ALIVE
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound format: Dolby Digital
In 1972, members of a Uruguayan rugby team are trapped in the Andes when their charter plane crashes in the mountains, killing many of those on board. Unable to overcome their situation any other way, the survivors are forced to contemplate the unthinkable - to eat the dead...
Though the cannibalism aspect of this extraordinary true story had formed the backbone of an earlier exploitation movie (René Cardona's opportunistic 1976 Mexican thriller SURVIVE!), Frank Marshall's dignified Hollywood version - based on Piers Paul Read's bestselling book - places a deliberate emphasis on the survivors' spiritual response to their ordeal. Opening with a horrific plane crash (an effects tour de force) which places viewers at the heart of an appalling catastrophe, the film quickly settles into a matter-of-fact account of the protagonists' daily struggle to stay alive, though some of the dialogue sounds a little forced and unrealistic.
Handsomely mounted on location in the Canadian Rockies, the movie is toplined by some of Hollywood's brightest (and most photogenic) young talents, including Ethan Hawke (DEAD POETS SOCIETY), Josh Hamilton (THE HOUSE OF YES) and Vincent Spano (CITY OF HOPE), with capable support from Jack Noseworthy (CECIL B. DEMENTED), John Haymes Newton (TV's "Superboy"), and Illeana Douglas (GRACE OF MY HEART) as one of the few female survivors of the initial disaster. Though pretentious at times, and perhaps a little too leisurely for its own good, the movie pays tribute to the power of the human spirit and is often deeply moving. Beautiful score by James Newton Howard, with a haunting interpretation of 'Ave Maria' - sung by Aaron Neville - during the final credits.
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound format: Dolby Digital
In 1972, members of a Uruguayan rugby team are trapped in the Andes when their charter plane crashes in the mountains, killing many of those on board. Unable to overcome their situation any other way, the survivors are forced to contemplate the unthinkable - to eat the dead...
Though the cannibalism aspect of this extraordinary true story had formed the backbone of an earlier exploitation movie (René Cardona's opportunistic 1976 Mexican thriller SURVIVE!), Frank Marshall's dignified Hollywood version - based on Piers Paul Read's bestselling book - places a deliberate emphasis on the survivors' spiritual response to their ordeal. Opening with a horrific plane crash (an effects tour de force) which places viewers at the heart of an appalling catastrophe, the film quickly settles into a matter-of-fact account of the protagonists' daily struggle to stay alive, though some of the dialogue sounds a little forced and unrealistic.
Handsomely mounted on location in the Canadian Rockies, the movie is toplined by some of Hollywood's brightest (and most photogenic) young talents, including Ethan Hawke (DEAD POETS SOCIETY), Josh Hamilton (THE HOUSE OF YES) and Vincent Spano (CITY OF HOPE), with capable support from Jack Noseworthy (CECIL B. DEMENTED), John Haymes Newton (TV's "Superboy"), and Illeana Douglas (GRACE OF MY HEART) as one of the few female survivors of the initial disaster. Though pretentious at times, and perhaps a little too leisurely for its own good, the movie pays tribute to the power of the human spirit and is often deeply moving. Beautiful score by James Newton Howard, with a haunting interpretation of 'Ave Maria' - sung by Aaron Neville - during the final credits.