9 Films "Based On True Stories" That Missed Out The Best Part

8. The Aftermath - 127 Hours

The end of 127 Hours is the whole reason you watch the film. As fascinating as seeing a man trapped under a rock go through a life-changing experience is, if you're sat in the film it's because you know Aaron Ralston's going to hack his arm off using a blunt pen knife. Which is probably why what happens after he frees himself from his prison after five days is treated with a bit of brevity. Contrary to how the film presents it (abseil, drink, walk, people, helicopter), Ralston's journey wasn't over after the first 127 hours. After drinking from that muddy pool Ralston got lost in another canyon and ended up having to walk seven miles to get from first contact with the outside world to actual safety. He's also said that it was only after he escaped that he got to relieve himself for the first time since the whole ideal started, setting up a scene that could have rivalled director Danny Boyle's Worst Toilet in Edinburgh from Trainspotting. Ralston said that Boyle's film was, one swimming case of dramatic licence aside, painfully accurate to his real experiences, but it would have added an extra sense of realism for the film to add in the post-arm-severing bits. There's an alternate ending of the film that, as well as expanding on his family, sees some of these omitted bits included.