Alive (1993)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Frank Marshall

Writers (WGA):

Piers Paul Read (book)
John Patrick Shanley (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 January 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Thriller

Tagline:

They survived the impossible...by doing the unthinkable.

Plot:

Uruguayan rugby team stranded in the snow swept Andes are forced to use desperate measures to survive after a plane crash.

Plot Keywords:

Rugby | Rugby Team | Mountain | Stranded | Snow

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ethan Hawke	...	Nando Parrado
Vincent Spano	...	Antonio Balbi
Josh Hamilton	...	Roberto Canessa
Bruce Ramsay	...	Carlitos Páez
John Newton	...	Antonio 'Tintín' Vizintín (as John Haymes Newton)
David Kriegel	...	Gustavo Zerbino
Kevin Breznahan	...	Roy Harley
Sam Behrens	...	Javier Methol
Illeana Douglas	...	Lilliana Methol
Jack Noseworthy	...	Bobby François
Christian J. Meoli	...	Federico Aranda
Jake Carpenter	...	Alberto Artuna
Michael DeLorenzo	...	Rafael Cano (as Michael De Lorenzo)
José Zúñiga	...	Fraga, the Mechanic
Danny Nucci	...	Hugo Díaz

Also Known As:

Alive: The Miracle of the Andes

MPAA:

Rated R for crash scenes too intense for unaccompanied children.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | South Korea:15 | USA:R (Certificate #32112) | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Film Andes S.A.

Trivia:

At the end of the film there are 17 survivors. However, there were only 16 survivors of the crash that the film is based on. The real-life counterpart of the character "Hugo Diaz" died in the avalanche.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In reality, the plane tail was ripped off by the torn-off right wing which had clipped a mountain peak before. In the movie, it's the tail clipping a mountain peak and then being ripped off.

Quotes:

Nando: I'm proud to be a man on a day like this.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Robot Chicken: Drippy Pony (#2.16)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Ave Maria

Truly stunning tale of courage and human ingenuity

Frank Marshall's "Alive" is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, a tale of great courage and human ingenuity.

Although the story was filmed previously (and cheaply) by Rene Cardona as "Survive", this retelling is superior in every department and resonates with me years after I first saw it at the cinema.

James Newton Howard's score is truly beautiful and incredibly powerful for its ability to convey both the hopelessness of the situation (trying to survive in the Andes) and the awesome wonder of such a savage land. In fact, the score takes the film from very good to great.

The rendering of Schubert's "Ave Maria" over the rousing climax, with its superbly lensed images by Peter Levy, is one of cinema's most emotional, transporting moments.

Stunning!