There are way more positive reviews than negative as of 10/2021 but of the negative, the complaints are trivial. This isn't a documentary. It's BASED ON the actual event. It doesn't promise a 100% factual portrayal. It's a movie. It has a script. After 72 days:
They'd be weak.
Dehydrated.
Their teeth would be covered with grime & plaque.
Their hair would be longer.
They'd be volatile from isolation, starvation, pain from their injuries.
They used the wreckage for shelter. Imagine what it smelled like to sit amongst people who hadn't bathed in 72 days.
Do people honestly believe they ran out of food/water but not cigarettes for 72 days?
IT'S A MOVIE. I feel sorry for those who don't understand that and keep in mind as you watch. You missed out on a great film. I watched the Anniversary DVD w/amazing extra features that included interviews with the real survivors as well as them returning to the actual crash site 30 years later. They even spoke to the farmer who described the moment he saw the two survivors on his land. Running and screaming at him. The real Nando was also the technical advisor for the film. Ethan Hawke was able to learn about the character he was playing and how he reacted to the situations they found themselves in. It's kind of hard not to see Nando & Canessa as the "heroes" of the film. The real Nando was the youngest survivor. He was only 19 when he trekked through those mountains. He lost his mother & sister in the crash. Perhaps it was the fact that he was so young and had his whole future ahead of him. Witnessing life being ripped away from so many people through no fault of their own is sobering. He said he was determined to walk out of those mountains so that his father didn't have to spend another moment believing the love of his life and 2 children had perished. What really surprised me was finding out that the survivors remain close friends. They still live near each other. They still hang out. They still play Rugby together. They share a bond no one can truly comprehend unless they were part of the ordeal they went through. It's also heartbreaking that they see the relatives of those who didn't survive regularly because they still live in the same town. That's a hard pill to swallow. Being a survivor of that crash put their lives on a course they didn't choose, but they choose accepting it instead of pushing it away. There a moment in the film where the others are waiting, huddled in the wreckage in total silence. That's when it hits you. That moment. WE know what they don't. They have no clue if Nando & Canessa are even still alive or if they're all just waiting to die from starvation or exposure. Did they have any hope left? It's been 72 days. They've all been presumed dead by the authorities and their loved ones. No one was searching for them. They survived a plane crash. They survived their injuries. Sub-zero temperatures. A blizzard. An avalanche that only 16 of them survived. They resorted to one of the most abhorrent, taboo acts a human is capable of. How desperate were they? Did they give in to try to survive, were they just so weak and hopeless by that point that hunger & desperation got the better of them? Who would know they resorted to eating their friends if they believed they'd never be found? Did they even think they weren't just hallucinating when that silence was broken? Unexpectedly, I burst into tears out of nowhere seeing the helicopters arriving to rescued them. What was it like for them?
It was really touching to find out that those little red shoes being split up so they could be reunited after being rescued was a real thing. Why were those even on board the place since there were no children aboard? Nando smother had purchased them as a gift. They were in her luggage. This isn't just a a movie about survival. It's a movie about endurance. Strength. Spirituality. Resolve. Hope. And acceptance on so many levels. Give yourself a chance to experience what this film offers. It's enlightening.
Dehydrated.
Their teeth would be covered with grime & plaque.
Their hair would be longer.
They'd be volatile from isolation, starvation, pain from their injuries.
They used the wreckage for shelter. Imagine what it smelled like to sit amongst people who hadn't bathed in 72 days.
Do people honestly believe they ran out of food/water but not cigarettes for 72 days?
IT'S A MOVIE. I feel sorry for those who don't understand that and keep in mind as you watch. You missed out on a great film. I watched the Anniversary DVD w/amazing extra features that included interviews with the real survivors as well as them returning to the actual crash site 30 years later. They even spoke to the farmer who described the moment he saw the two survivors on his land. Running and screaming at him. The real Nando was also the technical advisor for the film. Ethan Hawke was able to learn about the character he was playing and how he reacted to the situations they found themselves in. It's kind of hard not to see Nando & Canessa as the "heroes" of the film. The real Nando was the youngest survivor. He was only 19 when he trekked through those mountains. He lost his mother & sister in the crash. Perhaps it was the fact that he was so young and had his whole future ahead of him. Witnessing life being ripped away from so many people through no fault of their own is sobering. He said he was determined to walk out of those mountains so that his father didn't have to spend another moment believing the love of his life and 2 children had perished. What really surprised me was finding out that the survivors remain close friends. They still live near each other. They still hang out. They still play Rugby together. They share a bond no one can truly comprehend unless they were part of the ordeal they went through. It's also heartbreaking that they see the relatives of those who didn't survive regularly because they still live in the same town. That's a hard pill to swallow. Being a survivor of that crash put their lives on a course they didn't choose, but they choose accepting it instead of pushing it away. There a moment in the film where the others are waiting, huddled in the wreckage in total silence. That's when it hits you. That moment. WE know what they don't. They have no clue if Nando & Canessa are even still alive or if they're all just waiting to die from starvation or exposure. Did they have any hope left? It's been 72 days. They've all been presumed dead by the authorities and their loved ones. No one was searching for them. They survived a plane crash. They survived their injuries. Sub-zero temperatures. A blizzard. An avalanche that only 16 of them survived. They resorted to one of the most abhorrent, taboo acts a human is capable of. How desperate were they? Did they give in to try to survive, were they just so weak and hopeless by that point that hunger & desperation got the better of them? Who would know they resorted to eating their friends if they believed they'd never be found? Did they even think they weren't just hallucinating when that silence was broken? Unexpectedly, I burst into tears out of nowhere seeing the helicopters arriving to rescued them. What was it like for them?
It was really touching to find out that those little red shoes being split up so they could be reunited after being rescued was a real thing. Why were those even on board the place since there were no children aboard? Nando smother had purchased them as a gift. They were in her luggage. This isn't just a a movie about survival. It's a movie about endurance. Strength. Spirituality. Resolve. Hope. And acceptance on so many levels. Give yourself a chance to experience what this film offers. It's enlightening.