ONLY THE BRAVE (2017)

Name: ONLY THE BRAVE (2017)
Item: ONLY THE BRAVE (2017)
Author: Ben Kayser

"Courage Under Fire"

Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.

Entertainment Quality:

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Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity
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What You Need To Know:

ONLY THE BRAVE is based on a true story about firefighters in Arizona who became heroes in their community and America. It focuses on 42-year-old Eric Marsh, a firefighter for the city of Prescott, Arizona who’s trying to mold a group of younger firefighters into an elite group of men who fight wildfires in the Southwest, called Hotshots. Marsh takes a risk with a young man named Brendan, who’s trying to straighten out his life after overcoming a drug addiction and a petty crime arrest. The problem is, Brendan is out of shape, and no one knows if he can make the grade.

ONLY THE BRAVE is well directed and acted. The firefighting scenes are realistic, intense and impressive. You can almost feel the heat from the fires the characters encounter. ONLY THE BRAVE tells a patriotic, moral story with Christian and brief Buddhist references of people risking everything for others. However, there is a fair amount of foul language plus a couple light lewd jokes, particularly about one of the firefighters’ wild girlfriend. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for the crude dialogue.

Content:

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral, patriotic worldview about American firefighters fighting wildfires to protect communities, mitigated by some pagan behavior, several references to Christianity, including one to the Bible, and two light references to the Buddhist faith of one firefighter.

Foul Language:

At least 61 obscenities (including two “f” words), six strong profanities, five light profanities, an obscene gesture.

Violence:

Strong, sometimes intense violence includes scenes of fighting wildfires, firefighters surrounded by flames and smoke, man falls and needs to be helped up, man has dreams of seeing a bear on fire running through a forest on fire, wildfires move fast, firefighters have to rush into special fireproofed coverings to survive fire, car crash, people die, man gets thrown out of bar, a horse has some wounds from a fire, but a woman ministers to the horse and its wounds.

Sex:

A few sexual references includes talk about a firefighter’s wild girlfriend, plus married couple seen in bed together, and man’s ex-girlfriend informs him she’s pregnant.

Nudity:

Shots of upper male nudity and a photo of a girl in a bikini-type outfit.

Alcohol Use:

Alcohol use and brief drunkenness.

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

Smoking and man smokes some kind of drug.

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Married couple argues in one scene, and man arrested for rummaging through unattended vehicle.

More Detail:

ONLY THE BRAVE is based on a true story about a group of heroic firefighters in Arizona who became heroes in their community and America. It’s an amazing movie that shows the incredible dangers firefighters face as they battle tremendous wildfires that can threaten a whole city.

The movie focuses on 42-year-old Eric Marsh, a firefighter for the city of Prescott, Arizona, who’s trying to mold a group of younger firefighters into an elite group of men who fight wildfires in the Southwest, called Hotshots. If his team qualifies for such a designation, they would be the first municipal group of firefighters to do so.

Marsh takes a risk with a young man named Brendan McDonough, who’s trying to straighten out his life after overcoming a drug addiction and a petty crime arrest. The problem is, Brendan is out of shape, and no one knows if he can make the grade.

Meanwhile, Marsh’s wife, Amanda, becomes upset because of all the time Marsh must take to train his men to qualify for special hotshot certification. The training involves lots of work on the frontlines fighting wildfires.

ONLY THE BRAVE is well directed and acted. The firefighting scenes are realistic, intense and impressive. You can almost feel the heat from the fires the characters encounter. Josh Brolin stars as Eric Marsh. Jennifer Connelly plays his wife, Amanda. Jeff Bridges plays her father, a retired firefighter who’s advising Eric. Miles Teller plays Brendan. The movie spends time with these characters, and it’s time well spent.

The goal of the movie is to honor the men who fight these wildfires to protect communities across the Southwest, theirs and others. When someone asks Marsh why the city should pay so much money for such firefighters to stop wildfires in neighboring states, he reminds them that one day, the city itself may be threatened by a wildfire.

ONLY THE BRAVE tells a patriotic, moral story of people risking their lives for others. However, there is a fair amount of foul language plus a couple light lewd jokes, particularly about one of the firefighters’ wild girlfriend. Also, although there are a few positive Christian references, including a reference to the Bible, there are also a couple brief references to Eric Marsh’s Buddhist faith. The movie doesn’t refer to any details, however, about the non-theistic Buddhist philosophy.

MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for the foul language.

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What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.