Trivia
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Spoilers (5)
Aron Ralston filmed a daily video diary while he was stuck in the canyon; the footage has only been shown to close friends and family and is kept in a bank vault for safety. Before shooting began both James Franco and director Danny Boyle were allowed to view the footage in order to accurately portray the events in the movie.
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To make James Franco's portrayal of Aron Ralston as accurate as possible, the real Ralston told director Danny Boyle to have Franco recite lyrics from the jam band Phish, Ralston's favorite band.
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Aron Ralston broke into tears during a Q&A session at the Toronto International Film Festival, after an audience member asked his opinion on his portrayal on screen. Ralston said it was challenging after he was comforted by the actors beside him.
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James Franco hid his textbooks in the crevices in the "canyon" set, to help keep his mind off of the claustrophobia factor of the teeny set, which he would be in for hours.
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The camcorder used by James Franco in the film was the actual one Aron Ralston used when he was trapped in Blue John Canyon.
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This film is the second film directed by Danny Boyle to contain a time denomination in the title - the first being 28 Days Later... (he also acted as producer on 28 Weeks Later).
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When Aron Ralston was asked how how authentic the film was, he said, "the movie is so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama."
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For the moment when Aron falls down the canyon and gets his arms stuck under the rock, Danny Boyle filmed James Franco for 20 minutes straight going through all kinds of emotions. He then cut the material the way it ended up in the movie.
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Aron Ralston became a motivational speaker. He was busy in November of 2011. Some of his activities included: On November 16, 2011, he was the final keynote speaker for the 2011 Financial & Insurance Conference Planners Annual Conference, in San Antonio, Texas. On November 28, he spoke at the Fayetteville Town Center at the University of Arkansas.
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In the last scene, it's Aron Ralston's real-life friends and family by the swimming pool.
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Spoilers
The amputation scene reportedly caused some audience members to receive medical assistance. Special effects designer Tony Gardner heavily worked on the scene with medical professionals in order to re-create Aron Ralston's perspective. The scene was done on one take.
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Ralston did indeed record himself hallucinating, examining his life, and drinking his own urine.
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Multiple arms and arm interiors were created for the surgery sequence, with a day and a half scheduled at the end of the film's shoot to document the intricacies of the scene. After the first long "take" of the surgery scene, done in real time and lasting twenty minutes, Danny Boyle canceled the last day and a half of the shoot. He felt he had captured everything needed in that first take.
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In 2004 Aron Ralston went back to the scene of the accident with NBC News Anchor Tom Brokaw to scatter the ashes of his amputated arm over the boulder that had trapped him.
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It took 13 men, a winch, and a hydraulic jack to lift the boulder high enough to retrieve Aron's arm from the canyon.
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