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Sometimes a film can overcome mediocre material. While the screenplay by Lewis Colick has its moments, what really makes “Ladder 49” shine is the swift editing of Bud Smith, tense direction of Jay Russell and the performances of the cast. Many times a memorable and capable cast can overcome the shortcomings of material and such is the case here. With some incredible action sequences and set pieces, “Ladder 49” recognizes both the ordinary nature of the men who become firefighters but the extraordinary courage that drives these men to be real heroes. It’s refreshing to have a film celebrate the types of heroes we might see everyday after an onslaught of superheroes. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy “Spiderman” and “The X-Men” just lke the next guy but the tight dramatic moments that can occur in real life rarely show up in those types of movies. We have it here with a tense and memorable thriller that somehow manages to be more than its parts. The ensemble cast does an excellent job of evoking the tedium, excitement and danger of their way of life. ***

Opening with a tense sequence on a high rise manufacturing facility where an explosive fire is raging, we immediately see the life of one firefighter ends up clinging to life after the building collapses. We view most of the story in flashback as we meet Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) on his first day on the job. We immediately get a sense of the camaraderie of the men. When we first meet Captain Kennedy (John Travolta) he’s asleep after having had one too many or as he? The men immediately play a practical joke on Morrison as part of his initiation rite. The main man behind many of these practical jokes Lenny Richter (Robert Patrick) nails Morrison with a simple but effective joke. Needless to say payback is a bitch and we see it a couple of times in the first half hour of the movie. It’s clear, though, that the jokes are designed to build a sense of community and also break the tedium until the men of stationhouse 33 are called into action. ---

As usual there’s a number of Disney/Buena Vista previews at the beginning of the disc. I’m thankful that, unlike Universal’s releases, I’m able to skip right to the action of the film the second or third time I watch this. The previews are fun the first time around but are boring later on. We get the usual assortment of extras here including deleted scenes, a making of featurette that’s quite good at capturing the danger and excitement of shooting a movie of this type with fire and real explosions on set. Robbie Robertson’s (where has the ex-leader of The Band been all this time?) music video also graces this set with the theme song. The 14 minute short documentary “Everyday Heroes” focuses on real firefighters and their stories. We meet the men of Engine Company 8 discussing their lives, their inspirations and some of the horror stories they’v had to endure. It’s a nice solid salute to the real heroes that save lives and who’s lives are just as routine as yours and mine except when the alarm goes off. ***

The 20 minute featurette on the making of the movie is broken up into three sections; the first “On Location” where we see, well, location footage with sound bites from the writer, director, executive producer and producer. All three discuss the production challenges for on location shooting particularly finding an area that wasn’t overexposed. “The Academy” focuses on the training the actors underwent so that they could appear to do what a firefighter does. Two weeks of training won’t make an actor into a firefighter but it gives them a sense of what they do. “Anatomy of a Scene” discusses the powerful opening sequence and how difficult it was to co-ordinate the physical effects while making the environment safe for the actors. All the fire in the sequences are real since creating digital fire doesn’t quite have the look (at least according to the director and producer) of a real burning fire. The city of Baltimore allowed the production crew to burn down buildings that were condemned as part of the production. ---