Movies
127 Hours
127 Hours was produced and directed by Danny Boyle and is based the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston. In 2003, Aron was hiking Blue John Canyon in Utah. Aron went out hiking alone, and he didn't tell anyone that he was climbing that day. During his hike, a large boulder became loose, heading right for him. The boulder crushed Aron and landed on his right arm, pinning it to the canyon wall. Aron tried to free himself from the boulder and call for help for days, but began to run out of his water supply. On the fifth day, Aron realized that his only possible way of escaping alive would be to cut off his arm. The only tool he had with him was an extremely dull knife. Aron first carved all of his information into the canyon wall, his name, date of birth, and the current date. Aron first broke his arm, and then began to amputate right below the elbow. The dull knife took almost an hour to fully amputate his arm. After becoming free, he descended down the rest of the canyon with one arm. When he reached the bottom, he was still almost ten miles from his car. Aron began the long, painful stroll back to his car. On the way, he ran into a family who called for help, and Aron was airlifted to the hospital. Amazingly, Aron made a full recovery. Although he lost his arm, Aron was so happy to be alive and be able to see his family. Aron's life hasn't changed much today. His favorite hobby is still mountain climbing. Aron plans to climb Mount Everest in the near future. This event has made Aron famous. His tremendous courage and will to live is extremely inspiring and demonstrates how much he cared for others. Aron has made many appearances of television shows including "Minute To Win It." Watch this video below to get a full understanding of what Aron went through.
Rocky
Rocky Balboa is one of the most celebrated American movie characters. Rocky never amounted to much throughout his early life, but he receives the chance of a lifetime to box the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed. In his bout with the champion, Rocky continually receives hit after hit, but whenever he goes down, he would always get back up. Rocky eventually takes the heavyweight champion from Apollo Creed. In the later films, Rocky has to battle back from brain damage and the death of his wife just to enter the boxing arena. As he says in the final installment of the film series, “It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”Rocky has the uncanny ability to not only recover from big hits in the arena, but also the ability to overcome devastating events in his life.
The Lion King
The "Lion King" is an animated film about a lion, Simba, who is next in line to rule over his kingdom. His father, Mufasa, is teaching him how to be king, teaching him about the circle of life. This all changes when Mufasa is killed by his evil brother Scar during a stampede. Scar tells Simba to run away, and he tells him that he will kill him if he ever returns. Simba escapes to the forest and meets his two new friends, Pumba and Timon. In the forest, his new friends teach him to live life with no worries, Hakuna Matata. Simba grows up with his friends in the forest but realizes that he needs to return to the savannah. Simba returns, kills Scar, and recovers his spot on the throne as king of the savannah.
Pursuit of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness is an example of hope, despair, and the relationship between father and son. In it, Chris Gardner (father played by Will Smith), has his wife leave him after a failed investment, and leaves him with only his son, Cristopher. From that point on, the story continues with Gardner and his son walking around the city, looking for help. However, through his own natural smarts, Chris eventually lands a job as a stock broker thanks to his hard work. Thus, he found happ(y)ness and was able to recover.
Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi
The "Star Wars" series is considered one of the greatest epics of our time. In this film, the last of the series, young Luke Skywalker becomes the last of the Jedi knights, a collection of warriors that were responsible for keeping peace in the galaxy. The rest of the Jedis had been wiped out by the evil Emperor Palpatine and his apprentice, Darth Vader. In the fifth movie of the series, "The Empire Strikes Back," Darth Vader was dramatically revealed to be Luke’s father. Vader used to be an elite Jedi by the name of Anakin Skywalker, but the dark temptations of Palpatine had drawn him to the dark side.
When Luke Skywalker confronts the Emperor and Vader in the final scenes of the movie, he refuses to join the empire. Palpatine responds by attacking Luke with electrical shocks, but Luke’s father, Vader, intervenes and kills the Emperor, saving Luke’s life. In a touching scene between father and son, Luke’s father says that it was actually Luke that had saved him. With Luke’s help, Anakin Skywalker recovers the honor that he had lost since joining the dark side and returns to his position as a Jedi; thus it was the “Return of the Jedi.” Anakin dies in the end, but he manages to atone for the crimes of his past by defeating the evil emperor.
Rookie of the Year
Rookie of the Year is an example of unrealistic recovery. After breaking his arm, Henry's arm amazing healed much stronger that it had been before. He went from being the worst player on his Little League team to throwing over 90 mph in the MLB. Henry's dreams are broken when he falls on the same arm again. This time, his arm strength returns to normal. In real life, this type of recovery is impossible.
The Hangover
In The Hangover, Alan accidentally spikes his friends drinks with drugs. They wake up in the morning with no idea what happened the night before. They then realize that their friend Doug is no where to be found. The group trys to retrace their steps to find Doug who is getting married that day. The group embarks on crazy adventures that are hilarious. Finally, they find Doug on the roof of the hotel and rush him to his wedding just in time.
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