Tron: Legacy Director’s 87% Rotten Tomatoes True Story Outdoes The Lost Bus Where It Counts

I love a good based-on-a-true-story drama, but there is a line between cinematic tension and just making stuff up. Two recent fire-centric movies handle that line very differently: Joseph Kosinski's 2017 'Only the Brave' and Paul Greengrass's new 'The Lost Bus'. One mostly sticks the landing on accuracy. The other cranks the thriller dial and leaves reality in the rearview more than once.

'Only the Brave': respectful, mostly faithful, and still a punch to the gut

After 'Tron: Legacy' in 2010, Joseph Kosinski leveled up with 'Only the Brave' before going mega with 'Top Gun: Maverick' and moving on to 'F1'. His 2017 film is a tribute to the Granite Mountain Hotshots, tracking their formation through to the tragic 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, where 19 of the 20 crew members died. Brendan McDonough, played by Miles Teller, was the lone survivor.

The movie is widely seen as a careful, respectful portrayal. It does shape a few things for drama: it amps up confrontations between Brendan McDonough and Eric Marsh compared to their real dynamic; it stages a big gymnasium scene for families even though, in reality, families were getting information via social media first; and Jeff Bridges's character, Duane Steinbrink, is depicted as more central to creating the Granite Mountain Hotshots than he actually was. That foundational work was led more by former deputy fire chief Darrell Willis, who does not appear in the film.

Those tweaks are there to build emotion and tension, but they sit on top of a story the film otherwise treats with a lot of care.

'The Lost Bus': tense, well-acted, and a lot looser with the facts

Paul Greengrass's 'The Lost Bus' (starring Matthew McConaughey alongside America Ferrera and Yul Vazquez) dramatizes the 2018 Camp Fire evacuation and, yes, it is a gripping watch. It is also significantly more elastic with reality than 'Only the Brave'.

Two big examples:

- The movie leans on the idea that the school bus and authorities lose radio contact. That did not happen. If they were never out of contact, the title starts to feel pretty marketing-forward, yeah?

- The penultimate set piece has Kevin stopping the bus in the middle of a road while fire surrounds them. The real Kevin did not park the bus encircled by flames. He did try backroads at one point, but authorities turned him back. That is a very different kind of danger than the film shows.

There are several other smaller tweaks that push the story into straight-up thriller territory. Not a knock on the movie's craft — it works as a pressure-cooker — but it is not an accurate retelling.

Why people keep comparing these two

Because they are tackling high-stakes, real tragedies, and accuracy actually matters. 'Only the Brave' gets called out, in a good way, for honoring the people involved and sticking close to what happened. 'The Lost Bus' opts for maximum intensity. If your priority is the most faithful version of events, one of these is clearly closer to the mark.

Quick head-to-head

• The Lost Bus — Directed by Paul Greengrass; stars Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera, Yul Vazquez; Year: 2025; IMDb: 6.9/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 86%; Worldwide box office: N/A; Production: Apple Studios; Where to watch: Apple TV+.
• Only the Brave — Directed by Joseph Kosinski; stars Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges; Year: 2017; IMDb: 7.6/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 87%; Worldwide box office: $26 million; Production: Black Label Media; Where to watch: Apple TV.

The takeaway

If you want the truer-to-life version, 'Only the Brave' is the one that earns its tears. If you want a high-anxiety survival thriller inspired by real events, 'The Lost Bus' delivers, just know what it is doing. Which one worked better for you?