Ladder 49
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: October 1, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
18
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Because it is attentive to these human elements, Ladder 49 draws from the action scenes instead of depending on them. Phoenix, Travolta, Barrett and the others are given characters with dimension, so that what happens depends on their decisions, not on the plot. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Aside from the awesome flames and pyrotechnic scenes of crisis, danger, and part-of-the-job bravery, the movie is a quiet salute; it does its job. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
In its best moments, the film works as both an exciting and formula-breaking action-adventure and as an enjoyably sappy tearjerker. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
There's a lot of flashy acting going, notably by Travolta, who has not been more engaging on-screen in a decade, and by newcomer Barrett, a willowy Aussie who, as a woman living with the specter of death, gives the film's most complete performance. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Celebrates heroes without turning them into saints. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Offers audiences a real rarity in theaters these days: a good, honest cry. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
One could argue that such an approach isn't all bad - after all, it allows us to know and like the characters - but there are times when Ladder 49 gets a little too cute. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Predictable, square, and honorable all at once. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The film is less of a drama than a tribute -- an ode, even -- to the spirit and tenacity of firefighters. Its makers hardly bother to explore the lives or motives behind their actions. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
It plays, rather, like an old-fashioned, by-the-numbers drama that solidly connects with most of its well-worn cliches. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
This resolutely old-fashioned movie is less a drama of the streets than a kind of recruiting film. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A little humanity can go a long way to make up for a movie's shortcomings, and there's more than a little in Ladder 49, a surprisingly stirring celebration of heroic firefighters.
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Might have been an oversized Hollywood dazzler. Phoenix keeps it firmly and modestly on a human scale. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Phoenix, who initially seemed the kind of actor who was too cool, too angry, to appear in studio pap such as this, is a magnetic presence, despite the numbing pathos surrounding him, but isn't that what we used to say about Travolta? Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
Instead of cashing in on barely healed wounds, Ladder 49 could have taken a different cue from pornography and gone the way of "Boogie Nights," a fascinating, difficult and honest glimpse into another storied profession. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
There has been a need for a big-screen feature about firefighter heroics since Sept. 11, but as drama, Ladder 49 falls short of even the second rung. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
As a loving tribute to the courage and sacrifice of firefighters, it's first-class. As a movie, it's a TV show. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Fails as drama but succeeds as a "When bad things happen to good firemen" procedural. It's sensitivity training for civilians. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Swings wildly between heartstring-tugging melodrama, testosterone-fueled action and buddy comedy. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Moves you with a couple of its grittier dramatic choices, but overall the film feels cheap, tugging a little too hard on the almost instinctual pride you feel when seeing a hero in fireman's outfit. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Plays like a war movie made in a time of war: too careful, too programmatic. Read full review
50
Village VoiceBen Kenigsberg
Not as snort-worthy as "Backdraft," Ladder 49 is a serviceable testament to the firemen who would bravely risk their lives to protect the safety of others. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
As a heartwarming tribute to the courage of firefighters, Ladder 49 delivers. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
In a shrill attempt to overcompensate for the film's shortcomings, William Ross' hyperbolic score does the audience's work for it, cheering heroism, guffawing during lighthearted moments, and getting all misty-eyed during the tender and tragic scenes. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This drama about Baltimore firefighters makes a serious effort to honor the sacrifices of professional rescue workers, but blasts of hokum keep threatening to collapse the building. Read full review
40
EmpireOlly Richards
Dull. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The firefighting equivalent of an Army recruitment commercial. Read full review
30
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
The men in this movie are little more than beer ad cliches going through Ford tough motions as though trapped in a bad country music video. There's not a realistic moment or character or performance in the picture. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
For all its noble intentions, the movie is really a work of crass exploitation -- an obvious and manipulative grab to cash in on the post-9/11 hero worship of the firefighting profession. Read full review
25
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Tedious and obnoxiously manipulative. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Leah McLaren
I like firemen just as much as the next red-blooded gal (they're big, strong, real-life heroes, what's not to like?) but something about Ladder 49, for all its slow-motion shots of burly guys in T-shirts sliding down poles and running into burning buildings with gushing hoses, made me seriously want to gag. Read full review
20
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
What makes this nonsense more galling than usual is that while Ladder 49 might have started out as a heartfelt attempt to honor those in the line of literal fire, it weighs in as an attempt to exploit their post-Sept. 11 symbolism. Read full review
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