Wednesday, February 29, 2012

127 Hours movie review - 5/5 stars

Watch my quick and dirty movie review of 127 hours


I stumbled across this movie by accident while channel surfing - (hundreds of channels with nothing good on!)

I thought to myself, Hey I haven't seen this yet, the synopsis seems interesting, might as well give it a go.

I'm glad I did because 10-15 minutes into the movie and I''m hooked.

This is a story of survival, where a man basically has to save his own life using only what he had on him, which wasn't much to begin with.

It's based on a true story about Aron Ralston. It's set back in 2003 when he went trekking out into the canyonlands of Utah for a dayhike. Even as an experienced outdoorman, he neglected to tell anyone where he was headed off to that day. He didn't have a mobile phone on him - not that he would've received any signals out there anyway.

So he's descending down into a narrow chasm when the rocks give way from beneath and sends him hurtling down. His right arm is pinned by an immovable boulder and keeps him there for the next 5 days with very limited supplies: a dull knife, some water from his hydration bladder and water bottle, a little bit of food, a headlamp, a camcorder and a camera to name a few.

James Franco did a fantastic job with this role considering he was pretty much alone in the majority of the film. It was just him and the camera. He managed to exude cofidencce in one frame and be vulnerable in the next. He was likeable and believable in the part.

The director did an amazing job with capturing it all. The shots were carefully placed, I think, with varying angles to convey space (or lack thereof), claustrophobia, desperation, panic, suspense, and even a bit of hysteria. His use of montage for the flashbacks and hallucinations was well done and not over the top. It maintained a good balance when the scene got too "heavy."

I highly recommend this film. If you like outdoorsy, survival type movies, put this in your must watch list. You'll end up viewing it more than once. Even if this is not your type of movie I think you'll still enjoy all the elements of it. Watch it at least once.


***
ApocalypseHub gives this flick a 5 out of 5 stars

Lessons learned from the movie:
1) always tell someone where you're going
2) always carry a good quality pocket knife
3) carry more food & water than what you need, just in case
4) outdoor adventures are safer with the "buddy system" in place.

Go watch it and let me know what you think.

Editor's note: I really should stop filming screencasts when I'm tired. I'm a lot more high energy than this in person. =/ (oh well, live and learn)

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