Into The Wild

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Read th book a while ago which was canny. Never got round to seeing the flick. Wouldn't mind like but not enthused by that Vedder croaking his way through two hours of it.
 
Bitter sweet story. Love the movie, haven't read the book. Was reading something earlier that suggests the films writer may have gotten the cause of death wrong. Cracking movie all the same.
 
Skrabble said:
Bitter sweet story. Love the movie, haven't read the book. Was reading something earlier that suggests the films writer may have gotten the cause of death wrong. Cracking movie all the same.
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IIRC in the book the cause of death is under debate and they reckon he might have eaten some poisoned seeds.

Tragically they also mention that he was hemmed in by a swollen river but that a few miles out of his way there was a bridge.
 
NewAdventuresInWiFi said:
Cracking film on Channel 4 right now.

Also beautifully soundtracked by Eddie Vedder.

However tragically stupid Christopher McCandless' decision ultimately was, it's hard not to respect the way he totally went against the 'normal life'.
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The note (below) that he pinned to the window of his shelter (the bus), was conveniently 'overlooked' in the film, probably in Sean Penn's rush to paint him as an 'alternative life' poster boy. Very nicely made film, but like many 'true stories' in cinema, very loose with the facts.

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Tex said:
IIRC in the book the cause of death is under debate and they reckon he might have eaten some poisoned seeds.

Tragically they also mention that he was hemmed in by a swollen river but that a few miles out of his way there was a bridge.
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From what I have read and from watching the film the supposed cause of death was from the potato plant seeds (which aren't poisonous). However the coroners report iirc was more to do with the extremely low levels of fat on his body.

Some conjecture over the cause of death seed wise as a very similar looking seed os deemed poisonous. The bus on later inspection had alot of the potato plant growing in it.

He was also, like you say close to a major transport artery for the area.

A very sad tale, but also a great story at the the same time.

Sorry,reading my post back. Punctuation is shot to shit. Time for bed!
 
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I have just re-read the book (recommended as it is a very good read) and the theory postulated there is that he was already weakened from poor diet for a number of weeks and ate some toxic seeds (they reckon potato seeds) which is a normal healthy person would have given a bad belly for a few days - however the toxins formed required protein and fats to flush them from the body and metabolise them as as he had so little fat and residual protein it had a debilitating effect on him from which he couldn't recover. He more or less starved to death........
 
Great story and film. Feels bizarrely inspiring in a way, highlighting that life is precious and you have to get out if it what you want before its to late and don't take it for granted.

There's some good websites about the story as well as stuff (YouTube) of other people making the pilgrimage to the bus.

Soundtrack is perfect as well as you'd expect from Ed. ;)
 
Ah bollocks. Missed it. Love this film, would have liked to have seen it again.

Not read the book but it's sitting on me shelf.
 
I just got angry with the bloke for being such a reckless, self absorbed fuckard. Ruined any enjoyment I might have had out of the movie, eg. cinematography.

Same deal with the idiot Australian woman desert walker from the movie "Tracks" . Worse, her stupidity got a lovely black labrador killed.

Why can't they just go to the pub/match/disco/holding cell every week like normal people?
 
Roger Senseless said:
I just got angry with the bloke for being such a reckless, self absorbed fuckard. Ruined any enjoyment I might have had out of the movie, eg. cinematography.

Same deal with the idiot Australian woman desert walker from the movie "Tracks" . Worse, her stupidity got a lovely black labrador killed.

Why can't they just go to the pub/match/disco/holding cell every week like normal people?
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Not sure if serious but I think the whole point is that these people want to get out of that kind of cyclical predictable lifestyle.

Krakauer is a good writer like. I read Into Thin Air when it came out and have re read it a couple of times. Tragic and fascinating story about the Everest disaster.
 
Tex said:
Not sure if serious but I think the whole point is that these people want to get out of that kind of cyclical predictable lifestyle.

Krakauer is a good writer like. I read Into Thin Air when it came out and have re read it a couple of times. Tragic and fascinating story about the Everest disaster.
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Deadly serious mate. There's loads of ways of getting out of the rat race for a few months, without playing Russian roulette with the only thing your parents really care about.

And the riskier your plans, the better thought out they better be. The lead fuckiots in both movies fell well short there.
 
Aye but I think the danger is the attraction, not like getting out of the rat race by going for a few weeks camping in Hamsterly Forest or even backpacking round Europe, I think they want to rest themselves against the elements in a primeval way with minimal equipment and resources to prove something to themselves.

You're right of course that it crosses the line into being stupid and reckless. Like a more dramatic version of the people who die every year in the lakes or Ben Nevis trying to hike up in trainers and a t shirt then the weather changes.
 
Fascinating story. Found myself researching him heavily after watching the film. Hard to explain why his story is so compelling as there are plenty of people who have died in the wild and no one has battered an eye lid.
 
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