Fire Front (2022) User Reviews

A must watch for Aussies

[andrewchin-97065 · 8/10 · 13 November 2022]

I didn't know anything about this film - watched it on a plane while scrolling and killing time - and wow. The film brings together footage from people on the ground - mostly firefighters and residents - and it brings home exactly what's went on and what people faced during those terrible fires. The editing and people's actual footage really brought the reality to the screen. I've seen bush fires before but this stunned me. If you live in Australia, this should be a must watch. Fires like we've never seen. And it really showed what an amazing job our RFS and firies do - and the strain and impact it has on them.

The film does get political at times, but let's face it, there were some very stupid things said, some ignorance and carelessness, and some very poor decisions made at the time. The film just showed how people on the front lines felt about those moments and how they felt about what was happening. You want to talk about fires, talk to a firefighter. We have a new rating 'catastrophic' introduced in 2009 because things are not the same, and the firies are saying it themselves.

Where I live in Qld, I've had, on numerous times, to prepare my property, and face that decision of stay and fight or get out. After seeing this film, and what these fires are now like, I think the choice to leaving earlier will be just a bit easier. We haven't seen anything like this.

This film will stay in my memory, and I salute all our RFS and emergency service personnel and volunteers.

A hard watch

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 30 June 2023]

The summer of 2020 was a brutal time for Australia, as bushfires devastated massive areas of the country and record-breaking heat took a toll on its citizens. Thirty-four people across the country died, including several volunteer firefighters who were underfunded and not equipped for what they were facing.

In a world where we still argue whether or not climate change exists, these bushfires should be a wake-up call for what is coming for every single one of us, not just Australia. My eyes sting every time I go outside now thanks to the high air quality index numbers and the moon looks red at night. I never remember this ever happening before and I know it's not going to get better.

Director and writer Eddie Martin was on the ground for much of this and shows the Black Summer fires in a way that makes you feel as if you were there. There's a harrowing moment when a woman literally tears her shirt off to rescue a koala on fire and pours bottled water all over it before taking it to a shelter. For all the trauma in this, that hit me the hardest.

Best doco I've seen

[gaks-78166 · 8/10 · 31 December 2023]

This documentary is one of the best edited and most moving films I've seen. It covered a great range of events from both a professional and personal perspective. While mention has been made of the political side, nothing mentioned was untrue and I doubt that any if party in power at the time did the same, the reporting would have been similar.

The film is put together using a number of social media, TV news and body camera footage showing the heartbreak suffered and the severity and widespread extent of the fires during that 2019 - 2020 season, and has brought me to tears watching it. I agree that all Australians should watch this as we move towards another Summer.

Ruined by Political Discorse

[adamdotbradley · 1/10 · 21 October 2022]

This movie had a great opportunity to portray the trials of the Emergency responders and the victims of the fires, creating a historical record.

Instead it descended into a political mudslinging exercise. Very disappointed that such an important event in the history of Australia was used to gain political hit points at the expense of those that actually fought the fires.

The footage of the fires was very emotional and well edited, only then to be interrupted by obviously biased political discords.

The director would have been better off to create the movie in two parts. Part One, the events on the ground portraying the works of emergency services and the effects of the fires on the victims. Part Two, focusing on the political discord around the response to the fires and the effects of climate change exacerbating the disaster.

This movie missed a great opportunity to show this disaster and instead sought about making political points.