Alive

Alive (1993)

Runtime: 122 minutes

Directed by: Frank Marshall

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton, Bruce Ramsay, John Newton

From: Touchstone/Paramount

This is a film I don't have too much to say about. At least this is fine and it is more than just “that one movie based on a true story where some people became cannibals, but only to survive”. I talk all about it below:

I saw this recently on Netflix Instant; it belongs in the category of “movies I hadn't seen in at least 20 years”. I mean, the only time was shortly after it came out on VHS, so it's been like 23 years. The only thing I remembered was the most infamous aspect of the movie, and one that got a lot of buzz at the time, which was how cannibalism became part of the plot. The true story aspect of how a Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes Mountains and how some of them were able to survive for so long before being rescued is harrowing... but the fact that the survivors had to eat the dead bodies or else they'd die of starvation, that is why the story became so renowned.

I haven't seen the Mexican exploitation film Survive! It was also based on this true story but I understand it was more exploitative, which understandably made some people quite upset. The movie starts off on a pretty good note as the plane crash is still pretty horrifying, as is seeing the immediate aftermath with all those people killed or seriously hurt, and how the survivors had to deal with such a difficult situation. Indeed, different people reacted in different ways. You felt bad when various people died, then there was the horrifying decision to become cannibals in order to not die.

Unfortunately, the movie starts to run out of steam in the second half and it is not as strong as the first half. At least I can say it is fine overall. Of course, not everyone in the movie who was Hispanic (i.e. much of the cast) was actually played by a Hispanic person, but that's Hollywood for you. I know some noted that the cast did not look like they were nearly starved to death by the time that they were rescued... I am OK with them not being so realistic there. They did not need to be like Christian Bale in The Machinist, after all. "Chapped lips" is fine enough by my tastes. At least the film is more than just a shocking plot point.