Homens de Coragem

Only the brave didn't do too well at the box office and didn't receive too much press for award season, so it turned out to be not much of a success in both categories. However as a film, this is quite quality and overlooked. Based a a true story, with intriguing characters and an intriguing plot, there is a real pull within its story.

Josh Brolin is great as the lead in charge of the firefighter crew, though it is Miles Teller who shines in his role. These last few years, he has proved to show range in several different roles, yet he seems to be quite underrated in terms of the general perception.

Not everybody has heard the true story this movie is based on. I went into this movie only based on what I saw in the trailer. Since it's nonfiction, I knew it wouldn't be your typical cookie-cutter type narrative, but I still expected it, and was blown away by the tragic events, and the extraordinary way it was presented on screen.

This is the story of a special group of trained firefighters in dealing specifically with forest/brush fires. Their primary goal is to save as much land and lives as possible, as well as homes, from massive fires. These men train for years and when they meet certain requirements, are given qualifications to be labeled as "Hotshots," which seems to be the equivalent of an actuary obtaining their Fellowship, or a boy scout achieving his Eagle Scout, or a junior varsity becoming varsity (or a varsity obtaining their Letter). Hotshots also literally fight fire with fire, opposed to regular firefighters who fight fire with water. This is based on an actual crew, their lives and relationships with each other and their families, along with the work they bear, the hardships they endure, and the fires they face.

The most efficient aspects of the film are the acting, storytelling, and cinematography. The movie focuses more on their lives and relationships than the actual firefighting, but it does contain a fair amount of action. Beautiful Arizona scenery surrounds the key players and their fellow crew members as they battle an only-slightly-predictable threat.

Only cons I have are ones I had to nit-pick. The film in an effort to reach out to a wider audience, should have toned down the profanity, which is heavy even for a modern PG-13 movie. A few of the relationship dramas/arguments seemed contrived, and while they did a great job explaining the countermeasures they take to battle the fires, there still is some confusion to their methods, and it would have been nice to know some of the other members of crew better.

Phenomenal film, however, and was a tremendous memorial to these men and women.

This isn't just a story about specific men and women in history who made sacrifices to protect one state, this is about all emergency responders. Just like how most stories about the military focus on certain groups and individuals, but remains a tribute to ALL who make a living from defending other people's lives and liberties.

God bless our emergency responders, as well as our military, police, city firefighters, paramedics, so forth.

This movie really captures the essence of a rural/local fire team, the friendship, the lack of resources, doing your best in times when it may not be enough.

Super storytelling that builds on the characters and their responses to the epic events that confront them.

This movie opts for an honest telling, rather than the often over-hyped overly dramatic style many filmmakers opt for. The result is a story you can connect with.

Excellent film.

Some great true story movies coming out lately and this one is no exception, there are some truly brave people on planet earth.

With a solid cast and a great true story this was an easy watch.

This really captures the breath taking yet scary scenes these fire fighters have to deal with, impressive true but sad story with some solid acting making this a good easy watch.

Only the Brave is a movie directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Josh Brolin, Miles Teller and Jeff Bridges. The movie is essentially a biography about the the rise of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and how they come together to put their entire lives at risk to protect their town from a dangerous wildfire.

This managed to be a very interesting movie that brings you in very quickly when the movie starts. It is very well acted from beginning to end with interesting characters and motives. It's interesting to see how the members of the Hotshots' lives have changed as the organization forms and grows big. The movie isn't fully character driven, fortunately. The movie does have a large focus on dealing with the area's large wildfires, which are also highly engaging. It's admittedly hard to critique the execution of certain scenes like the firefighting scenes in Only the Brave when it's based on true events. If I would like to point out an issue that I have with the movie, it's that I thought the story structure was a bit all over the place, but again, it's hard to properly critique a biography movie due to the fact that it is based on true events.

8/10