Alive

1993
R
2h 8m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

66K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:58

Docudrama Mountain Adventure Period Drama Survival Tragedy Biography Drama Thriller

After crash-landing in the snowswept Andes, a Uruguayan rugby team has no choice but to turn to desperate measures in order to survive.After crash-landing in the snowswept Andes, a Uruguayan rugby team has no choice but to turn to desperate measures in order to survive.After crash-landing in the snowswept Andes, a Uruguayan rugby team has no choice but to turn to desperate measures in order to survive.

Director
- Frank Marshall
Writers
- Piers Paul Read
- John Patrick Shanley
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

66K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,360

516

Director
- Frank Marshall
Writers
- Piers Paul Read
- John Patrick Shanley
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Trivia
The real Nando Parrado (Ethan Hawke's character) was technical advisor to the film.

Goofs
Roberto Canessa is shown sitting beside Nando Parrado in the rescue helicopter. Canessa never made that trip; he was by that point so debilitated by the dysentery he had battled for much of the trek over the mountains that he could no longer walk.

Quotes
Nando: Between these mountains somewhere there's a green valley. See these mountains over here? There's no snow on them.
Roberto Canessa: Those mountains must be fifty miles away. You think you can walk fifty miles?
Nando: If we have to, we will.
Roberto Canessa: I can't.
Nando: Yes, you can.
Roberto Canessa: I can't. I'm not as strong as you.
Nando: Do you know what it is that we've lived this long the way we have? Seventy days? That we climbed this mountain. You know what it is? It's impossible. It's impossible and we did it. I'm proud to be a man on a day like this. Alive. That I lived to see it, and see it in such a place. Take it in. I love you, man. Look, it's magnificent. It's God. And it'll carry us over every stone, I swear. I swear to you.

Crazy credits
In the North American prints, the Touchstone Pictures logo appears at the beginning and at the end, along with the Buena Vista Pictures Distribution disclaimer appears after the credits, meanwhile the international prints had the 1989 version of the 1987 Paramount Pictures logo with the animation at the beginning and the still one at the end.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Matinee/Alive/Body of Evidence/Sniper (1993)

Soundtracks
The Look Of Love
Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David

User reviews153

Review

Featured review

10/10

Gut-Wrenching Story Of Surviving The Impossible

I can remember reading the book on which this story was based many years ago when I was in High School and being engrossed by the story. The movie version is no less engrossing, the entire story being made absolutely gut-wrenching by the fact that it's true. A South American rugby team is stranded in the remote heights of the Andes after a plane crash and has to find a way to survive the freezing temperatures, their injuries and a variety of other challenges (not the least of which is a lack of food.) The acting in it is good, but the situation itself becomes the focus rather than the actors, and so I can't really say that anyone in particular stood out to me, but that doesn't come across as a weakness here. After all, the story of survival was a story of teamwork; a "star" to the movie would have detracted from that.

This is literally gut-wrenching stuff, and I'm surprised it doesn't have a higher rating. It is not an easy movie to watch at times. The injuries are graphically portrayed, the suffering of the injured very realistic and the ultimate solution to the food problem will upset some people (but, in spite of what I've heard some say about this movie, it isn't the focus of the story. It's just an example of what had to be done to survive in an impossible situation.) It also has a surprisingly strong spiritual component to it.

Truly excellent.

10/10