Extra Credit Movie Analysis “ladder 49”

Alejandro Altamirano

Fire 100, Mr. Hooper

Extra Credit

April 12, 2016

Extra Credit Movie Analysis “Ladder 49”

        Ladder 49 grabs you instantly on the opening scene, a warehouse is on fire, and people are trapped on the 12th floor. The main actor, Jack rushes into the building with his team, Jack finds a survivor on the 12th floor which is too high for ladders to reach. Part of the building blows and Jack falls through a hole in the center of the building and lands a few floors below. Once he gains consciousness again he talks to his chief to begin a search for him but the building is about to collapse. After this scene jack has flashbacks of his first day as a rookie firefighter, when he met his wife, him and his buddies drinking at a bar, when he has kids but most importantly when he volunteers for search and rescue.

 Linda his wife worries about him, and dreads the day a red fire chief's car may pull up in front of her house to deliver bad news. During his flashbacks, back down on the floor with the engines and the chief, they have diagrams to figure out where he is located inside the building. He gives them clues based on what he can see. Kennedy asks if he can get to a brick wall, knock a hole in it, and crawl through it to a room they think they can reach him. Sadly, Jack passes away from the collapse building but this movie had a bigger meaning to it. Putting himself to save lives of others and what a firefighter’s life and family mean to them.

 Firefighters and Americans who faced the tragic moment on September 11, 2001, the events will not be forgotten. Jay Russell makes Ladder 49 to help remind us of all that we take for granted on a daily basis, and those who regularly put their lives on the line for others.  Ladder 49 was written before 911 but was screened after the tragic situation of 9/11. The movie also shows how firefighters deal with each other during the hardest times of their lives, the death of a fellow firefighter in a fire, and the injuring of another. Jay Russell wanted to remind firefighter’s why they fight fires for.

        As a firefighter you'll face dangerous situations that have a high risk of personal injury or illness, Ladder 49 shows the dangers of the fire service. You'll need to be physically fit for this career. Shifts will be long and will exhaust a person to the extreme but the reward will be worth more. My thoughts and emotions for becoming a firefighter changed after seeing this movie and how stressful the job can be on myself and others, making me try harder to make this my future career. Ladder 49 is a perfect example of the fire service and how dangerous this career can be on a person, from going into burning buildings to bringing back a life that escaped death. This job is not for everyone but this career is certainly for me.