This is a review on the film 127 hours, by Danny Boyle and starring James Franco, based on the true story of Aron Ralston.

This weeks Blockbuster film was 127 hours. Directed by Danny Boyle and starring James Franco, it tells the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston, who finds himself in the unfortunate situation of having his arm pinned by a 600 pound boulder in Canyonlands National Park.

After 5 days of sipping his meager water supply, and presuming he will not last the night, Aron wakes up the following morning to a dehydrated premonition. He must survive for his future wife and child. What follows is a unbelievable scene with him breaking the bones of his arm, before cutting it off with a blunt pen knife. He survives (with his one remaining arm), marries, and has his child.

127 Hours

When you hear the story, there is only one apparent key point, him chopping off his own arm. I was worried the story would be a bit like Cast Away. One guy through the entire film and very little dialogue. Maybe he would name the boulder Wilson! Luckily he doesn’t and, using flashbacks of his life and recording himself on a camcorder, the film keeps a good and engaging pace.

As expected, the scene where he cuts of his own arm he very dramatic. I don’t normally cring but I was squirmy away at points. It is very realistic. For me, this one scene reflects the entire film. It represents the gritty reality of an inspirational story. It’s not an unrealistic Hollywood scene with Hans Zimmer playing in the background. It’s hard-to-watch moments that you can barely comprehend. At points the film may be slightly slow, however, the realism of it, and the shock aspects at points make it a very good film. There are some scenes at the end with the real Aron Ralston which cap the film off nicely.