Alive (1993)

	Directed by: Frank Marshall	COUNTRY USA GENRE Survival/Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Alive RUNNING TIME 125 minutes
	Produced by: Kathleen Kennedy Robert Watts
	Written by (based on the book by Piers Paul Read): John Patrick Shanley

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Nando Parrado	Ethan Hawke
Antonio Balbi	Vincent Spano	½
Roberto Canessa	Josh Hamilton	½
Carlitos Paez	Bruce Ramsay	-
Tintin	John Newton	-
Felipe Restano	Josh Lucas	-
Nando, 20 years later	John Malkovich	-

Review

The riveting story of the Uruguayan rugby team who had to find unorthodox methods for survival after their chartered plane crashed into the Andes en route to an away game in Chile in 1972 is relatively well adapted to the big screen by Steven Spielberg's regular partners Frank Marshall (director) and Kathleen Kennedy (producer). Marshall directs the air disaster brilliantly, but cannot avoid some B-movie sensibilities in the film's first part. He is an old-school director, meaning that even the interpersonal elements – which are the most interesting part of the story – come off as action-driven. I suspect the film may have made more of a lasting impression had they been made to carry the script to a greater degree. Still, once Ethan Hawke's character finds his footing, the film becomes truer, more poignant and a tad less Hollywoodised. Alive may well derive a large part of its effectiveness from the fact that it's based on real events, but it's effective nonetheless.