The events that followed the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1974 are, by now, notorious. The survivors, members of a rugby team left to fend for themselves in the Andes, ultimately resorted to cannibalism for the sake of survival, devouring the flesh of their dead companions. As a result, 16 men (of the initial 45) managed to stay alive on a frozen glacier for an incredible ten weeks. The story prompted a bestselling nonfiction tome by Piers Paul Read, a 1993 feature dramatization directed by Spielberg collaborator
Frank Marshall, and this documentary, which recounts the harrowing story via firsthand accounts with those involved. Director Gonzalo Arijon accompanies survivors and their children back to the location, cameras-in-tow, and has the men relay the details of the story; he intercuts this footage with clips of the press conference that greeted the men on their return, and recently-recovered archival photographs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide