Alive

"The triumph of the human spirit."

1993 2h 7m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

63%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 1,647🍅63%Rotten Tomatoes●56Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 68,275

AdventureDramaHistory

Synopsis

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The amazing true story of a Uruguayan rugby team's plane that crashed in the middle of the Andes mountains, and their immense will to survive and pull through alive, forced to do anything and everything they could to stay alive on meager rations and through the freezing cold.

“The triumph of the human spirit.”

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Cast

Josh Hamilton
Roberto Canessa
Bruce Ramsay
Carlitos Páez
Ethan Hawke
Nando Parrado
Vincent Spano
Antonio Balbi
John Newton
Antonio Vizintín
David Kriegel
Gustavo Zerbino
Kevin Breznahan
Roy Harley
Sam Behrens
Javier Methol

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frank Marshall
Writers: John Patrick Shanley
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

33 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frank Marshall, shot by Peter James. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Josh Hamilton and Bruce Ramsay and Ethan Hawke carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The triumph of the human spirit.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0106246 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frank Marshall directs. Peter James behind the camera. James Newton Howard scores. Michael Kahn cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

133 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Frank Marshall, shot by Peter James. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Josh Hamilton and Bruce Ramsay and Ethan Hawke carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The triumph of the human spirit.".
7IMDB entry: tt0106246 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 16 themes, including "airplane wreck", "based on true story", "rugby", "survival".
9Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter James
Original score: James Newton Howard
Editing: Michael Kahn
Production design: Norman Reynolds
Costume design: Jennifer L. Parsons
Makeup / hair: Nick Dudman
Sound: Kevin O'Connell
Stunt coordinator: J.J. Makaro
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $32,000,000
Box office: $36,700,000
Return: 115% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Alive (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes: 63% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 56/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 68,275 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 1 nomination total

Also by

Frank Marshall

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-25
★ 6/10
A crowd of boisterous rugby players get a bit of a shock when the plane they are travelling on has an argument with a mountain top in the Andes, and next thing they know they are sheltering in what is left of their aircraft high in the snow-capped terrain with many dead around them and with very little food. Survival is the first order of the day, before rescuers surely come, but does anyone have the faintest idea where they actually are? With the low cloud cover would the wreckage be spotted anyway? What now ensues is a better than average survival movie, with Ethan Hawke (Parrado) and Vincent Spano (Balbi) on quite good form trying to motivate the assembled survivors. Their attempts to ration wine and chocolate soon prove fruitless, and morals and ethics are challenged across this largely god-fearing group as they begin to realise that deliverance from the middle of this avalanche prone country is unlikely, and they must turn to the more urgent needs of finding food... Will they resort to cannibalism? It's based on a true story, which though adding legitimacy, does rob the film of any real sense of jeopardy as clearly someone had to survive to tell us this story, but the route of their eventual salvation demonstrates well the difficulties they faced and the tests to their humanity and faith that they must address. It's not without the odd bit of dark humour and the snowscape cinematography contrasts well with the claustrophobic imagery as the sixteen survivors huddle together in the shell of their aeroplane for warmth and shelter. It is too long with some of the scenarios recycling themselves once or twice, but there is a genuine sense of peril from Frank Marshall that makes you realise just how pointless those pre-take off safety briefings are on an aircraft.

Production companies