View Full Version : 127 Hours--The Movie
Different Socks
04-18-2011, 23:19
Just finished watching it and I was not impressed. The beginning was the best part and then when he got trapped, the film featured none of the stories from his book.
I've got to read the book...I just watched the movie the other day and I liked it...but hey, that's me...
Sierra Echo
04-18-2011, 23:35
The best part of the movie was his "radio/talk show" thing he did.
Before someone jumps all over this thread for not having anything to do with the AT, I want to remind all you hikers that Aron Ralston's situation might have turned out vastly different if he'd bothered to tell someone that he was planning on hiking those slot canyons in Utah.
Just so you'll know... I'm planning on hiking slot canyons in Utah, in May. Gonna play the Wave lottery, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave,_Arizona
See ya!
Different Socks
04-18-2011, 23:56
Before someone jumps all over this thread for not having anything to do with the AT, I want to remind all you hikers that Aron Ralston's situation might have turned out vastly different if he'd bothered to tell someone that he was planning on hiking those slot canyons in Utah.
Just so you'll know... I'm planning on hiking slot canyons in Utah, in May. Gonna play the Wave lottery, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave,_Arizona
See ya!
First off, why does a opening post have to be about the AT? Secondly, thank you for pointing out one of the many rules he broke that got him into the situation in the first place.
Thirdly, the book was good but I couldn't believe the number of times he puts himself in danger.
SweetAss03
04-19-2011, 00:42
Thank you Different Socks! I didn't think the movie was all that bad but without reading the book you would never know how big of an idiot this guy really is. The book is basically one chapter of the canyon accident followed by a chapter of another completely stupid stunt that he managed to live through. By the end of the book I was pretty put off. I am all for risk but they need to be calculated...his are just foolish.
fiddlehead
04-19-2011, 04:59
Although I don't watch too many movies (so am far from an expert), I thought it was a good movie.
The guy reminded me a bit of myself.
I can't remember the last time I told anyone where i was going hiking?
Or swimming, bicycling, or exploring anything.
I like to go where there is no trail, and probably take too many chances when i'm there.
It's my life. I don't think I want to change anything.
The guy is still alive. And still being more adventurous than most. I be he likes his life too.
JaxHiker
04-19-2011, 09:30
I think the best part of the movie was Kate Mara. She should've been more prominently featured. ;)
double d
04-19-2011, 11:15
I enjoyed the film and Aaron also indicated numerous times that he made alot of mistakes (not taking the correct amount of gear, not enough water, not telling anyone where he was going, etc.). But....its still a good film, well made and interesting to see him struggle to survive.
Windcatcher
04-19-2011, 13:08
In trying to find the good in this, maybe the popularity of the movie and the publicity will save a life, a limb or limit serious injury in the future by teaching others plan well and use common sense. There will always be the few that insist leaving an itinerary isn't necessary, isn't important for them, or is something they've either never done or will never do. There are many more others that can gain something by learning from Ralston's mistakes. If nothing else it serves as a good reminder that the basics are important.
double d
04-19-2011, 13:23
In trying to find the good in this, maybe the popularity of the movie and the publicity will save a life, a limb or limit serious injury in the future by teaching others plan well and use common sense. There will always be the few that insist leaving an itinerary isn't necessary, isn't important for them, or is something they've either never done or will never do. There are many more others that can gain something by learning from Ralston's mistakes. If nothing else it serves as a good reminder that the basics are important.
Good points Windcatcher, but maybe its just a good story, put to film for a wider audience? Much like the book, maybe there isn't a "message" to be learned except enjoy to enjoy one's life, it might be taken from you on any given day.
hikerboy57
04-19-2011, 13:50
forget about messages, its a survival story.the people who need to hear "the message" probably wouldnt get it anyway.If theres any message, its that s*** happens.another great survival story - Beck Weathers "Left for Dead". neither has a message, just a great demonstration of the human will to live.
88BlueGT
04-19-2011, 14:03
Lets not turn this thread into what he SHOULD HAVE done, if he did everything he SHOULD HAVE done there wouldn't be a movie! (or a book).
I have AND the movie at home, waiting to read the book before I watch the movie, and currently have 2 books ahead of it, sooooooooooo yea. I'll bump this thread in another 3 months lol
hikerboy57
04-19-2011, 14:10
Lets not turn this thread into what he SHOULD HAVE done, if he did everything he SHOULD HAVE done there wouldn't be a movie! (or a book).
I have AND the movie at home, waiting to read the book before I watch the movie, and currently have 2 books ahead of it, sooooooooooo yea. I'll bump this thread in another 3 months lol
he SHOULD HAVE stayed home.
I'm not going to watch the movie because I think it would just be depressing.
Panzer
Blue Jay
04-19-2011, 16:12
The guy reminded me a bit of myself.
I can't remember the last time I told anyone where i was going hiking?
Or swimming, bicycling, or exploring anything.
I like to go where there is no trail, and probably take too many chances when i'm there.
It's my life. I don't think I want to change anything.
Me too, however in the "old" days when you screwed up you wouldn't tell anyone. In our present culture screwing up is glorified, you write books and get movies and money. Take the Jackass movies for example. In the past you knew when you were screwing up. Now no one seems to know.
drastic_quench
04-19-2011, 16:53
Me too, however in the "old" days when you screwed up you wouldn't tell anyone. In our present culture screwing up is glorified, you write books and get movies and money. Take the Jackass movies for example. In the past you knew when you were screwing up. Now no one seems to know.
No one glorified his mistakes! Any glory, if there is indeed any to be had at all, is in the nerve it took to escape those circumstances. It's not enough that he cut off his arm, you need him to keep it to himself?
88BlueGT
04-19-2011, 16:56
You cannot compare the 'Jackass' movie to this, NOT EVEN CLOSE. On one hand you have a bunch of dumb a$s retards running around trying to make eachother cry and do the dumbest thing one could possibly think of at any given time, strictly for amusement and cash.
On the other hand, you have a guy who did not tell anyone he was going out climbing and didn't bring enough supplies... oh wait, now I see all the similarities! :-? :rolleyes:
Sierra Echo
04-19-2011, 17:07
Yeah, Jackass is not a good comparison for this movie.
schnikel
04-20-2011, 16:16
I saw the movie last night and thought it was ok. The book was better IMHO.
We all take a certain amount of risk doing the things we love; hiking, climbing,etc... And to some degree we will pay for that. Whether it is a cold night shivering all night or being a day out with little food, or more extreme examples like what happened to Aaron.
He could have done more like letting people know where he was going, but all the risks he took were risks he was willing to take. In that regard I do simular things when I head out in the wilderness as well. I think we all do.
Schnikel
Good timing...
I'm in Dallas right now wrapping up being an IT monkey for our company trade show.
The keynote speaker this morning was Aron Ralston.
I'm behind the curtains making sure the marketing folks are all set with their network connections, equipment, etc and I noticed this tallish guy standing right next to me about my age..and then I notice he has a mechanical hand! It was him...
According to a NY times article, he makes 25k per corporate appearance!
Interesting hour..definitely presented more for a corporate crowd vs an outdoor crowd.
FWIW, I've been to Blue John Canyon a few years back. Utah is an awesome place. Seeing the presentation made me want to be back out there again.. (And, again by coincidence, I am off the Rio Grande Gorge of New Mexico this weekend! Red Rock country, here I come!!!)
According to a NY times article, he makes 25k per corporate appearance!
Whats he do for 25 grand?
Panzer
Sierra Echo
04-20-2011, 21:17
Whats he do for 25 grand?
Panzer
Maybe he lets em rub his stump for good luck.
Whats he do for 25 grand?
Panzer
Make more money in one hour than I ever did in all my outdoor pursuits. :D
Basically, it's a motivational speech: Overcoming adversity, creative solutions to problems, preparation preventing problems in the first place, blah, blah, blah, blah
double d
04-21-2011, 05:02
Make more money in one hour than I ever did in all my outdoor pursuits. :D
Basically, it's a motivational speech: Overcoming adversity, creative solutions to problems, preparation preventing problems in the first place, blah, blah, blah, blah
Aaron seems like a pretty cool guy to meet and have a beer with, but I would rather cut off my own arm then listen to some goofy "motivational speech".
88BlueGT
04-21-2011, 10:02
Wouldn't be goofy if you were getting paid 25k to sit there and speak it lol
double d
04-21-2011, 10:12
Wouldn't be goofy if you were getting paid 25k to sit there and speak it lol
So true, the problem is, "listening to" rather than "paid to" relates to just another goofy motivational speech. The only good motivational speaker was from SNL and he died in 1998, I think.
desertnomad
04-21-2011, 11:59
The biggest problem with the movie was the flood of inexperienced canyoneers who suddenly decide they want to go see Blue John Canyon and the ‘Aron Raslton tour’. I know a guy here who gets a few emails everyday about taking people down there. They are really worried about people going in there without the proper knowledge and skills needed. The area has seen a boom in visitation recently which I'm not really thrilled with.
I’ve met Aron and didn’t really like him as a person, but I do think he has an interesting story to tell. I did talk to a ranger who worked down there the year it happened. He said it’s a good thing Aron cut his arm off because he now he’ll get a book deal and be famous. He claims they would have found him as he had seen his truck for several days in a row at the trailhead and had a feeling someone was overdue (I’m not sure I believe they would have found him in time but I’m also not sure I believe they wouldn’t have either). He believes SAR would have pulled him out of there and he would have looked like another idiot hiker/canyoneer that needed rescue. I think it would have been a much different story if that had happened. He would have lost the arm anyway and doubt he would be giving talks (at least to the extent he is) and probably wouldn’t have been a movie and maybe not a book.
From the people I’ve talked to he gets the reputation from other canyoneers similar to how Chris McCandless (of Into the Wild fame) does from backpackers. I don’t think Aron is a hero by any stretch of the imagination and it irks my skin and boggles the mind whenever I hear someone suggest this. I do think the guy HAS skill, much like McCandless did. He made some stupid mistakes but I’ve seen lots of people made bigger and more mistakes and come out unscathed.
flemdawg1
04-21-2011, 13:57
You cannot compare the 'Jackass' movie to this, NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Jackass movies are much funnier. :cool:
Aaron seems like a pretty cool guy to meet and have a beer with, but I would rather cut off my own arm then listen to some goofy "motivational speech".
Still a bit on the corporate side for my tastes, but parts of it was interesting. The part where he said he'd cut off his OTHER arm to be with his 14 month old son (shown prominently on the screen) seemed rather heartfelt.
He basically told a story aimed at the corporate crowd. Most people in the room probably have never set foot on a hiking trail, much less be in a slot canyon in one of the most remote places in the lower 48.
For an outdoors person (esp considering my own personal background), the one hour was interesting, but nothing earth shattering.
For the sales, marketing and executives who made up most of the crowd, I am sure it was riveting.
In fairness, I suspect if Aron was giving the talk to a mainly outdoors crowd, it would be a different focus.
..and now I am thankful to be back in CO. Where I can actually be outdoors again and not just see someone get paid 25k to talk about it! :D
From the people I’ve talked to he gets the reputation from other canyoneers similar to how Chris McCandless (of Into the Wild fame) does from backpackers.
Friends of mine are in the canyoneering community (one is even a guidebook author for canyoneering) and said much the same thing. But the story of
The competent person who did Blue John Canyon, took some nice photos and then has a beer makes for boring copy and no movie deals. ( Did I mention I've been in Blue John canyon? ;))
But I don't know the guy personally and can't speak about what he is like or not like. I just know I do not make 25k an hour nor do my friends who are also in the outdoors. :D
I thought that movie was awesome. I thought they did a pretty damn good job documenting a guy trapped in one spot for pretty much the whole movie. They kept it interesting when it could have been extremely boring. Plus, Kate Mara's fine self is always nice to see in a movie
I've never read the book, only seen the movie, and I thought it was very well-done. You've got to admit that there isn't too much they can do with a storyline about a guy who gets stuck for 127 hours in the same place, and they did a really good job working with it. It's very clear that he made mistakes, first of all being that he didn't tell anyone where he was going because of his ego- certainly a lesson to be learned.
Blue Jay
04-22-2011, 12:25
Aaron seems like a pretty cool guy to meet and have a beer with, but I would rather cut off my own arm then listen to some goofy "motivational speech".
I've seen "Aaron" on TV, he reminds me of a sober Charlie Sheen. Stupidity is the people willing to pay, the speakers are "Winning". I would never have guessed that the old Superman Bizzaro World would come reality. :banana
Hindsight.....if you meet 2 chics on the trail and have a great time hanging out with them, scrap whatever plans you origianlly had and finish out the day with them.
SMSP
Tipi Walter
05-11-2011, 09:18
According to a NY times article, he makes 25k per corporate appearance!
T
From the people I’ve talked to he gets the reputation from other canyoneers similar to how Chris McCandless (of Into the Wild fame) does from backpackers. I don’t think Aron is a hero by any stretch of the imagination and it irks my skin and boggles the mind whenever I hear someone suggest this. I do think the guy HAS skill, much like McCandless did. He made some stupid mistakes but I’ve seen lots of people made bigger and more mistakes and come out unscathed.
For anyone who has read his book, BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, about the slot canyon amputation and self-rescue, you will find it wasn't his first close call in the woods. I took the book out on a recent long backpacking trip and read it from cover to cover before burning it to lighten my load.
As I read thru the book I was struck not only by his alleged self-promotion but by his seemingly greenhorn ability to get himself into dangerous situations and close calls. Cutting off his arm in a slot canyon wasn't the only close call he had, there was that near death in an avalanche (where he lost the friendship of two fellow hikers due to his insistence on pushing across a scary bowl), and other trips which he describes experiencing at the ragged edge. I see it partly as ambitious self-promotion whereby a person gets into wilderness situations with an off-kilter perception of the dangers involved.
It would be like a newb greenhorn coming out to the Citico in winter and going up the North Fork ill-prepared for the many creek crossings and clumsily falling in and freezing and yet continuing the journey to the Bob where he gets walloped by a high wind blizzard and deep snow. Then he attempts to get out and describes a long epic on postholing in wet clothing and wet, near useless gear. He survives somehow, and when he gets back he needs to share his "rugged outdoor experience" which to some people reads like a he-man account but which to seasoned experts sounds like a half-arsed ill prepared journey with consistently numerous close calls, all avoidable. See the above quote by Desertnomad. And he arranges $25,000 speaking engagements.
Not only does he describe in the book his outdoor adventures, he seems to revel in the fact that many of them include time at the ragged edge, as if he's not only seasoned but tough. He seems to be another in a long line of too-eager beavers intent on making a name for themselves in the only way they know, by outside exploits. Since he survived his harrowing slot canyon epic, he seems to now want to use it as a giant leap to the top of the heap of adventurists.
We all want to be known for something, our egos call the tune we dance to but there's a special group of people who consider themselves experts from the very beginning and make tremendous mistakes as they climb up the ladder of look-at-me fame one tricky rung at a time. If they survive, even with lost appendages, they feel even more authorized to offer themselves up as some kind of paragons of outdoor guru-hood. But hey, I need to see the movie and see what glossy spin they put on the story or if they include his avalanche misadventure.
Blue Jay
05-11-2011, 09:55
We all want to be known for something, our egos call the tune we dance to but there's a special group of people who consider themselves experts from the very beginning and make tremendous mistakes as they climb up the ladder of look-at-me fame one tricky rung at a time. If they survive, even with lost appendages, they feel even more authorized to offer themselves up as some kind of paragons of outdoor guru-hood.
You nailed that one.
Different Socks
05-12-2011, 01:08
You nailed that one.
I agree with every word! Bout time someone said it.
SassyWindsor
09-10-2011, 20:37
His actions place him in the ranks of wanderer Christopher McCandless, the guy and his girlfriend eaten by a grizzly bear in Alaska, and the hikers who now reside in an Iranian prison.