Product Description

Witness ALIVE, the thrilling true-life adventure of challenge and survival! In this action-packed hit, a team of tough rugby players survive a plane crash deep in the desolate, snow-covered Andes. Stranded there, they must overcome incredible odds to stay alive! See for yourself the unforgettable story of ordinary young men who find courage in the face of disaster and test the very limits of human endurance! It's an astonishing death-defying triumph that will both entertain ... and inspire you!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7657 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-10-08
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 126 minutes

Amazon.com
In 1972 a chartered plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby squad and various family members crashed in the Andes. If that sounds dry and matter-of-fact, you haven't seen director Frank Marshall's harrowing re-creation Alive, an adrenaline-pounding, heart-in-your-mouth spectacle that kicks off this famous story of survival. The real-life against-all-odds odyssey made worldwide headlines when it became known that the survivors ate their own dead to survive. What could have easily become sensationalistic exploitation is treated with compassion and dignity by Marshall as he explores their moral and spiritual struggles as well as their physical ordeal. As team captain and base-camp cheerleader Vincent Spano slowly collapses under the stress and Ethan Hawke rouses from mourning his dead family to taking charge of saving himself, it also becomes a portrait in leadership, hope, and emotional courage. --Sean Axmaker

From The New Yorker
In 1972, an airplane carrying a team of rugby players came down in the Andes. Those who survived the crash then fended off starvation by eating the dead. Piers Paul Read told the story in his book "Alive," the basis of this movie. Judging by the audience reaction, most people know the story already; everyone began to titter with anticipation whenever one of the characters said he felt hungry. A helping of ghoulish bad taste would have slipped down nicely, in fact, but director Frank Marshall and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley solemnly wring a message of togetherness from the horror. Come closer to your friends than ever before, the movie says: have them for lunch. The crash itself is a knockout, with the fuselage tobogganing down snowy slopes, but from here on the plot grinds to a halt. The cannibalism seems rather gloomy and low-key, but then nobody enjoys frozen food every day. Ethan Hawke and Vincent Spano lead the worrying; a bearded, uncredited John Malkovich looks back on the whole experience and says that it took them spiritually onto a higher plane. Not the happiest choice of phrase to describe an air crash, perhaps, but there you are. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Brilliant but disturbing.
I saw this in the theater when it came out.
The movie is based on a real life story.
Amazing and tragic, Alive is truly inspirational.
That said, the film is a tad disturbing due do the cannibalism parts.
When I was in the theater I think I counted four or five kids under ten years old.
UNACCEPTABLE!!!
I always try to tell parents to use their discretion.
This movie is NOT for the little ones.
I guess in real life, when the survivors were rescued, they were put on trial for the cannibalism that took place.
Hmmmmmm.....didn't these people suffer enough?
I'm not sure what the outcome was from the trial, but it may be worth checking out online.
I recommend Alive as one of the best survival movies ever made.
Brilliant acting, superb directing, very disturbing.
Go rent this.

Unbelievable hope in the face of tragedy
After reading Nando Parrado's book entitled "Miracle in the Andes" I had to see this movie. It made me more aware of the "living" conditions in the Andes, the survival techniques used and and leadership it took for them to walk out of the mountains

Incredible story!
Being a movie buff I have seen many but this one is certainly one of the most impressive stories I have ever come across - wow! The challenges of survival people are faced with after crashing in the Andes and the strength of spirit that can emerge when human beings are forced to deal with ultimate life threatening circumstances leaves an unforgettable imprint in your mind and heart. I don't want to give away details but highly recommend to see this remarkable film and let yourself be touched and truly humbled as I was after first seeing it years ago..