Movie Review for 127 Hours
Synopsis: Aron Ralston has a passion for all things outdoors. but when a falling boulder traps him in a remote Utah canyon, a thrill-seeker’s adventure become the challenge of a lifetime. Over the next five days, Ralston embarks on a remarkable personal journey in which he relies on the memories of family and friends – as well as this own courage and ingenuity – to turn adversity into triumph!
Rating: Rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images
Run Time: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
Director: Danny Boyle
DVD Extra’s: Commentary, deleted scenes.
Nudity Factor: No direct nudity though one scene has some implied nudity while a party is going on.
Of Note: Aron Ralston filmed a daily video diary while he was stuck in the canyon; parts of the video diary were shown on a televised special about his entrapment, however most of the footage has only been shown to close friends and family and is kept in a bank vault for safety. Before shooting began both James Franco and director Danny Boyle were allowed to view the footage in order to accurately portray the events in the movie.
Recommendations:
This movie is based on a true story that follows Aron Ralston. He is an adventures type that enjoys the outdoors. More so he enjoys the solitude of going to places that he is unlikely to find anyone else. This takes him to a remote area of Utah. A place he is guaranteed to not find other people. The problem is he failed to let anyone know where he was going. This becomes a problem when a boulder traps his arm and he has no way out of the remote canyon. He is trapped. All he has is a bottle of water, some rope, a camera, and some limited other supplies. The story really gets into the extremes a person would have to endure to survive 127 hours trapped in a canyon, being mostly immobile. One of the things that really struck me was that the bulk of this movie takes place with one person trapped in a canyon, and they were still able to keep it interesting. This is a lot to ask of an actor and a director, and they pulled it off. Knowing how the story ends was a concern at first because you have a sense of what is coming. This actually created a sense of anticipation as you know what is coming but you don’t really want it to happen.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie more than I really thought I would. I appreciate the effort that went into making the movie by filming in the location that the event took place. That alone had to present some challenges. I appreciate how this had to be worked so that one person in a canyon can keep the audience’s interest. It is a well laid out movie telling a story of inspiration and how for a person will go to survive a life threatening situation.