Ladder 49

Theatrical Release Date: 2004 10 01 (USA)

UPC: 786936226416

Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Adult Humor]

Summary: An everyday hero recalls his life as he's forced to look death in the eye in this adventure drama. Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) is a young firefighter who is a member of Ladder Company 49, led by Capt. Kennedy (John Travolta), a tough but compassionate man who looks upon his fellow firefighters as a family. While battling a blaze, Morrison finds himself trapped inside a burning building, and as Kennedy and his men try to find a way to rescue him, Morrison looks back on his life and how he came to choose such a dangerous career. Ladder 49 also features Jacinda Barrett and Brooke Hamlin as, respectively, Morrison's wife and daughter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Drama

Features: ccEnhanced Home Theater Mix - a dynamic audio-sensory experience designed specifically for your home theater system
Everyday Heroes: real stories from real firefighters
Deleted scenes
The Making of Ladder 49
Robbie Robertson "Shine Your Light" music video
Audio commentary with director Jay Russell and editor Bud Smith

Ladder 49

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 03/08/2005

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, THX THX-Certified Mastering

Runtime: 115 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Blaze on the 12th Floor [10:37]
2. Engine 33 [5:27]
3. Your First Fire [:41]
4. Going In [:04]
5. Brotherhood and the Girl [4:54]
6. The Life of Ladder 49 [8:24]
7. Lowering the Flag [5:48]
8. The Family [9:58]
9. It Hurts [16:13]
10. Working It Out [13:24]
11. Honors and Defeat [4:28]
12. Saying Goodbye [13:09]

Derek Armstrong

From the blue-collar heroism of its title onward, Ladder 49 honors the quintessential experience of the American firefighter. Never mind that it focuses on a blazing Baltimore factory, rather than the World Trade Center -- the film is a pretty transparent eulogy for the public servants who left behind loving families on September 11, 2001. To make Joaquin Phoenix's Jack Morrison even more of an archetype, Irish flute music provides the soundtrack for some of the defining moments of his life, because firefighters -- at least those created in Hollywood -- are disproportionately Irish. But just because the film has some overtones of Bush White House propaganda doesn't mean it's not truthful, and at times, funny and touching. Phoenix' broken-nose good looks have always made him an effective everyman. He perfectly embodies the universality of screenwriter Lewis Colick's protagonist, a charming good old boy who wins a pretty wife and produces two darling children. That this idyllic life is so vulnerable is probably a belabored point in Jay W. Russell's film, as several beloved firehouse jokesters are forced to pay a dear price in the line of duty. Ladder 49 is also a little lazy in its plotting, amounting to little more than a highlight reel from Jack's life, recalled as he lies in that burning building. Because of this structure, the outcome of the film's primary conflict -- whether Jack should go on saving lives or retire to a desk job to protect his family -- is already known. But maybe that's the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from Ladder 49's agenda: for the brave firefighters who died on 9/11, there never was a choice. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Jay Hernandez  Actor 
Kevin Daniels  Actor 
Robert Logan Lewis  Actor 
Kevin Chapman  Actor 
Spencer Berglund  Actor 
Brooke Hamlin  Actor 
Armyan Bernstein  Executive Producer 
Lewis Colick  Screenwriter 
William Ross  Composer (Music Score) 
Jay Russell  Director 
Marty P. Ewing  Executive Producer 
Casey Silver  Producer 
Joaquin Phoenix  Actor 
John Travolta  Actor 
Jacinda Barrett  Actor 
Robert Patrick  Actor 
Morris Chestnut  Actor 
Billy Burke  Actor 
Balthazar Getty  Actor 
Tim Guinee  Actor 

Country: USA