For those who do not know, 127 Hours is a biographical film, based entirely on real-life events, from director Danny Boyle. It is also one of the most emotional, gut-wrenching and horrifying 1 hr 50 minutes you will ever spend watching a film! If you can watch the last thirty minutes without your hands over your eyes, squirming in your seat with tears running down your face then you are a better man than me! Because, without giving anything too much away, this is the ultimate story of one mans quest to survive when ALL of the odds are stacked firmly against him and there is quite literally no means of escape!

I went into this film kind of knowing already exactly what this was all about. This is because when the main character first wrote of the experiences and events that make up this movie, his book was featured in FHM and they actually held an interview with the author. Even so, nothing could prepare me for what unfolds on screen!

Basically, Aron is an extreme sports afficando who specialises in mountaineering and climbing in order to get his kicks. His favourite place in the world is a series of mountains and canyons located in Utah's National Park. On the day that this film starts, fate conspires, through a series of unrelated events, to prevent Aaron from telling anyone where he is going. But that's okay because he knows Blue John Canyon like the back of his hand and he's unlikely to get into any trouble, right? Wrong!!!

Mere hours after seperating from some travellers he has met in the extensive maze of canyons, Aron is crossing Blue John Canyon when a rock he is standing on slips, sending him falling down a crevasse. This would be bad enough if it were not for the fact that said boulder then traps him firmly against the interior rock face, crushing his arm in the process. As a volunteer for the Mountain Rescue Services, he knows just how long it could be before he is even reported missing and has to face immediately some cold, hard facts. One: he is on his own with no hope of rescue any time soon. Two: his arm is trapped and he is NOT going anywhere. Three: The only person who can help him is himself and time is running out. Not just because he is quickly running out of vital food and water supplies but also because if he waits too long, he will become too weak to get himself out of this perilous situation from which there appears to be no escape!

Of course, he could always try and cut his arm off but all he has to hand is a very blunt pen knife so that's out of the question....right?

This is one of the most uncomfortable films I have ever had to watch. Just knowing what has to happen for Aron to survive makes the whole thing often unbearable to endure, the underlying tension flowing through this film is so great. And yet, Danny Boyle does a brilliant job of trying to set the viewer at ease as we see, through a series of flashbacks and memories, some of Aron's happiest moments in his life. You would think that a film where, for the most part, there is only one actor and he unable to move would be boring and lifeless and yet Boyle manages to subtly inject a level of humanity and even sensitivity to the proceedings in the way only he, as one of the finest movie directors of our generation, can. Truly this is an amazing film and one that, although hard to watch at its climax, is still compulsive viewing.

I don't think I could ever manage to sit through this film again but one thing is certain. I was riveted to this film and COULD NOT take my eyes off of the screen. And as for James Franco.....this guy really makes the part his own and all I can say is watch this film and you will understand just how good an actor Franco really is.

Like I say this was an extremely hard watch...but you know what? The end result was worth it as this film demonstrates just how far one man is willing to go in order to save his own life!!!!

Breathtaking...that is the only word I can think to describe it!