Ron Howard's blockbuster firefighter drama pairs estranged brothers, played by Kurt Russell and William Baldwin, battling both raging Chicago blazes and a serial arsonist, with Robert De Niro as a fire investigator. Its groundbreaking, Oscar-nominated fire effects made flame itself feel like a living character. Overwrought in its family melodrama but thrilling in its set pieces, it was a big hit that defined the firefighting-action subgenre and remains a benchmark for on-screen infernos.