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I think the bear was more of a metaphor, than a actual bear.

"This is not the way it would be unless something really bad happened" Spoiler alert: It did

I live less then 30 minutes form where this happened a few short years ago. The story is just heartbreaking.

Hey Cody. The Gatlinburg fire was actually named "The Chimney Tops" fire. It was an extraordinary circumstance. An unprecedented wind event with wind speeds from 70-90mph combined with super dry conditions and they experienced an extreme blow up. They did not have time to evacuate and it looked very much like that scene, save the air tankers. It was a one in a million event but it did happen. We came from NC to help with the fire.

I am a NATIVE AMERICAN WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER out of Montana. I became a Wildland FireFighter as soon as I was old enough to do so when I turned 18 in 1999 that’s what I did, I’m a third generation FireFighter so I felt like I had to, I wasn’t too sure what I was getting myself into but I did. I did type ll handcrew until 2006 then became an engine boss and been doing the pumper truck (engine) from then on and still loving it. P.S. I had the opportunity to work with NASA when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during re entry over Texas in 2003. That was an experience

My dad has a picture of his Engine Captains took while on a strike team. It was a cool shot of some caribou running from the fire front while a hotshot crew burned off a dozer line in the back ground. My dad, starting off his firefighting career as a hotshot, has a certain fondness for the crews. He of course knew it was Granite Mountain since he was working with them on the same division. At the time my dad liked the image because it was just a cool photo, this was the season before the tragedy. After he heard about the Yarnell Hill Fire he looked at it in a new light. It now serves as his background on his I pad as a constant reminder that anything bad can happen to anyone at anytime and to maintain LCES.

Thanks for doing a review on this Cody, I live in Prescott and I got to know one of the Granite Mountain Hotshots not too long before he was killed in the fire. Im very interested to see how exactly they tell the story in the movie and how the community here will react. It may have been just over four years ago when it happened but but here it still feels like it was yesterday.

The audio is a little off

I stumbled on this review while looking over some Granite Mountain material, and I'm guessing you have quite a movie-review following? Please correct me if I'm mistaken, but while your technical knowledge of wildland firefighting is really informed, it's a little odd to get the sense that you comment on this as if "you've been there" when it seems you haven't. I spent five years on a shot crew, and while I certainly don't claim to know all-things-hotshotting, too many of your, "this would not be done" or "this would not happen" are incorrect. It's okay to stick to what you know and be satisfied with that, don't you think?

It was scary that night. I was within the County where the fire was. We knew about the Hotshots fighting the fire. I was outside and the wind was blowing one direction, then suddenly it was blowing the opposite direction. I had a bad feeling and the next day we got the tragic news.

I am seeing several questions asking best way to get started in wildland fire, well Colorado seems to have several ways to get involved. I am a veteran so the route I took was through a company called South West conservation corps and inside that group was one called VFC or veteran fire corps it's a program that trains you for six months getting all of your certs through Colorado fire camp in salida. From there you get several hundred hours using chainsaws as well as several hundred hours of line digging, you do take the pack test and get your red cards then do some burns with local agencies. By the time this program ends you have people literly calling you to have you join there teams. If you are a veteran and are interested in becoming a wildland firefighter I will suggest going through conservation corps they are in several states and veteran fire corps is located in 5 states and soon they will be located on the east coast. I hope this helps some people, and if anyone has questions I will be glad to help.

Wranglestar is reviewing a trailer and not the movie...So why does it say"Official review of the motion picture Only The Brave Star(r)ing Jeff Bridges"????

We had to do a review of the incident and the actions of the hotshot leader at a Wildland class back in 2015 and that said my memory is fuzzy on the whole event. The class leadership wanted to convince us that it was the fault of the leader of the team. Maybe it was the info presented to me at the time but I stood up for his choices that day. His spotter left, he was on the other side of the ridge and the last information given to him was that it was going parallel with the direction he needed to go to the farm house. The IC, while not ordering him to go to the new location and get out of the black, did do his best to persuade him. With hindsight he was totally wrong but as a first responder myself, you never have hindsight when having to make life and death choices in the moment. So it's completely useless. By the time the crew realized the fire had turned, they couldn't retreat and made a valiant last stand. Should he of left the black with no spotter, no. Did he know the fire was going to turn once it got around the ridge, no. The distance was not a long one from his safe point to the house he needed to go to. So however the movie portrays the hotshot team lead, besides not having his spotter, I stand with the team lead that he made a calculated decision he felt was safe to accomplish. Just my $.02

You never worked on a crew did you ;)

Not two Hughes helicopter but they’re two Bell 205/UH-1 Huey. The helicopter doing the water drop in the town looks to be a Helicopter Transport Services Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane. The air tanker is an International Air Response C-130H. The actual terrain is flat/rolling hills and sage brush where granite mountain hotshot final stand took place. The site is now Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park.

I believe the actor who plays the team leader is Josh Brolin, not Jeff Bridges. Looks like a good movie

I'm glad they are making a movie about this. It's based on real events and I grew up and lived in the Prescott area in Az for 20 years and the effects of this story really rocked that community.

As long as the family's of the fallen get something from this and not just Hollywood I'm all for it.

And yeah they weren't celebrating because they Pastor qualification for getting in their shelters in time. The superintendent was messing with them and had a surprise test and after they finished that's when he told them they were Tier 1

I think you should’ve have read a bit of back story on this cause the movies on 19 hot shots dying and one of them I know personally. The part where u say they survive and everything’s ok really hurt. Next time read back story on anything’s if it’s a true event. Kevin Woyjeck he was such a nice guy

Josh Brolin seams to be the leader there. Didn't see Jeff Bridges. I'm sure he's in a secondary role. He's pretty old now

Official review? As opposed to an unofficial one?

Wranglerstar, 12:00 in you're talking about the fire coming into town and people running for their lives while air drops are being done and ash and cinders falling all around being "Hollywood" I would normally agree, but those videos shot by people escaping Ft. McMurray showed this kind of chaos for real.

You said the key words Cody: "It's all about camarderie" . Loyalty, working together, trusting each other to do the job.

This review was totally legit

Thanks for your evaluation Cody!!

I will put a small note, we in Australia have our own crews, as in the past Australian Bushfire Fighters have helped our American Brothers fight these fires. I have been caught on a tanker once, in a massive fire, we were lucky to come out the other side, the rubbers on the windscreen and all were melted, and even the paint had started to bubble, what saved us was our training, don't panic, get your fire blanket out , training saves lifes. cheers.

It may just be my shitty computer and Internet but your voice isn't in time with the video.

The crew was newish as an IHC, but had been working in town and in state for a long while. They started as Crew 7 a fuels crew. I remember when Marsh left the Ambulance company to start the crew. I'm not sure if I can go see this movie, might have to wait for the video to come out. Thanks for the video and your comments, tastefully done. Thanks for not doing a disservice to the guys. Ps The evacuation scene was pretty close to correct in the Doce Fire. We got part of the area evacuated about an hour before we thought the houses were going to burnover. That was the second fastest moving fire I've heard of. The first being the one that killed them.

This fire was an extraordinary event when a cyclone was wrapped by an anticyclone driving the flaming front at 50 mph after they made the decision to move to their safety Ranch so this is an uncommon event which could not be forecast.

As to your complaint about the scene where the towns people are fleeing, being unrealistic, have you not heard about Gatlinburg, Tennessee? And we have had fires here in Arizona that move so fast that evacuations were that close to the fire. And Hollywood or not, those 19 did NOT survive.

im 15 and my family has a wood burner so we cut alot of wood but with chainsaws, and we needed a tree cut down in out yard about a foot in diameter and i decided to use an axe to cut it for my dad because he wasnt home and i cant use the chainsaw alone and he was very happy and it was pretty hard but kinda cool when i had it cut down , but evidently i did it pretty well from watching your videos my dad told me :) and btw that movie looks pretty good.

Spent 10 years as a Hot Shot. Your commentary about the flames (just prior to the bear) being something that is not true, is completely false. You would not believe how many times we "ran" with fire. I was a squad boss for 8 of those 10 years. I cannot count how many times I wondered if we were going to be able to move fast enough to get our last man around the corner as it spiked towards us or out of the T-line (timber line) just before it was fully engulfed. I can't count how many times we were sent inward in a specific position that we should not have gone, and damn near didn't make it out the other side. I can't count how many images I have in my mind that are equal to that image you refer to as being fake, worse than, or close to. We've had to drive through flames to get out of certain situations and so much so that the glass in our vehicles broke on two separate occasions. I can recall driving without visibility on logging roads because the flames were completely blowing over the road, and I could not see (couldn't even see where the bends were). I've stood in fire so long that my soles fell off of my boots because the fire burned the threads. I recall a few times thinking we may need to deploy our shelters, but we were able to pull ourselves out of the situation, and I never had to give that order. I've seen a C-130 crash into the side of a mountain because the flames were far greater than that which they show in this movie. I've seen Huey's go down in the trees, Huey's fall into a mountain, and complete blow up situations the likes of which are not depicted in this movie. I've stood with my crew on a line we formed to fight the coming blaze as it raced over the mountain knowing that if we didn't stop it there, 100 yards later it would overtake the town to our backs.... and when it came, it came a-crowning (flames shooting above the tops of the trees) by a 100 feet. Yet, we held it, and amazingly so. Words cannot describe what it is actually like, and Hollywood, appears to have done the best they can. Let it be. If you are not a fire fighter or former fire fighter with substantial experience.... DON'T MAKE A VIDEOS PROFESSING TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE. Sad, and highly, highly, disrespectful. P.S. The crew rig is not called a "buggy". Its called a crummy. Complete flipping moron this guy. By the way, Smoke Jumpers are Hot Shots, they are just a specialized sector that is airborne only. What a moron.

I believe the bear of flames is a metaphor, is not it?

Looks like it'll be worth seeing. I believe the crew chief is played by Josh Brolin, rather than Jeff Bridges. I could be wrong. Appreciate your perspective on this one. Steve

This is awesome! I've never seen a review in this format, and I found it really, really interesting. If there are other films in your area of expertise, I would love to see more!! Well Done :-)

So last night I was able to see an early showing of "Only the Brave". I was a little worried going in that it was going to change too much, alter events, etc. and not do enough to honor the men who lost their lives battling that blaze. I can now say, I was Very satisfied with the film. The acting was good, the fire scenes not too overly exaggerated, and the whole film moved nicely, keeping people interested through the whole thing (a little over 2 hours long). I would have to say my only issues were some of the films editing, and the feeling that they could have added a little more to the last few minutes before cutting to the credits (though there was a nice tribute to the real men of the crew right before the full credits started). Regarding the editing, there are a few cuts throughout the film that jump the story ahead very suddenly (You are watching a scene, and as it's ending, it cuts, and is now 3 months later... this happens a couple times with the next being 9 months, and the last, 3 years). Its not a smooth cut either, with something like a fade out. Just a quick cut that throws you off for a second. So that could have been transitioned better. Regarding the ending... it goes from the incident, to a scene with the families at the high school gym crying, plus a one other short scene outside the gym... to 3 years later with a two scenes depicting the crew supervisors wife, and the other, the sole surviving member of the team with his daughter. I feel they could have at least shown the memorial service for the crew, and the support for them and their families from around the country, then maybe spent a little more time showing the lives of all the families a few years later. So those are pretty much my only two issues, the rest of the film was Very well done, and I feel did justice to the crew, and their sacrifice. I only wish they had managed to show the personal lives of more of the crew members, but I understand why they focused mostly on just a few of them. I highly recommend everyone take the time to go see this film when it opens up next weekend (Oct. 20th). Especially anyone who has spent time on the line before. You will not be disappointed.

Is it really necessary to pick this apart

Im from portugal and we learn about fires early on as a mater of importance. I will never forget being at my cousins rural house and having the mountains around the house being silhouetted by an orange glow and then getting an emergency message on my phone telling me to get out.

It seems like his new favorite word is legit

I'm so excited for this movie because it really hits home for me, I live only an hour and a half and have family that had to evacuate because of the fire. I was at the funeral procession for these firefighters and it was very emotional.

I appreciate the review, Yarnell Fire was a horrific incident, stabbing into the heart of the shot community, that has and will continue to create great sorrow and debate within. I encourage all persons unfamiliar with Hotshots and wildland fire to watch and support the movie and gain a better appreciation, but retain a bit of skepticism as Wranglerstar stated "hollywooded up". I do feel some comments made in the review of the trailer are slightly inaccurate and would encourage Wranglerstar to elaborate only on areas and roles that he has served on the fire line. Let hotshots speak on hotshotting

Thanks for the review Cody!!

I was 10 minutes into the movie this morning when I thought "Didn't Wranglerstar review this a long time ago?" Made a quick detour for some insider info. Thanks!

ooooh once I saw the trailer I started waiting for this

Nice video ! The sound is a little off but it's not that bad other than that its all good. What microphone are you using by the way it sounds good.

I had two friends that did this for two years each, together. They both said it was pretty miserable. Basically lots of hiking through areas with no trail, so thick underbrush etc. to get to the fires, it's summer in the north western US so there were tons of bugs. From what they've told me the fires they were fighting were in such remote areas that they were forced to camp out for extended periods of time, during which they had limited access to food/water and were getting eaten alive by blackflies and mosquitoes.

Thank you so much for doing this review !!!!

I knew a couple of the Granite Mountain 19.. I've worked wildfires for 37 years..I have to say this movie is embellished a lot..I also know what took place that tragic day, I will not get into that. I will not be watching the movie. May the Granite Mountain Hotshots Rest In Peace ! The fire outside of town was the Docey Fire..Granite Mountain wore black helmets..Granite Mountain was not a new crew! That is false..several veterans on that crew with a couple new men...but far from a new crew...

Very interesting video you are clearly very passionate about this really enjoyable video to watch mate good job

This was really interesting. Thanks for the critique!

R.I.P Granite Mountain Hotshots

Can't wait to see this. And can't wait to see what you have to say about it after

Back in 2011 when North East Texas. It took a while for us to get the fire under control. But some of the guys on my department have seen deer running out of the woods on fire. One ran into one of our trucks while fighting the fire. We don’t have bears here. I wasn’t on the fire, but the fire was not far from home. We had water bombers flying over our house. I’m now on our volunteer fire department. I have been for almost two years, and I’m Phase 1/Phase 2. I have applied to work for the Forestry Service. Anyways some of our guys are writing books about 2011. I suggest you right books about your knowledge.

maybe you should get on a shot crew before you comment on this!

I appreciate your review, more attention needs to be brought to this disaster. I pray to god. Please lord, bless these 19 men, their families, our community and please lord give us the strength to deal with this tragedy. God I literally DO NOT have the words for this. Without the 19 GMIHC, more than a few would have died. THEY SAVED LIVES! I only wanted to point out, in my humble opinion, your comment about the folks that are running from their homes shown in the trailer. Of course that isn't Yarnell or Glen Ilah, but the trailer pretty much depicts how it happened. I was a resident of Glen Ilah and lived in Yarnell all my life. My former address was lot 80 Boulder Mesa, 121 Westward Drive. That address is 450 to 500 yards Southeast from where these 19 hero's perished, about a 20 minute hike from my former home. I am here to tell you It is a COMPLETE misunderstanding that there was any kind of an "evacuation" called for Yarnell. No organized evacuation of Yarnell was initiated. There were some sporadic reverse 911 calls by made Yavapai County to a very small percentage of the residents for pre evacuation. The system they were using did not have address's and prefixes entered correctly so either the calls didn't go through or went someplace else like Wickenburg or Congress just down the hill from Yarnell. The Chief of Yarnell Fire didn't want to call an evacuation because he thought it would cause a panic.The only evacuation order I received was from a Wildland Firefighter riding a quad about 15 minutes before I left my home. His exact words were to "leave the area immediately or you will die"! So I wanted to let you know that yes, WE RAN LIKE HELL! I saw people grabbing what they could just as quick as they could, jumping into vehicles and leaving in about 10 to 15 minutes time. I only had time to tell my wife to get my grandson and get out and I would be right behind her. I thought she had our two dogs with her and I, Like a fool, tried to get the cat. Needless to say not one of our pets made it nor anything else but the clothes on our backs and the vehicles we drove. When I left my home the back of my neighbors house just across the street was fully on fire and homes a street over were already burning, the ten minutes I took looking for the cat almost cost me my life. As I drove away I got caught behind a motor home and a lot of cars and trucks stuck for a few minutes on account of a jackknifed fifthwheel blocking the only open exit from the area. Once I got moving again I caught up with my neighbors 70 year old wife. She told me that her husband George had gone back in to try to get his cats. I sped up to the Ranch House Restaurant where the Firefighters were trying to regroup and found absolute total chaos. I talked to a Firefighter and he said they couldn't get back down there because everything was on fire. I didn't know for three days as to whether or not he made it out, but he did, thank god. The drive down Yarnell hill was hellish, you just didn't know if the fire was going to catch you or not and kill you. People need to understand that this fire was moving 11 to 12 miles per hour. The fire was in chaparral comprised of shrub oak, oak trees, manzanita and choking brush pushed by 40 to 50 mile per hour wind in mountainous terrain and boulders the size of houses. A spotter plane pilot described a huge 200 to 300 yard tongue of flame that shot out of the fire over the mountain as it crested to the south as it burned through the area. Granite boulders the size of a car or a truck cracked in half from the heat of this fire.This my friend was truly "hell on earth". I will close this with some very solemn words. All of everything I am describing is NOTHING and it PALES in comparison to what was lost. It is very hard to find the right words to describe the loss of these men, the pain of their families, the community of Prescott and the surrounding areas. I can only say thank you for giving so much, too much, for my life and the lives they saved in the community of Yarnell. GODSPEED GMIHC and all the firefighters involved in this tragedy one and all.

I've been waiting for this!!!

I would have to disagree with the people would not be wearing shorts and tank tops. This was in Arizona and Yarnell was evacuated on June 30th, two days after the fire started and had 22 mph winds, people in Arizona do wear shorts and tank tops when it is summer. I agree that that part of the video was Hollywood drama but the evacuation was very quick. They were a 5 year old crew too.

hey Cody , I have been wondering about your opinion on this film , especially with all your wildland videos lately. Being from Arizona this hits hard to home and driving around Prescott you can see that. it would be really interesting if you did a review after you watch it and see your perspective after reading the after action report. I'm really hoping a independent film can come out about this event and set the record straight.

donut is friends with my brother, Iv meet him a few times and he is a good guy. from what I understand the only part of the movie that isn't true is he never got bit by a rattle snake.

is this movie about the hot shot crew that died in the fire near Prescott AZ a few years back? being a rural deputy in south georgia ive assisted firefighters on structure and brush fires. when i heard about that incident in Arizona it touched me. i felt so bad for the families and other firefighters. in a alpha male environment tempers flare from different opinions, but when the rubber meets the road they truly are brothers and sisters with the primary goal of going home safe.

I enjoyed your thoughts on this. Living in Arizona, I'm that much more interested. On the aircraft, the helicopters look like Bell 205's (civilian UH-1 "Huey"). The four engine tanker was a Lockheed L-100 (civilian C-130). Both reasonably common to see at airports being used as firefighting bases.

Does he know what the film who the granit mountain hotshots are? Like i was expecting he would know since he is a firefighter.

I'm a structure side firefighter (we also do some wildland stuff, even had an air tanker drop last summer) but this is by far the best firefighter movie every created. By leaps and bounds.... (Only the brave >>> Ladder 49> Backdraft )

Thanks, going to check it out...

Oh man fantastic review. You taught me so much, now I can watch the movie with a LITTLE better understanding of these men. Thank you.

The aircraft was a C-130 Hercules likely dumping water with foam concentrate. There are private firms that have them for fire bombing but the U.S. military also has a system called MAFFS (Modular Airborne FireFighting System) that slides in to the back of a Herc and the discharge pipes stick out of the paratroop doors. Its a system that I think the Canadian Government should seriously procure for the RCAF with all the fires we've been having in Western Canada.

Thank you good info!

The airplane is a converted Lockheed C-130. Jeff Bridges is about 70.

Did you pull down your nail puller video just now?

The bear is meant to describe or display its strength & intensity. More of a dream/day dream or thought of when looking at force of fires they face.

Wranglerstar have you ever had an instructional video of you deploying or a "how fast can you do it" video. I think it would be interesting since you do have training videos up like the 3 minute 100 yard single person fire hose video.

So...At 12:00 on your video you say everyone would be gone by the time an airdrop over a fire right behind a house would happen. I can say that's an outright lie as back in 2011 the exact thing happened right down the street from my house. A B-26 Marauder convert flew right over my house to drop retardant on a neighbor's backyard as we were given the evacuation order. Luckily they got the fire controlled before it actually did any damage but to say people would be long gone by the time a fire reached their house is laughably ignorant of what actually happens out here. Fires move a LOT faster here in Arizona than they do in almost any other state save California.

I'm not a fire fighter but here in Colorado the tankers are designed to be able to drop both water and retardant depending on what's more feasible to get per the moment we even have a few Boeings that have been converted to be tankers to drop stuff onto fires to try to stop them matter in fact the Boeings are literally called upon all over the world they are so important its just the paper work that slows down there deployments.

i really appreciate this review.

Great job

Hey wranglestar what's the best way to get started in wild land fire fighting?

12:12 I hear your observations and say Camp fire as it came through Paradise also Creek fire.

Was told that this movie was based on the fire that almost destroyed Prescott (my home town), which is in the middle of the largest Ponderosa Pine Forest in the world. Wonder if they mention in the movie that a bunch of local Cowboys volunteered to help. Some of those same Cowboys are still doing strategic burnings every year to keep this from happening so close to town again.

thanks mr.w for the good info .

Can we hear some more about 'smoke jumpers'? Interesting video dude

I don't know anything about wildland firefighting, neither did I know any if these men but I do know what the comradery, brotherhood, and the friendships mean and when these guys died, the story and events (what we know and don't know) really stuck with me and still does when i think about it. curious Cody how you feel since you're closer to the personell and events that occurred

I can't wait to see the movie. I thought of you when I saw the review.

more info about granite mountain hotshots www.outsideonline.com/1926426/19-true-story-yarnell-hill-fire

The helicopters appear to be Bell 205 or surplus UH-1 (Huey's). The tanker is a C-130.

Looks like a good movie.

Nice review.

need to see all the videos of the parts of Canada this last year. Many people were driving through parts of the highways that were burning on both sides. Don't recall the name of the town that was burned to the ground a town of about 60 to 70,000 people. One way in, one way out.

Appreciate your critique because of your background, but the Black Mountain hot shots are local heros in Arizona 19 out of 20 gave their lives on this fire.

I'm sorry but the first 2 minutes were off. I worked on an IHC we spiked out and made fires. Also if you are doing burning operations you can be next to walls of fire. Do it right with winds in your favor you can be next to torching. Some of this is spot on. The sleeves rolled up on our crew weren't much of a big deal. Taking your helmet off while far away is okay for a short minute. The buggy deal is kinda iffy. We gave seats to seniority. Then the rookies can pick where they want to sit. The buring near cities and dropping buckets near it is actually real. Also him saying he hasn't seen water being dropped from a plane is a thing, just not to often. Most the stuff in this review were pretty good. Also if you're going to review something, know the name of what you're reviewing.

I'm curious if you have ever met my uncle S. Salisberry? He was a hotshot and moved up to smoke jumper.

Cheers, looks like a cool movie

When I saw this trailer on facebook I immediately thought about you and I wanted to know your opinion on the trailer.

This is an extraordinary masterpiece of filmmaking EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD SEE and it has Sublime Sage Advice for Boys becoming men and Relationships and Marriages and other remarks which are extraordinary.

good review, but as we all know HOLLYWOOD takes a true story and adds elements that would never happen in real life just for DRAMATIC EFFECT but still a show I would watch

Nice to have the perspective from a someone with experience.

Jeff Bridges Born: December 4, 1949 (age 67). Looks like he is playing the retired boss that can't step away from the job and offers his experience to new leader played by Josh Brolin.

You will find that the tanker flying over is not the Hollywood ending you expect.

I just watched this movie and i was really hoping to get your opinion on this film im so glad i just found this video