at his funeral. The Fire Chief, poorly cast and played by John Travolta, says a few kind words; Morrison's wife sheds a few tears; and the viewer is left with this to ponder, "How is it that fireman are always running into a burning building when everyone else is running out?" Well, in the five seconds it took me to run from my seat to the bathroom, I figured it out: Money! Thats how. Firemen are paid a handsome salary in return for a service. Our country has somehow overlooked this detail in venerating and almost immortalizing firefighters. Not to say firefighters aren't important, but heroism isn't a paid gig. Firefighters are no more heroic than garbage men and office clerks. 

Ladder 49 relies heavily on our nation's blind affinity for fireman and residual, misguided patriotism. The writer and director of this movie collaborated to do nothing more than exploit the gaping hole left in Americas heart by that flaming pile of garbage in New York for the last few dollars it was worth. Congratulations, blood suckers."

See all reviews of this DVD:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...&s=dvd&n=507846

[Guest WolfEMT]

What a d$!%&ebag [-X

[WAS967 97]

Why? Becuase you disagree with him? I thought it was a well written review, and while I can't vouch for accuracy having not seen the movie, I thought it relayed his sentiments well. Sure, the veneration comments may have been a little harsh, but if you stand back and look from a neutral position, it's not far from realiity. Tho I wouldn't quite consider a sanitation position or desk clerk as being heroic.

[Guest WolfEMT]

No, not because I disagree with him, but because he clearly lacks respect for those who answer the call and put their lives on the line to save the lives and property of people such as himself. This is evidenced by the following:

Ladder 49 relies heavily on our nation's blind affinity for firefighter and residual, misguided patriotism. The writer and director of this movie collaborated to do nothing more than exploit the gaping hole left in Americas heart by that flaming pile of garbage in New York for the last few dollars it was worth. Congratulations, blood suckers."

Our nation's "blind affinity" has nothing to do with 9/11, as the author alludes. However, it has everything to do with the fact that we respect FFs, EMTs, Medics, and to an extent, Cops, who answer the 911 calls regardless of the risks to their own personal safety.

And as for the comment about the "flaming pile of garbage," that flaming pile happened to be the final resting place of several people who I knew, so I take that crap seriously. Until the author can prove that he had a family member or friend die in the "flaming pile," then he should shut up and take a sensitivity class.

[Pudge3311 5]

Wolfemt,

I agree with you 100%. I happened to know a few people too, and although the author is entitled to his opinion, I think he did go a little too far with the comments regarding the towers. Its a shame he thinks the way he does, maybe he is just not able to see what we do everyday when someone calls for help.

[Guest irishfire]

How is it that firefighter are always running into a burning building when everyone else is running out?" Well, in the five seconds it took me to run from my seat to the bathroom, I figured it out: Money! Thats how. firefighter are paid a handsome salary in return for a service.

Some firefighter are volunteers we dont expect to get paid

We do it to help others and to try to save the house before it is lost.

Do the job before trashing the Job!!! (And maybe you would know what it is like to run in to a burning buliding) Idiot like that dont know what they are talking about...

[Guest]

What a d$!%&ebag  [-X

You can't take what this guy said personal!! He has every right to speak his mind. I don't agree with everything he said either. But some of his thinking isn't far off. Every job has its Heroes! Not just Firefighters. :wink:

[x648eng119 2]

What a d$!%&ebag  [-X

You can't take what this guy said personal!! He has every right to speak his mind. I don't agree with everything he said either. But some of his thinking isn't far off. Every job has its Heroes! Not just Firefighters. :wink:

I'm not taking it personally, but i still think he's a d$!%&ebag!

[Guest WolfEMT]

I wasn't taking it personally, either. I was just saying that you gotta be some kind of d$!%&ebag to say something like that. It's one thing if the guy didn't like the movie, but to paint FFs and the 9/11 victims with the same brush that he painted the movie with is just plain wrong.

[x648eng119 2]

That's what i'm sayin - way to put it wolfie

[BFD1054 1,552]

Yes, like everyone else, A$$holes are allowed to have opinions too! I will not knock this "author" for his thoughts on the movie, as it is only a movie review. But the comment about the WTC being a "pile of garbage" made me sick to my stomach! The terrorist attacks on 9/11/01 had nothing to do with Ladder 49, so he could have left that alone! And where is this guy from that he thinks firefighters are paid very well for their services lol? I don't know many guys that make a killing from being a firefighter, in fact many of them have second jobs to support their families! And for the FF's out there who do make a decent salary...good for them, they deserve it! So yes WAS967, you are correct in that this guy is entitled to his opionion, but we are also entitled to disagree with some of his statements. This guy also says that firefighters are no more heroic than office clerks or garbage men & he may be on to something. I would say the majority of firefighters don't believe that they are heroic either, they are just doing their job! So yes, the guy is entitled to his opinion & he wrote a movie review (and an in depth one it was), but we can still be upset with some of his comments.

[JBE 328]

Another person who seems to get off knocking what he knows nothing about.

I agreed with him up to the point that the movie sucked. That's about as far as it went.

The flaming pile of rubbish line pi$$ed me off considering I lost a number of friends that morning.

Just another pi$$ed off guy looking to get a rise out of the reader.

I don't need to read a review to say the movie stunk.