Movie Nights: 127 Hours

I watched 127 Hours a week ago and realized that the story was familiar to me. I heard about the movie first with my hiking friends when they talked about it when we are resting. When they told me the plot of the story, I didn't realize that I know it way before it was made into a movie.

Watching it made me pause and search the web and soon I remembered where I read about this story, Oddee.com. It was when I was doing nothing at my old office that I read about the story of Aron Ralston, a mountaineer who survived for 5 days stuck in the mountains and survived by amputating his own arm just to get free. The first time I hared the movie, I thought that he was just stuck in a mountain and some rescuers helped him get out after 127 hours but as soon as I realized the familiar story, I knew what really will happen to the movie.

*Note: Spoiler Alert*

The movie is about Aron Ralston, an Engineer (at least this is what the movie said), Canyoneer and Mountaineer. He spends his weekends on the outdoors. He seldom tell the people around him where he used to go just to show his independence. On one of his weekend getaway at the Canyon, an accident will happen that will change his life.

One weekend, he planned to go to Blue John Canyon. He went there with his truck and soon on his bike and not long enough through his feet. Along the way, he saw two lady hikers. He assisted them and made friends. He showed them a lagoon at the bottom of the wall cracks. They spend sometime there and soon they parted ways. Aron continued on his way to Blue John.

Clip from the movie: Aron with new friends

As he was passing through some cracks, the rocks that he stepped on soon gave away. It got loose and he fell together with them. Unfortunately, his right arm was pinned with the fallen rock at the bottom of the pit. He was stuck there with only the supplies at his backpack.

He was amazing despite his situation. He used the ropes he had to try to lift the rocks even if it was only his left arm and mouth which are working for him. He even thought to chisel through the rock with his blunt knife but it wasn't successful. He even wrote his name and year of birth at the boulder thinking he will not survive there. He recorded most of his stay there with his video camera.

Clip from the movie: Aron's right arm pinned under the boulder

Soon, as his supply for food and water start to deplete, he was also starting to hallucinate. he thought of many things and realized about a lot in his life. He was about to give up as his water and food run out and he had already drank his urine when he saw a vision of a child. It was his future son. It got him determined and soon thought of amputating his own arm just to get out there. It was a gore scene when he was slowly sutting through his flesh and breaking his bone just to get out. Soon he was free and bleeding. He went out the canyon and arrived to a cliff. He even managed to go down with a rope to where he was and drank dirty water at the bottom of it.

Soon, he began walking back to go look for help. When all seems hopeless, he found some hikers that helped him and called for help. Soon rescuers arrived and he was saved.

The movie ended with him and his arm amputated and some story of his life after, that he had a son and still continues to be a mountaineer. He had a hook on his right arm whenever he goes to the mountains to aid him in his climb.

Aron Ralston

It wasn't mentioned in the movie but his arm was retrieved and cremated by the park authorities and was given back to him. He returned at the canyon and left his ashes there. He was featured in Oddee for the 10 People who Survived the Impossible and on another article there. He was an amazing man and his story deserves to be heard throughout the world.

I enjoyed the movie even if there are a lot of gore scenes. Aron's life was incredible. I also like to stay outdoors on a weekend and do stuff that are daring. I just don't want to be stuck in the boulder for that long :P.

Anyway, the movie is good and you should watch it if you haven't. James Franco is so good in this movie and he is also very good looking. It was directed by Danny Boyle, the same director as Slum dog Millionaire.

If you like the outdoors, I bet you'd also be so inggit like me with where he is there. Hope you enjoy watching the movie, enjoy!