''Backdraft 2'' (also known as ''Backdraft II'') is a 2019 American

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

thriller film directed by

Gonzalo López-Gallego Gonzalo López-Gallego (born 27 June 1973) is a Spanish film director who is best known for his movie ''Apollo 18 (film), Apollo 18'', a 2011 science fiction film, sci-fi Thriller film, thriller and horror film starring Warren Christie, Lloyd Ow ...

and written by Gregory Widen. A sequel to the 1991 film ''

Backdraft A backdraft (North American English), backdraught (British English) or smoke explosion is the abrupt combustion, burning of superheated gases in a fire caused when oxygen rapidly enters a hot, oxygen-depleted environment; for example, when a windo ...

'', also written by Widen, it stars Joe Anderson, with

William Baldwin William Joseph Baldwin (born February 21, 1963) Note: While birthplace is routinely listed as Massapequa, that town has no hospital, and brother Alec Baldwin was born in nearby Amityville, which does. is an American actor and the second-younge ...

and

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...

reprising their respective roles as Brian McCaffrey and Ronald Bartel from the original film. It was released on a

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

format on May 14, 2019.

Synopsis

Arson investigator Fire investigation (sometimes referred to as origin and cause investigation) is the analysis of fire-related incidents. After firefighters extinguish a fire, an investigation is launched to determine the origin and cause of the fire or explosi ...

Sean McCaffrey, son of the late Lieutenant Stephen "Bull" McCaffrey, works out of Station 17 of the

Chicago Fire Department The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) provides firefighting services along with emergency medical response services, hazardous materials mitigation services, and technical rescue response services in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, un ...

, one of the units in the division run by his uncle, Deputy District Chief of the Chicago Office of Fire Investigation (OFI) Brian McCaffrey. Sean prefers working alone, and is initially rude when Station 17's Captain White tells him he must follow protocol and work with a partner, Maggie Rening. The new team is assigned a fire which killed five youngsters on Halloween. After they confirm the fire is arson, they later catch an arsonist who tells them that he had turned down a massive fee to set the Halloween fire. Sean talks with Ronald Bartel, a murderous arsonist who has been in prison for decades. Bartel provides insight that includes the involvement of terrorists led by Albert "Tall Albert" Smith, using fires to distract from the theft of missiles. Albert plants a bomb in Sean's home to murder him. Sean calls Brian and tells him about what happened. Brian drops by and sees if he can defuse it, but dies in the process. A funeral is held for Brian and Sean bids farewell to him just as he bid farewell to his father decades earlier. Ronald expresses condolences to Sean and explains to him where Tall Albert and his henchmen possibly hang out. Sean and Maggie go after Albert and his gang, who are subsequently caught and defeated. And like in 1991, ''Backdraft 2'' ends when a call comes in for another fire.

Cast

Release

The film was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

, DVD, and

Digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

on May 14, 2019.

Reception

Alex McLevy of The

A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

gave a positive review, writing, "This is the kind of brainless but trashily enjoyable film that would suit the bill when you're looking for something to watch hungover on a lazy Sunday afternoon."

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2019 action thriller films 2019 films 2019 direct-to-video films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American action thriller films American films about Halloween American sequel films Backdraft (franchise) Chicago Fire Department Direct-to-video action films Direct-to-video sequel films Direct-to-video thriller films English-language action thriller films Films about arson Films about firefighting Films about terrorism in the United States Films directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego Films scored by Randy Edelman Films set in Chicago Films with screenplays by Gregory Widen Imagine Entertainment films Universal Pictures direct-to-video films