Movie Review

127 HOURS

Octber 6, 2013

By : Elza Netri

127 Hours is a 2010 biographical survival drama film, presented by Fox Searchlight pictures and Pathe. It is a Danny Boyle film which was made in association with Dune Entertainment, and also produced in association with DOWN PRODUCTIONS and BIG SCREEN PRODUCTION. The film tells about Aron Ralston (played by James Franco) who is trapped by a boulder in slot canyon in Blue John Canyon, southeastern Utah, in April 25, 2003. He is trapped there during 127 hours. He is forced to amputate his own right arm to save himself. The film based on Ralston's memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

Duration         : 90 minutes

Editor              : Jon Harris

Characters     :

·         James Franco as Aron Ralston

·         Amber Tamblyn as Megan McBride

·         Kate Mara as Kristi Moore

·         Lizzy Caplan as Sonja Ralston, Aron's sister

·         Kate Burton as Donna Ralston, Aron's mother

·         Treat Williams as Larry Ralston, Aron's father

The story is begun with Aron Ralston prepares everything he needs for doing rock climbing in Utah's Canyon lands National Park on Friday night, April 25, 2003. Ralston passes a narrow passage where boulders are suspended between the walls of rock. Accidentally, one boulder is jarred loose. The boulder falls after Ralston to the bottom of the canyon and rolling on his right arm against the canyon wall and trapping him. He tries to push the boulder and yells for help. Because of the extreme isolation of the location, nobody hears his scream. He begins recording a video about his trapped there on his camera. He also uses the blade on his pocket to attempt to chip away at the boulder. Besides, he also begins rationing and economizing his water and food.

Because of his efforts to chip away the boulder are useless, he gives up to do that again. He begins to attempt to amputate his arm, but his knife is too blunt to break his skin. He finds himself out of water and forced to drink his own urine. Ralston is trapped there for five days. He discovers that by using his knowledge, he can break his bones. After that, he amputates his arm by dull knife. Aron frees himself by the trap of boulder with full of blood. He then finds the way out of the canyon. He walks several miles, exhausted and covered in blood. He finally runs into a family. The family sends for help and a helicopter comes to evacuate Ralston.

The end of this film shows Ralston from his life after that bad occurrence. Then, it shows the real Aron Ralston with his wife, Jessica, whom he met three years later, and their son, Leo, born in 2010. Aron continues to be a climber and canyoneer. He always leaves a note to say where he has gone.

In short, this film tells about a real experience from Arons Ralston, who is doing rock climbing in Utah's Canyon lands National Park. He is forced to amputate his right arm to save himself from boulder’s trapped. He is trapped there for 127 hours which is made as the title of this film. This film based on Ralston's memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

I think this movie is excellent. I really enjoyed this movie. Characterizations in the film are pretty good.  The acting of the actors and actress are also very good and look naturally. According to me, actually the story of this film is simple, but the way this film explain the story is interesting. I did not find any boredom here. I think the best part of this film is when Aron Ralston amputates his right arm because it really seems like reality. This scene made me felt tense.  

There are some moral values that we can get from this movie. We can take many lessons for our life. The first one is we have to struggle to save our life. Second, do not let our bad experience make us falling down. Next, we should realize that limitation is not a problem if we want to move on. Finally, we have to know that family is very important in our life.

Overall, I really like this film because I think it is an interesting film. This film can attract my attention from the beginning until the ending of the film. I think this film is properly to be watched with family and friends because this film has many moral values that we can make as our life lessons. Therefore, I recommend you to watch this film.