127 Hours: An Adventure that Dials Up the Adrenalin
| Overall Rating = 4.5 out of 5 stars |
Mountain climber Aron Ralston is on a hiking adventure through the remote canyons of Utah until an accidental 65-foot fall wedges his hand between the canyon wall and a fallen boulder. With dwindling food and water provisions, Aron formulates and executes a series of plans to free himself from this isolated canyon--and so we have the basic premise of 127 Hours.
Facing certain death, Aron contemplates the drastic action of amputating his hand. The anticipation of witnessing such an event is rather overwhelming. But even if Aron survives this ordeal, he will still have to scale the canyon face, and probably trek some miles before being rescued. 127 Hours is a film based on Ralston’s personal true-life account depicted in Between A Rock and A Hard Place.
Staving off pain, hunger, and fatigue, Aron drifts in and out of a flood of memories, video logs, hallucinations, and premonitions expressing the significance of family, friends, and our interdependent connectedness to one another. Film director Danny Boyle both assaults and caresses the senses through constantly submerging the viewer in a deluge of images, sounds, tastes, and tactile sensations.
Facing certain death, Aron contemplates the drastic action of amputating his hand. The anticipation of witnessing such an event is rather overwhelming. But even if Aron survives this ordeal, he will still have to scale the canyon face, and probably trek some miles before being rescued. 127 Hours is a film based on Ralston’s personal true-life account depicted in Between A Rock and A Hard Place.
Staving off pain, hunger, and fatigue, Aron drifts in and out of a flood of memories, video logs, hallucinations, and premonitions expressing the significance of family, friends, and our interdependent connectedness to one another. Film director Danny Boyle both assaults and caresses the senses through constantly submerging the viewer in a deluge of images, sounds, tastes, and tactile sensations.
In the interest of educating moviegoers who dread being subjected to a 90-minute gore fest of a man sawing off his arm, don’t worry: 127 Hours is not that type of movie. Though some of the scenes surrounding the amputation are graphic, they never descend into the grisly, and realistically advance the storyline.
Director Danny Boyle’s 127 Days is an aesthetic departure from his Slumdog Millionaire; however, in both films he finds ways to create moments of sensory extravaganzas, which is especially clever in the isolated canyon environ of 127 Hours, where one might fall prey to sensory deprivation. Despite acting out large segments of the film as a monologue, James Franco’s inspired performance possesses the necessary emotional range and depth to keep us engaged. A.R. Rahman's original soundtrack pumps adrenalin into the hyperactive scenes and provides subtle musical undertones that enhance the sounds of nature echoing off the canyon walls.
127 Hours is a life-affirming adventure that triggers plenty of “fight or flight” moments for the adrenalin junkies in all of us, and climbs to a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Director Danny Boyle’s 127 Days is an aesthetic departure from his Slumdog Millionaire; however, in both films he finds ways to create moments of sensory extravaganzas, which is especially clever in the isolated canyon environ of 127 Hours, where one might fall prey to sensory deprivation. Despite acting out large segments of the film as a monologue, James Franco’s inspired performance possesses the necessary emotional range and depth to keep us engaged. A.R. Rahman's original soundtrack pumps adrenalin into the hyperactive scenes and provides subtle musical undertones that enhance the sounds of nature echoing off the canyon walls.
127 Hours is a life-affirming adventure that triggers plenty of “fight or flight” moments for the adrenalin junkies in all of us, and climbs to a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Comments
Post a Comment