Directed by:
Danny BoyleCast:
James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Lizzy Caplan, Clémence Poésy, Treat Williams, Pieter Jan Brugge, Amy Savannah, Kate Burton, Lonzo Liggins, Brad Johnson (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
The movie tells the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s remarkable adventure to save himself after a falling boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, abseil a 65 foot rock face and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. (Pathé Distribution UK)
(more)Reviews (17)
I've got a great idea for a movie – Othello spends long days and hours talking himself into watching something where Franco fingers a rock for five days and then saws off his paw with a can opener. Fortunately, Boyle has conceived of the problem as a visual cabaret, with a damn near biblical digital storm sweeping over the landscape and Scooby-Doo hiding around the corner. Surprisingly, 127 Hours isn't that physical a film, though the urine-drinking scene is so suggestively shot (the slowly rising level in the macro tube) that a severed hand can't ruffle us Southern exploitation-soaked viewers anymore. Admittedly, I was inclined to chew off a limb at times out of boredom, but that it was only sometimes and I’m saying it about a film with this kind of premise is a sign of perhaps the highest quality.
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After some time, I’m increasing my rating to a “subjective” five stars, because it’s exactly my cup of tea.
Danny Boyle once again proves his originality and ability to engagingly tell any story through audiovisual
orgies. In an intimate drama with a single character, he doesn’t shy away from strong camera filters, fastforward
scenes, split screens or jumping from one flashback to another. These tricks might seem out of
place and irritating in a different film of this genre, but they make 127 Hours a fast-paced, riveting story
that is never boring while also never straying from the sharp focus on the psychological state of the main
character. It is an excellent, almost extraordinary film that made me cry with happiness at the end.
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After the third screening, it's clear to me: this film has matured and offers much more than a first superficial viewing might suggest. What hightlights it above all is its playfulness. It’s packed with so many directorial ideas and visual tricks, visual and sound games (functional flashbacks, image splitting, refreshingly chosen music) that watching its atypical narrative is a joy – this despite the slightly morbid climax. James Franco is a great actor in this film, and Danny Boyle is a genius.
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Yeah, Boyle and Franco probably did the best they could under the circumstances, but the fears I had before the screening turned out to be true: the premise is good for an autobiography, but not for a feature film. To allow the camera to leave that unfortunate wedged guy at least for a while, the script includes flashbacks and hallucinations that are pretty annoying and pathetic, though I understand the dramatic reasons behind them. But, considering the possibilities the creators had, the film is very brisk and energetic and Boyle again shows his strength: the blend of music and images. The ending (when the “action” is behind) managed to arouse some emotions. However, I still have mixed feelings about 127 Hours and I would love it if next time Danny chose more story-rich material. 7/10
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This is Touching the Void in a more cinematic, but less emotional package. Boyle cuts back on the poignant sequences and instead serves up a minimalist tale of one self-centered fop for whom a smaller rock was waiting to show him that ego isn't everything. The cinematography, music, editing, and especially the acting are incredibly captivating for the entire ninety minutes, even if all of this can be summed up in a single sentence. Maybe this is how you recognize good filmmaking, and maybe this is what works better than all the sad sights from the slums. But then again, it doesn't collect gold-plated statuettes.
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It can be argued that 127 Hours has no great overlap, and that it is simply a post-modern stylized testimony of courage and desire to survive. It can also be argued that subliminal stressing of fate and miraculous hunch smacks of melodramatic cheesiness. A lot can be argued about, but what really counts is the experience. Pain, despair, fear, and above them a triumphant animal desire to escape and live, no matter what it takes. And 127 Hours has plenty of raw experiences to give. That's why this is an exceptional film and one of the most intense experiences of pain I've ever experienced in a movie theatre (Gibson and his biblical exploitation should study how it's done "for real").
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A desire for adventure, a desire for solitude, a desire to live. Danny Boyle takes a relatively trivial story to a highly personal level, where no hallucination is purposeless and no flashback empty. With the breathtaking James Franco and a visual composition that never rests, 127 Hours turns into a magnificent spiritual cleansing and also the most intimate story. It is simply a difficult task that was achieved with flying colors and made me, despite the implied warning, desire to rush headlong somewhere, making it perhaps the biggest surprise of the season.
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I didn't waver for a minute over any rating other than 5 stars. James Franco played his role perfectly, movingly, and naturally. My hand ached for him from the beginning and my heart was pounding until the end. The imaginative and, most importantly, original ending only made me believe that this film is 100%.
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This is not a movie about a guy who got his hand trapped by a boulder, it's a much deeper exploration of a person, and Boyle primarily shows that even though we're now dominated by technology, we still are capable of… we are more than that. The way it shows this is, to put it simply, technocratic. You want an example? Cram a small camera into a bottle of water and film someone (James Franco) drinking it. Even the Ralston character gravitates towards technology, the footage we see in the trailers, the way he takes pictures of everything and everywhere (although the last photo shows us the incredible shift that Aron’s character undergoes over the course of the movie), which contrasts nicely with his love of nature. Two worlds clash here in this unique struggle for survival. SPOILER ALERT: But honestly... what were the chances that something like this could happen and the protagonist would survive, with his arm hacked off, and write a book about it? Speaking of cutting off arms, that's one of the most intense scenes (this year/last year) in recent times. A nerve is a particularly sensitive issue. Which reminds me, don't take your gentler half to this movie, one lady fled from the cinema just the protagonist ran out of water and started drinking his urine. Franco, by the way, deserved that Oscar nomination (I wish he'd won it; it would probably have been the first time ever that the host won) he deserved it like few others, without his performance, the entire movie would have failed. Ralston is a bad-ass dude who "can do everything on his own", and while that plays an important role in his ability to escape, it's also about his inner transformation, which Franco pulls off so naturally that you might not even notice. And beware, you won't feel sorry for him, absolutely not, but maybe some of you, like me, will imagine yourself in his place. P.S: That exact multi-tool knife is lying on my desk at home. Oops.
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If I have to choose death by boredom from Jesse Eisenberg's Botox face, I'd rather have the epiphany of egomaniac James Franco, if that's what it has to be. And I prefer Mr. Trainspotting to Mr. Seven.
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Danny Boyle is a good director and this adrenaline bite is far more impactful than it might seem at first glance. He turns a a banal storyline into a psychedelic affair of the highest caliber. The desire to survive is beautifully displayed in full force. From minimal resources, he achieved the maximum outcome; this film is definitely worth seeing. It is a simple, yet highly watchable affair.
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Ninety-four minutes of film... And I wasn't bored with a single one. I read the book in one sitting, so I was "just" waiting to see how Danny Boyle would handle it. I have to say, he did a great job. It's not clear to me why the plot deviated so much from the book and Ralston's real story in the beginning of the film (the swimming with a couple of girls is a purely cinematic, completely unnecessary addition and also the only minus), but everything that came after that was sensational, believable thanks to Franco and constantly imaginative thanks to Boyle (you wouldn't believe how many possibilities there are to place the camera in such a narrow canyon). The film looks amazing, features an impeccable soundtrack and won't get out of my head any time soon.
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A very suggestive and unpleasant film, which probably cannot be faulted too much within the director's vision. There were moments when I was bored, and overall, 127 Hours didn't blow me away, but at least for the final act, for James Franco and for the very original and bold execution I can't go below 4*...
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Seconds replace minutes, minutes replace hours and hours replace days. There is always a chance of survival, you just have to keep believing and have a strong will. 127 Hours is the story of a quite ordinary man who suffered extraordinarily for long hours alone in a crevasse somewhere among the canyons. James Franco was brilliant and convincing as Aron, the occasional camera blurring wasn't out of place, and there was an amazing soundtrack to top it all off. IMHO 127 Hours won't be the movie of the year (although who knows?), but it's still a fine piece of filmmaking. In short, a film where I knew how it would end, but still had my mouth slightly agape at times.
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Did I really watch the same movie? From 127 Hours, I expected a proper action survival flick. The theme of a climber stuck under a rock is more than compelling in itself and can be incredibly creative, but literally nothing happened here! The main character is not threatened by anything at all, no natural elements, animals, snakes, heat or cave-ins, on the contrary, all we as the audience get here is constant ruminations on the past and hallucinations of his family, so I really ask again, have we watched the same movie? The film that everyone here is cheering with full of glee? Doesn't look like it to me. And I'd rather not even talk about how he painlessly starts cutting his hand at the end (which, by the way, is perfectly vital, healthy and infection-free after a few days). A disastrous experience and perhaps one of the biggest missteps of recent times.
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The film that made me delve even more into Boyle's works and also appreciate Franco, whom I've liked ever since. This film shows that life can simply write stories that, if fictional, nobody would truly believe. It might sound silly that a guy got stuck because a stone fell on his hand, but considering that it happened and what the consequences were, this event truly leaves an impression on the viewer. It’s filmed in a way that keeps things interesting, even when not much is happening for a while.
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It is admirable how Danny Boyle managed to create a truly thrilling, highly sensitive, and ultimately slightly philosophical film in such a limited space, which he has enriched with numerous visual flourishes, without which the whole work might have made a slightly bland impression. I liked the references to the inevitability of fate, to the advantages/disadvantages of too much individualism as a philosophy of life (man gets the opportunity to blend in with nature in a wonderful way, but the price he has to pay in the end is indeed drastic). James Franco's performance needs no further comment, he and Danny Boyle are in it 50/50.
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