The Fiery Kurt Russell Film That Came With A Thrill-Inducing Tourist Attraction

Any regular theme park attendee probably has a list of their favorite roller coasters and rides (and maybe a go-to churro stand or two). But what about the hyper-specific category of special effects shows? Live stunt shows don't count, because those are too well-known (sorry, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular). Instead, we're talking about more obscure attractions, the ones people might wander into on a whim between waiting in line for the park's ultra-popular rides.

In these special effects shows, most of which have since been closed down or revamped into other attractions altogether, park visitors were essentially herded into a controlled area to witness some kind of bombastic demonstration. Younger visitors may not even remember these, but they experienced their heyday in the 1990s, and were often based on a popular movie from the time.

One of the most notable examples was inspired by Ron Howard's 1991 blockbuster "Backdraft," the firemen-centric action thriller starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Scott Glenn, and the late Donald Sutherland. This and the special effects show based on Jan de Bont's "Twister" basically marked the peak of this theme park micro-genre, and it's worth remembering both because of how rare these types of attractions came around and as a look into a time when theme parks invested a lot of resources into experiences based on films that weren't even Earth-shattering cultural events.

Naturally, it makes sense that Disney invested in an "Avatar"-themed land, and Universal went all-in on building Harry Potter expansions: those films made their respective studios astronomical sums of money. Meanwhile, "Backdraft" was a hit, but a somewhat modest one; the movie was only the 14th highest grosser of 1991. For comparison's sake, and to illustrate the difference in mentality of these parks then and now, the 14th highest grosser of 2021 was "Free Guy." You certainly don't see any "Free Guy" theme park rides operating around the world.

Arguably the most impressive thing about the Backdraft attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood was how quickly it was opened. "Backdraft" hit theaters in May of 1991, and this attraction was open in July of 1992. Of course, it was aided by the fact that the park's designers didn't have to cook up individual ride vehicles or elaborate theming; as you can see in the full walkthrough video above, visitors basically just stood in front of a couple of screens, watched video greetings from Ron Howard and a few cast members (including Kurt Russell, whose boyish charm is in full force), and then saw a fire demonstration in a warehouse set that looks vaguely similar to the one in the film's explosive climax:

Still, The Hollywood Reporter says the attraction cost $10 million (how much of that went to Howard and the actors is unclear), and there was a cool bit of technology employed in which a wall of air protected the crowds from the blazing heat of the fires. I never had the pleasure of visiting this attraction in person because the Hollywood location was scrapped in 2010 to make way for a 3D Transformers ride (a "Backdraft" copy opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2011, though it permanently closed just nine years later), but it seems like the most thrilling aspect of experiencing it would have been the moment where the platform dramatically drops for a second at the very end of the demonstration, giving visitors just a micro-flicker of an idea that the demonstration somehow went wrong and they were in real danger.

The attraction may be gone, but "Backdraft" itself will live forever. As of this writing, the film is streaming on MGM+. And to find out the surprising Kurt Russell film that has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, click here. I guarantee you won't be able to guess it.