Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours Trailer Starring James Franco

Posted by on August 25th, 2010   Filed under: Drama, Trailers

The first trailer has arrived online for Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, his follow-up to the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. The movie stars James Franco as Aron Ralston, an adventurous mountain climber who became trapped by a boulder while on a canyoneering trip in Moab, Utah… alone. This the true story of what he had to do to survive.

The trailer is an interesting one that manages to get around the fact that a large majority of the movie is completely devoid of dialogue. It is flashy and energetic and plays up Danny Boyle’s accomplishments without spoiling really anything that happens. It does, however, seem a bit misleading in the sense that it makes a potentially harrowing survival story look “fun”… but I guess that’s what marketing is all about. Will this be another TIFF success story for Danny Boyle and Fox Searchlight? 127 Hours hits select theatres on November 5th; check out the trailer after the jump.



  • Napalm

    This looks friggin amazing! So different from your conventional trailer. I think Danny Boyle is about to score again!

    Btw, wasn’t the guy stuck in an icy-region in the real event?

  • RaphNL

    Didnt really like this trailer (too flashy) but still looking forward to the movie.

  • I don’t know man, I really liked this trailer. The guys story is pretty interesting, and while the trailer is flashy and energetic and therefore misleading, I think that kind of works in a strange way. It hooks you in, and then leaves you hanging with that last shot of James Franco under the rock. It’s a perfect introduction to the story, that pulls you in without ruining anything.

  • I have to tell ya, this movie looks terrible. Apart from the fact that it’s directed by Danny Boyle, the story matter is so uninteresting. Several years ago at my university Aron Ralston was the convocation speaker and we were forced to read the book about his experience in the Moab. I can’t tell you how many conversations we had about the complete stupidity of this guy. He claims to be an expert rock climber, but everything he did the weekend he was trapped under the rock was the symptoms of an amateur, or at least someone so arrogant they didn’t feel the need to prepare, which is equally stupid. Listening to the guy at convocation I was disgusted because all he spoke about was how talented he was. I don’t believe I’ve ever met someone so conceited. It’s hard for me to seperate the qualities of this movie from Danny Boyle’s style to the idiocy of Mr. Ralston. Looking at the trailer it appears to be just one more piece of propaganda from the Aron Ralston campaign of 2004 and 2005. An appearance on the today show, Oprah, wheeties deal, a book deal, and now a movie directed by a flashy hollywood director. Sounds a little fishy to me.

  • Niklas

    Danny Boyle is a flashy Hollywood director? You make him sound like Brett Ratner or something.

    I don’t know what to make from this trailer. If it didn’t have Danny Boyle’s name on it I’d be pretty uninterested after watching it.

  • I’m a huge fan of Boyle’s work and he has been able to excel at any genre he’s taken on. But I worry about this movie, I’m very uninterested in it. Plus it feels like the trailer is banking on Boyle’s other work to sell this, which makes me think that it isn’t going to be spectacular.

  • bard

    I love the majority of Boyle’s movie, and I like James Franco quite a bit.

    I don’t see the reasoning in comparing the movie and character in the movie to the real life guy. If you didn’t know it was true, it wouldn’t matter.

    I think it will be great.

  • I think this looks great! I had a couple of friends on the crew and they said that what was shot was fantastic. This doesn’t seem to contradict. I think you are right about them making it look like fun when half the film is probably very Gerry-like (only with less people). But, as I was watching this, the Boyle film that came to mind most was The Beach (which I like) and Boyle did a lot of really interesting psychological stuff in that film when DiCaprio was alone with his thoughts and going crazy. Maybe the film will go in that direction when Franco is alone for half the film. Or…maybe they will show the rescue effort. Either way, this has a lot of energy and visual flair and Boyle hasn’t let me down yet.

  • @Patrick But what an interesting, complex character that could make for … Franco comes across as a bit of an arrogant prick in the film. That all sounds like a great character to me.

  • The story is very interesting but if in the wrong hands could be really boring but luckily boyle is? a fine director so were good

  • Napalm

    Woah, I don’t see how being flashy is a knock against the trailer? It’s very vibrant and visceral, just like Danny Boyle’s other movies. The sudden shift from the playful/adventurous feel to a total serious tone, at the end of the trailer, totally got me.

    Any other director would’ve made the whole thing murky, dark and filled with melodrama. I love how he’s approaching a potentially thrilling/suspenseful movie with such vibrance. It’s an interesting contrast to the story, imo.

  • Phil

    I don’t know if it’s an effect, or the cinematography or what, but the sky looks amazingly BLUE in that trailer.

    Beautiful shots…I wonder if this will be similar to Ryan Reynolds’ “buried” where most of the movie is spent with a guy alone?

  • If the movie can capture the intensity of the real-life events Ralston went through. I don’t now if he made several mistakes, was careless or what. Still looks interesting.

  • Werner

    Ralston’s story was presented on so many TV shows, written about in so many papers, magazines and books – that I’m still saturated by it. I love Boyle’s work and quite like Franco’s acting – but I’m not yet sold on the movie. Don’t see many ways how that story could be told in an interesting way. Going overboard with fantasy stuff like in Trainspotting or The Beach wouldn’t quite fit to this story. Ralston is not a hero – just stupid. Maybe if the movie was a comedy…..

  • Mike

    What Aaron Ralston did will make people shiver and puke forever. He is a total bad ass!! Can’t wait for this film.

  • si

    where can i get a t shirt like what he’s wearing? and the trainers he wears? they’re awesome!