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| Planes Fire & Rescue; general comments on the movie | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 30 2014, 12:04 PM (1,225 Views) | |
| b2young | Jul 30 2014, 12:04 PM Post #1 |
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Sad firefighter
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Went to the late show of Planes Fire and Rescue last night (10:15) and had the theater to myself. Tuesdays are $5.00 days all day long, and I rightly figured the last show of the day wouldn't have too many kids. Wasn't completely expecting a private showing, though. I guess not having the target audience in attendance actually lessens the impact of the movie....would have been interesting to notice how kids react to the menace of a raging inferno, talk of firefighters who died doing their jobs, etc. There's a scene with a sort of "memorial wall" that I expect is an actual memorial to some real air tanker crews (and their ships, of course), though I'm not instantly familiar with the specific incidents. But all in all, an enjoyable movie on a subject dear to my heart. Incredible animation, which is also something I really like. While there is much that could be criticized in the story action, for an introduction to the dangers of wild fires and the sheer spectacle of it all, suspension of disbelief isn't even that necessary to enjoy the story and action. The requisite credits rolling during the final acknowledgements showed that CDF, aka CalFIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) were the main consultants on air attack and wildland fire fighting in general. This somehow reminded me of an incident in one of my first seasons as a firefighter for the USFS in California. We (the USFS and then California Division of Forestry) were "rivals" for who was the better or more "real" firefighter. My "tanker crew" was sent to a mutual aid CDF fire near the Forest boundary below our neighboring Ranger District. When we arrived, there was a CDF engine stuck, wedged between the highway and the fire, at a 90-degree angle to the road. The engineer had tried to drive his engine directly up the road cut to the fire, and found the angle a little too steep. Back in the days when a "pocket camera" was essentially a disposable cardboard box with a roll of Kodak film inside, that you sent or handed in to the photo counter at your local pharmacy, I managed to snap a photo of the embarrassing predicament. Sadly, that photo could take days or weeks to find, else I'd show it here. Suffice to say, I counted it as proof of the US Forest Service's superiority in all things wild fire. A few years later, on my second Forest Service engine crew (beyond any CDF territory), a friend managed to drive his USFS "tanker" between two young Lodgepole pines and wedge it securely between them, while in initial attack on a couple acre fire. I may have snapped a photo of that one, too, but again, finding it would require a tedious manual search through thousands of Kodak 3x5 snapshots in the photograph envelopes from the developers. (And, NO, the "friend" was NOT ME!) Yes, the USFS had to cut down a tree or two to rescue its engine/tanker. So, I guess we were even. One more editorial comment: as is the custom, the toys started coming out before the movie was released. Which makes one wonder....is the movie nothing but an expensive (well done) advertisement for a line of somewhat pricey toys (like the Transformer movies)? My take on it? Not entirely. The movie tells an interesting story, with some realistic terminology and even some of the action, and the viewer doesn't have to "know" the characters (ie, have seen the first Planes movie) to be sucked into the story. But, I did buy almost all of the characters as soon as I saw them in a store......still waiting for a few to be released out west. And I don't "collect" Pixar characters (unless they're fire-related). Edited by b2young, Jul 30 2014, 12:11 PM.
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| pjedsel | Jul 30 2014, 01:38 PM Post #2 |
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Muscle Car
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It would be fun to sit through the movie with my 5 and 7 year old granddaughters as they were CARS fans and hear their response to the movie. I will probably go when it shows up at the local theatre in Mott - affordable price and cheap popcorn. Besides where else can you have a pastor sell you a movie ticket and the sheriff serve you popcorn. The theatre is community owned and run by volunteers.
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| Hoseman | Jul 30 2014, 02:01 PM Post #3 |
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I saw the movie last week with my 8 year old boys and they really liked it. While they are fairly well versed in fire service culture and operations as it relates to urban and structural firefighting, the aircraft aspect of firefighting and the magnitude of wildland fires was fairly new info for them. I got a lot of questions after the movie was over. While they enjoyed the movie they have no interest in the toys from the film. I'd say they are targeted for younger kids... mine are too interested in Legos. Also Blair, I wasn't sure but I thought when I was watching the movie and I saw the part with the memorial picture board that one of the air tankers had "CDF" on the tail. Not sure, but it certainly looked like it at quick glance. |
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| Hoseman | Jul 30 2014, 07:56 PM Post #4 |
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One thing I wish the movie had in it was the VLAT (Very Large Air Tanker) DC10. I've seen it operating on several major campaign fires that I've worked on and it is pretty impressive. Seems it would have fit in well in the movie. Hmmm, maybe in the sequel? |
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| Brian49 | Jul 31 2014, 06:21 PM Post #5 |
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Station Wagon
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I saw the movie, on opening day! Mainly because Jackson was waiting with baited breath ever since he saw the first trailer. Every day I would here " is it July 18?". I enjoyed the movie, I thought it was nicely done. I know not all of it was dead on accurate but still great especially for kids. Like Sammy's boys Jackson is better versed in municipal fire services, so there were some questions to answer. Oh and Blair, he was wanting the toys the first time he saw any of them. |
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| Hoseman | Aug 1 2014, 12:06 AM Post #6 |
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Hey Brian, do you get some of the funny comments I get... like when leaving for work in the morning one of my sons yells out the front door "bye Daddy, have a great shift... I hope you get a structure fire!" It raises an eyebrow on the neighbors I'm sure but I know what he means. Out of the mouths of babes huh. : ) |
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| W Gee | Aug 1 2014, 10:46 AM Post #7 |
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Station Wagon
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haven't seen this one yet but watched the original Planes movie in a theater , my wife ,daughter , and me , lol private screening .was pretty cool ,Kennie could yell and scream all she wanted |
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| Brian49 | Aug 1 2014, 06:12 PM Post #8 |
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Station Wagon
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Yes I do also, they are cute and make laugh. About a year ago on a trip to Florida Jackson and I stopped in a station to trade a patch. We go about 8:30 AM and the crew is doing the rig checks. As we walk up toward the bay's one of the guys walks out to meet us and before I can say a word he kneels down to Jackson and says "Would you like a chance to sit in a real fire truck?". Jackson replies, "No thank you, I would much rather see your K12 saw!" This poor FF has a look of total shock and surprise on his face, as I start to laugh. I then told the guy who I was and he laughed also. |
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| b2young | Aug 1 2014, 07:20 PM Post #9 |
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Sad firefighter
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As Art Linkletter used to say...."Kids say the darndest things"! Sammy, I agree, I think that "memorial wall" showed a CDF S2 tanker.....wish I could remember the tail number as I found a document online showing all the fatal accidents with S2s for CDF. I'm willing to bet there's fact hiding in the fiction of that wall. There was a larger air tanker to the right of that "photo" that wasn't on screen long enough for me to get a good look, but might have been another tanker that crashed in California over on the east side of the Sierra. Some times I miss the remote control that allows me to stop the current show and "wind" it back to see a scene over.....like with my TV DVR.
Edited by b2young, Aug 1 2014, 07:23 PM.
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| b2young | Aug 8 2014, 10:28 PM Post #10 |
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Sad firefighter
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Went on one of my bi-weekly mini-road-trips today....hunting for diecast. Found at Target in a town down the interstate a few miles. Target exclusive Planes, Fire and Rescue "Welcome to Piston Peak 7-pack". Not just "exclusive", but EXPENSIVE, too! What do you expect (he asked), when you get 7 vehicles--5 of which were sold separately for $7-10 each, and two exclusive(?) to this set? Set priced nearly $50 (or just over $7 per vehicle....). ![]() ![]() Exclusive to the set (I'm guessing, since I didn't check it out online to see if I'm right): Dynamite and Pinecone. I'm guessing "Dynamite" was so named partly because RL Smokejumpers used to perform "fireline blasting" when there was long and difficult line to be put in with limited manpower (personpower?). Not to mention her powerful leadership.... But even more fun than finding this set (which could have saved me $28 had it come out a bit sooner....), was finally sucking it up and dropping the $10 on Blade Ranger (I dropped $10 on Windlifter last month....). I had no idea I would have so much fun with a quasi-fantasy helicopter toy....I think I love you, Blade Ranger! ![]() One fine-looking whirly-bird, there! ![]() Guess he's a bit vain....such a legend, and all... ![]() Open the door, swing out the boom, and play away ![]() Pull on the hook and keep your hands and feet (and head) below the blades, for they'll surely chop you to pieces as you drop the line to the ground (ie, the rotors spin pretty fast when you pull the hook out and down). ![]() Spin the rotors by hand and reel in the rapeller or (as in the movie) injured plane. Very cool "working hoist" mechanism. I really could spend hours flying this ship around to many wildfires....perhaps August 9 as good a day as any, since it's Smokey Bear's birthday! |
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2:08 PM Jul 11
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It would be fun to sit through the movie with my 5 and 7 year old granddaughters as they were CARS fans and hear their response to the movie. I will probably go when it shows up at the local theatre in Mott - affordable price and cheap popcorn. Besides where else can you have a pastor sell you a movie ticket and the sheriff serve you popcorn.
The theatre is community owned and run by volunteers.









2:08 PM Jul 11