Top Movies Based on True Stories: 127 Hours

There are hundreds of movies based on true stories- some that are made direct to DVD or for TV and others that are released in theaters. The list below names the top movies (in my opinion) that are based on true stories. Not only are they rated by just how widely known they are, but just how close they stick to the actual occurrence of events.

10. 127 Hours: 2010, directed by Danny Boyle, starring James Franco as Aron Ralston.

I’m sure all of you have at least heard of the movie, and know that it’s based on a true story of a climber. However, most of you might not know that this is based on a book based on the true story of Aron Ralston- and that the movie is 99.9% accurate, according to Ralston himself.

(THAR BE SPOILERS AHEAD)  Aron Ralston was climbing in the Blue John Canyon region of the U.S.  where he came across a crevice. While trying to go around the obstacle, he grabs hold of a loose boulder, falls to the bottom of the crevice and his right arm gets stuck under the boulder. Through 5 days of hallucinations and hysteria, he decides to cut off his arm so he can escape.

In a news special, the real Aron goes over his excruciating ordeal as he tried to cut his arm off, of his worries. Also in real life, Aron did film a daily video of his suffering, and he let James Franco and Danny Boyle watch them so they portray his mentality with accuracy. In fact, that camcorder and camera that Franco used in the movie were the same ones that Aron used. When asked just how accurate the film was, Ralston stated that, “the movie is so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama.”

The only discrepancies between real life and the movie? The beginning where Aron meets those two girls and goes swimming? He never met them, nor is there even a pool there. And what happened to the arm you ask? Well, Ralston had his arm cremated and then went back to the boulder with news coverage (the one above if you pressed the “news special link”) to spread the ashes of his arm over the boulder. To get the arm, it took 13 men, a hydraulic lift, and a crane.

In a Relevant article, Ralston states that he knew from the beginning when to cut his arm. “It was really an epiphany, a eureka moment. I knew within an hour, right after the accident happened. I said out loud, ‘You’re gonna have to cut your arm off.’ But it was a very deliberate process: On the second day I figured out how to do the tourniquet. The third day I tried sawing through my arm to no avail. The fourth day I was like: ‘Aha! I did it!’”

In the end, Aron stated the movie was extremely accurate, and that he only agreed to it if it was made accurately. He still continues to climb mountains today and leaves a note (just like the film states) everywhere he goes.

 

 

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