Educational Media Reviews Online

The Last House Standing teaches individuals and communities how to prepare in advance for minimizing the financial and emotional impact of natural disasters. The unique portion of the documentary is the final thirty minutes and is highly recommended. Experts from emergency & risk management, construction & engineering, city government, and many others share lessons learned and practical options on disaster preparedness. The audience for this film is broad but likely of most interest to relevant college courses, communities preparing risk management plans, and homeowners.

In an educational setting, 77-minutes of uninterrupted time is rare so instructors can focus on one disaster (hurricanes, fires, or tornadoes) from the documentary or share news footage from another source to prepare students for jumping to the final half of the documentary. Selecting specific sections will require advanced preparation by the instructor because the different disaster sections are not readily apparent when streaming. For courses training students for related professions, viewers can begin at the 42-minutes mark, which would total about half an hour of viewing. (This section also adds earthquakes to the list of disasters discussed.) For discussions about creating resilient cities, I recommend viewing the final 10 or 20 minutes. My one disappointment with the documentary is the title choice as it leaves viewers remembering the very expensive options. In reality, viewers will learn many free or low-cost options and can follow-up at the film’s web site too. A discussion or review afterwards is recommended, especially if viewers are assigned the entire documentary.

Currently, the documentary is not available for educational licensing, so individual viewers are required to rent this documentary for $3.99. If this changes, I recommend universities and libraries add this documentary to collections. While similar high-quality, free news clips are readily available this documentary excels in bringing the disparate pieces together providing real-world examples on how to prepare and protect for the next natural disaster. To provide history and context many will benefit by first viewing Frontline: Business of Disaster.

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