Only the Brave Reviews

Summary All men are created equal... then, a few become firefighters. Only the Brave, based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of one unit of local firefighters that through hope, determination, sacrifice, and the drive to protect families, communities, and our country become one of the most elite firefightin...

• Action

• Biography

• Drama

Only the Brave is a visually splendid, spellbinding, and surreal movie that also happens to be an emotionally shattering, over-the-top ugly-cry for the ages.

Moving, majestic and manly, Only the Brave is a nearly perfect rendition of the sort of righteous, heroic entertainment Hollywood routinely built around its best leading men.

Great movie absolutely love it, pays justice to the real life heroes ¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so upset that this film got no recognition. This is a must see and one of the best films of the year. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie when you get the chance. The acting is solid, the writing is excellent and compelling, and the direction brings about a vast array of emotions that have you not only laughing, but crying because of truly caring for these characters.

As the story builds, these characters become richer and more complicated — and the stakes become more deadly — resulting in a movie with a delayed but no less potent dramatic punch.

The film concerns itself more with beauty shots of the region’s rugged, intimidating vastness than with “Backdraft”-rivaling imagery of combustion as art.

The pacing is slow and deliberate. Director Joseph Kosinski (“Oblivion”) knows that it takes time to build real relationships and feelings.

Backdraft clichés notwithstanding, this is a stirring fact-based tribute to public servants putting it on the line.

A salt-of-the-earth tale that’ll play well in red states, but offers little spark.

Didn't expect much when i went to the cinema tonight, but boy, how wrong i was! This is a real gem that nobody should miss ! I have worked along the real US firefighters, i have seen that spirit and this film captured that close-to-madness zeal and knowing that you are doing the right thing. Go and see the film, this is the best thing along with the Wind River release in the movies at the moment !

An extremely well-made drama that is going under the radar. Only the Brave features a high profile cast and it pays big dividends. Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelley, Taylor Kitsch deliver huge performances that really takes the film to the next level. The film does a great job covering the life of the firefighters outside of the actual fires showing the toll it takes on the families as well. You really feel family-like bond within the firefighters and the extreme danger they face fighting the fires. It is rare for a Hollywood movie based on true events to be as well-executed as Only the Brave and it is definitely worth the watch.

Brolin makes you care about everything and he keeps himself at the bottom of the list. No wonder, he is at the top of mine. Only The Brave The director Joseph Kosinski's films are not something that have caught my eye. And that is saying a lot, considering how his filmography contains one of the biggest, shiniest, loudest colourful CGI films like Tron : Legacy and Oblivion where mind you, once again the biggest star Tom Cruise was roaming about alone. And if you know the spoilers of the film there is more than Tom Cruise in the film- jumble this sentence at your own risk. Also, this is one of those films that has been on my radar but never actually got the chance to see it. And not only because there is Josh Brolin at the heart of it or the film got a good reception but the fact that the film covers different timelines in the story about these indeed brave men. The story hops around a lot. And showcases snippets of character's value, disease and hopefully the hint of medicinal pills that will keep them alive. While doing so the film could easily so loud, cheesy, predictable and amateurish. It is one of the most difficult jobs to pull off. Hence, fascinated by what new method does Kosinski deal with this time jump I was amped for this biography. So what he uses is a sharp, on-your-face editing that embraces these video clips and tells frankly what the deal really is. You get used to with this procedure in these two hours to the extent that you start demanding to be treated like that. Only The Brave is a success on that very note. For it is a story about people living a lifestyle that we cannot imagine or adapt just as the supporting character often fails to and so it has to and it HAS to mold you to that gruesome training that they call routine.

This is not an action film about firefighting, but a drama about fire fighters. Josh Brolin plays the supervisor of a team of Hotshots and Miles Teller is the troubled loser whose commitment to the squad turns his life around. The actors bring these characters to life, while the good-natured ribbing and comaradarie helps us care for them. There's some incredible images of the majesty and uncontrollable horror of wild fire, but their actual encounters aren't all that riveting. Once you accept that this is more about the people, then you can appreciate their story. Even so, it's not especially compelling (although the final scenes are powerful).

Here's another "Based on the Incredible True Story" movie so get the tissues ready. I'm getting real sick of all these horrific true story movies that tries its very hardest to reduce you to a blubbering mess by the end of it. After a while they all start to morph into one so while watching Only The Brave I couldn't help but feel like I've seen this exact movie before. Only instead of an oil rig it's a wild fire. This particular true story biopic focuses on the Granite Mountain Hotshots. A tragic story and although the last ten minutes is perhaps the most intense scene in these based on true events movies I only wish I could say the same for the rest of the film. So formulaic it hurts, squeezing in as many overly sentimental scenes of the main characters and their families as it possibly can. And just in case you're not already crying by the end let's not forget the pictures of the real victims saved for the credits. Before they become certified Hotshots we get to meet them as best mates and after twenty minutes in I stopped counting how many times I was hearing the words dude and bro. Just to further drive home the fact that they're such great friends with the best supervisor ever, enter Josh Brolin. Now let's meet Miles Teller, the outsider, the one with the drug problem and has now just had a daughter. Trying to make himself a better person he joins the team and the bromance continues. It moves from scene to scene in a series of mediocre acting and a badly paced story. With the exception of Teller and Brolin every other firefighter was almost a copy and paste of one another and it reduces any character who isn't a Hotshot into a prop. Overly dramatic and cheesy, if there was a way to tell this story onscreen this certainly wasn't it. I lost interest very early on and only regained it towards the end. Not recommended.

Visual Effects Society Awards

Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards