“I am alive.” Previously, I am just “Alive,” “Stranded,” or experiencing a “Miracle in the Andes.” The story of the survival of the passengers of Flight 571 for 40 days in the Andes Mountains has been told many times over through books, television, feature documentaries and an Ethan Hawke movie. It has the salacious angle of cannibalism—the survivors had to eat their deadfellows to stay alive—that keeps it a hot topic even 40 years later.
Somewhat piggybacking the success of the 2008 feature doc Stranded, this take differs from it in that it focuses almost singularly on survivor Nando Parrado’s perspective, who went to find rescue. It also features extensive comments from Piers Paul Read, the writer of the original 1974 bestseller Alive
It’s your standard History Channel subject expose: artless, chronological, mostly talking heads, with bursts of cheesy dramatizations. Perhaps the only notable aspect is how it provides a Battle Royale-style title card every time someone dies, counting down the number of people left—which is as morbid as it is informative.
DVD Bonus Features
Included are expected materials like longer interviews with other survivors and/or their family members who didn’t get more prominent roles in the main feature, as well as a featurette about the production’s expedition to the crash site. There are some stuff only mildly related to the story, like a tour of Parrado’s hardware store and small trinkets they found at the crash site that they might donate to a museum.
"I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash" is on sale March 22, 2011 and is rated PG. Documentary. Written and directed by Brad Osborne.
