Only the Brave
Short description
Only the Brave tells the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a firefighting crew based in Prescott, Arizona. Eric Marsh, a veteran firefighter who knows his district well, wants his team to move beyond supporting the elite Hotshot units and become one itself. He pushes to assemble a twenty-man crew for his hometown, among them the hotheaded Christopher MacKenzie and Brendan McDonough, a former addict trying to rebuild his life. After hard training and setbacks, the crew earns certification. When a fire breaks out on Yarnell Hill, what looks like routine work turns into a deadly situation. The film is based on real events of June 2013.
Joseph Kosinski directed, working from a screenplay by Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer. It was his third feature, following TRON: Legacy and Oblivion. Josh Brolin plays Eric Marsh, with Miles Teller as Brendan McDonough, Jeff Bridges as Duane Steinbrink, Jennifer Connelly as Amanda Marsh, James Badge Dale as Jesse Steed and Taylor Kitsch as Christopher MacKenzie.
Made for about 38 million USD, the film returned roughly 26 million USD worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.6/10 from around 91,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.5/10 from about 1,950 votes. A critics' rating of 7.1/10 from 163 reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Josh Brolin and Miles Teller were confirmed for roles in this film on March 1, 2016.
- Jennifer Connelly wore the same pair of boots on set that Amanda Marsh once wore.
- This is the third consecutive film directed by Joseph Kosinski with music by composer Joseph Trapanese and cinematography by Claudio Miranda.
- Filming began on June 13, 2016, in the state of New Mexico (in the area of Santa Fe and Los Alamos).
- During filming, a mobile crane operator was crushed by the camera he was transporting to the shooting location. The operator filed a lawsuit seeking damages, claiming he was improperly instructed before the trip, causing him to choose the wrong route, and that he was not given time for a test run. The verdict was delivered at the end of 2022. The defendant was ordered to pay the plaintiff $66 million, which exceeded the film's worldwide box office gross ($28 million).
- The official report provided by the Arizona forestry service stated that, although the members of the “Granite Mountain Hotshots” used fire shelters as required by protocol, the heat from the flames, fanned by strong winds, made the conditions inside the canyon where the firefighters found themselves completely uninhabitable. The investigation showed that the temperature near the source of the fire reached 1,000 degrees Celsius, which exceeded the shelter's specifications and, of course, the temperature a human being could withstand.
- An investigation conducted by the authorities of the state of Arizona blamed the forestry service for the deaths of the nineteen firefighters, claiming that its representatives deliberately prioritized property protection over safety regulations, and that the evacuation of personnel should have been carried out earlier than it actually was. The fine imposed on the forestry service amounted to $559,000.
- The film's screenplay is based on Sean Flynn's article "No Exit," published in GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarterly).
- The real events depicted in this film occurred in June 2013.
- In preparation for the role, Jennifer Connelly specifically met Amanda Marsh, whose image she embodied on screen.
- When Brendan McDonough received confirmation of the deaths of all nineteen team members, a cell phone began to ring on one of the car seats. McDonough later recounted in an interview that this is exactly what happened. The families of the deceased firefighters received terrible news and began trying to reach them. According to McDonough, he couldn't bring himself to answer the calls at the time.
- Brandon Bunch from the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighting team played his friend Garrett Zappiger in the film. The film shows Zappiger dying while fighting a fire, but in reality, he resigned two weeks before the events depicted in the film, as his wife was expecting a child.
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