Opening of 127 Hours

At the start, it shows a lot of people cheering, clapping and swimming which include the use of our arms. That gives us a hint that something is definitely going to happen to the lead role's arm(s). Later when it shows his house, there is a close up shot of his phone, which tells us that something related to communication is going to occur. As we watch him packing his things eagerly for his adventuring that day, we notice that he is just grabbing things at random and unconsciously leaving all the important gears such as an army knife and extra bottle of water behind.

Oh his way to the canyon, there is a sign that says the closest civilisation is 100 miles away from where he is, thus shows how far away he has travelled from the city. Furthermore, when he was driving he passed by several bikers on a road and when they passed by each other, he realises that there is a biker who looks similar to him. This is another clue which tells us that something concerning a bike is going to happen to him.

There were several camera angles, e.g. over shoulder, medium, close up, extreme close up, bird's eye view, etc. The bird's eye view shot was used when showing the heavy traffic so as to give a big picture of how busy the whole city was; whereas the close up shot was used when the main character was driving his car in order for the audience can see his expressions clearly. The videos were edited into triptychs so as to show the audience more things and details.

STUCK

“127 Hours” is a fantastic survival film directed by Danny Boyle, the same person who got the Best Director Award 2009 for the movie, “Slumdog Millionaire”.

The film is based on the true story of Aron Ralston, an adventurer who got his arm stuck under a boulder in the middle of nowhere during one of his canyoneering and tries to figure out a way to get himself out of there. What’s going to happen to him? Watch the movie to find out!

In my opinion, this movie was excellent and here are some points that I liked about it: the use of camera angles (e.g. taking a worm’s eye view shot of Aron when he was having a good time canyoneering and taking a bird’s eye view shot when he got his arm stuck under the boulder), the opening of the movie (e.g. it showed a few clips of people doing something with their arms and this gives the audience an idea that something related to arms is going to happen), the dramatic music and sound effects throughout the movie (e.g. the catchy music at the opening of the movie which attracts the audience’s attention), etc. There was nothing I disliked about this movie, maybe except for Aron’s swearing.

The actors in the movie were excellent and I found the characters interesting and fun to watch. I liked how Aron was carefree and energetic but on the other hand, I didn’t like how he always went somewhere without telling anyone about it. Still, I think most of the audience watching the movie will like him instantly because of his cheerful nature. His actor has portrayed his character very well.

Overall, I think this was one of the best survival films I have ever watched and I strongly encourage you to watch it as well. Thank you very much for reading this film review.

Homework?

Where is the analysis of the opening of 127 Hours and the image that sums up the feeling it portrays to you?
Please complete all work set - ask if you are not sure.

Film Review Success Criteria

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