I rented this last night to get my parents to finally watch it, and they loved it. My mom went as far as to say it's up there with the best movies she's ever seen. I hadn't seen it since I made this thread nearly 3 years ago, because I haven't had to. It's been resonating inside of me ever since. Watching it again, I had a lump in my throat from start to finish. So I guess the purpose of bumping this thread is just to remind people that if you haven't seen this movie, you should probably go rent it. Do yourself a favor and get it on Blu Ray if you can, because the cinematography is amazing.
I remember this movie when CCR originally made this thread. I haven't seen it since the first time either so I'll rent it again as it shall be a good Sunday nightcap.
Seriously, what this guy did was the equivalent of flying a plane without any training. Would all of you guys that are riding this dudes balls still call him a hero if that is what he chose to do and crashed the plane and died? He was a r****d. People do what he did all the time in this world. They just are not as stupid as him when they go about it. I liked how in the end, he was like damn I ****ed up.
<necro-bump here> Mrs. B-Bob and I saw this finally last night, and I totally agree with you but would add some of the other performances as well. Vince Vaughn and Catherine Keener were also fantastic -- had no idea there were in it. Seems as though they really tried to stick to the true story, for the most part. The most poignant (and important) part for us came near the end [SPOILER ALERT] when the kid wrote that happiness is only real if it is shared. Not saying I totally agree, but humans are meant to be social. What's also very interesting is that the time (early 1990's) was sort of the last time you could get off the grid that easily. Very few surveillance cameras, no drones, no cell phones. His parents didn't even realize he's left his college town for quite a while and he was able to really burn his trail basically. Agree with those that Hirsch was really good but not quite perfect for this role. Something about his hollywood-ness came coming through and made the character seem more smug than the real kid probably was. Pictures of the real guy make him seem more sympathetic and sweet than Hirsch. I've been reading that the little bus is still there out in the Alaskan wilderness and that several idiots have also died in their attempts to make half-asses pilgrimages to see it. That's pretty sad, unless you're into handing out Darwin awards, I guess. Anyway, really glad I finally saw it. Kept me awake for quite a while afterwards. I do think the kid had some kind of psycho-social disorder and caused his loved ones some pain unnecessarily, but I do feel like I get the motivation.
You should read this book, and the others from this author. I've really liked all of his books. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1235.Jon_Krakauer
This feels like a super old bump, even older than it is, because the book came out a decade+ before the movie and the book was an expansion of an Outside article from 1993... I’m not sure if Krakauer is more famous for Into the Wild or Into Thin Air. I think the later is more noteworthy because he was actually on the Everest trip. Movies about that Everest season haven’t quite lived up to the quality of Into the Wild though.
I barely remember the movie, but I do recall thinking this guy was cheating when he started using the bus. So that ruined it for me. It was like selling out. All that said, much later after the movie I've had several family members try similar things, trying to homestead if that's what it is called, living on your own, and it went unsuccessfully. So I feel now like there was sort of an underground swell to do this type of thing. And that gives the movie a little more credibility for me because it hit on something I was unaware of.
