1. Between a Rock and a Hard Place (127 hours, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vo3INoJZLA The difference between 127 Hours and the other films in this list is that this is not a horror movie. The subject of this film is not sensationalist or intended solely to shock but is in fact a true life tale about one man doing whatever he can to survive against unbelievable odds. Inspiring talk, right? James Franco stars as Aron Ralston, a climber who found himself wedged firmly between two gigantic rocks in an isolated canyon with his arm trapped beneath a boulder. Faced with certain death and no other choice Rolston decides to amputate his arm in a desperate bid to free himself. It is the ultimate example of man overcoming insurmountable odds to stay alive. Despite the overwhelming sentiment that spews from every pour of Danny Boyle's Academy Award-winning biopic, it does not take anything away from the brutal amputation scene. For a straight 5 minutes Franco's Rolston slices through skin and muscle and bone in some of the most agonising footage ever committed to film. Also, unlike numbers 5 - 2 in this feature this is all the worse because we know a man had to do this to himself in real life. This is as close as something can get to an actual amputation and people actually collapsed during test screenings. That's just how vile it actually is. 127 Hours is proof that there really is no force more powerful than the will to live, except perhaps the force to projectile vomit after watching the 5 aforementioned films.