Ladder 49

Herald rating: **

Firefighter Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) is trapped in a burning warehouse. As you do at this time, his mind flashes back to the days when he and the crew got up to all sorts of crazy games, like the times when Chief Kennedy (John Travolta) got wasted and staggered about in his underpants. And how Jack married Linda (Jacinda Barrett), the woman he met, accidentally, at the supermarket. And then there's the lives he saved, thanks to his pride in the ol' red, white and blue ... This is shameless exploitation of the myth-making of New York firefighters that followed September 11 - so shameless that its advertising campaign lifted news images from that tragedy.

The DVD has few extras, built around a commentary from director Jay Russell and editor Bud Smith, a back-slapping 21-minute making-of, a visit to Baltimore firefighters at work and at home (guess the NY guys didn't want to be involved), five deleted scenes, and a music video.

* DVD, Video rental May 25