[MisterX]

Having accidentally deleted my first post when editing and unable to undo it as far as I can tell....
Other then them not wearing full PPE (hoods are part of PPE too boys) This movie was on of the best things based on firefighting I have seen! It had more realistic scenes then Backdraft (part of special effect technology though), and it lack the lewdness of Rescue Me which some find offensive (which season finale I am watching as I type)
I initially got involved with the fire service when I took an EMT class shortly thereafter September 11th. I then joined an Ambulance service based out of the same station as a fire company allowing me to hang out with firefighter while at the station. I have since started to classes on FFI to further pursue my career as a first-responder. Practically everyday I see these guys and witness their antics first hand, however when those tone sounds they take upon themselves a completely different demeanor. No longer are they the same guys that put shaving cream in boots but guys that pull on their boots and go into burning building putting someone else ahead of their own life. This movie does a fine job in my opinion of capturing this as we see Jack transform through his entire fire career from a boy to a man, and as we witness the real time transformation when the fearless, wisecracking, invulnerable Bad Boys garbage gets thrown out the bay doors and the mature man comes out with the realization of what he is about to do.
When I went to see this amazing movie I was blessed to me sitting amongst my fellow brothers allowing me to see their reaction to the movie as well. Between the whispers of “He should be sounding that roof, or “Where is his hood?” I realized just how much the script hit home. While a “Ladder 49” script was written prior to 9/11, the attacks forced us all to revisit the real definition of the word hero and how grateful we are of those “strangers who do the dirtiest, hardest, most stressful work in the world because they believe they should.” The director did I fine job realizing that because of what happened at the WTC we will never watch another fire-fighting movie without thinking about it, and he uses this information with out abusing it to the point it takes away from the situation.
*IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET (WHICH YOU SHOULD DO IF YOU HAVN’T) STOP READING*

Like Ryan stated, I too am not one to cry within a movie theatre however, this is one movie where I was not worried about what it would look like to cry. When Jack is trapped in a towering inferno having the floor collapsed all around him, and Capt. Kennedy is left with the difficult decision to pull the men out who were trying to save one of their own, all is hopeless for Jack having fought so hard to be pulled out. At this point in time I too along with the other boys I went to see the movie with all held a tear in our eyes. However, I do not think that we were crying because of the intensity of the moment but rather because of the reality of the moment. I bet everybody in the theatre at that point in time was wishing deep down that all the firefighters could pull there resources and in a brazen manner rush through the flashover and pull their man out with flames billowing out the door silhouetting themselves as they celebrated another victory. However, in reality not all firefighters are able to come out having entered while everybody else exited. Sometimes, firefighters must make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. It was this ending that caught us all off guard that the movie was able to catch this very non-Hollywood mentality. Despite all of our perception that firefighters are angel without wings, they are nothing but humans dancing where the devil walks and for this I applaud a fine movie!

Highly Motivated, and Truly Dedicated
Anywhere, Anytime, Any Job
To Protect Life & Property
All men are created equal… then some become Firefighters
We go in, while you go out
Hell hasn’t frozen over, we just put it out
We put the blue stuff on the red stuff
Always on-call
All in a day’s duty
Hot stuff, and we aint talking about the fire
We admire fire
We fight what you fear