Alive (1993) - Quotes

The Triumph of Human Spirit

Taglines: The triumph of the human spirit.

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Ordinary Men Facing Extreme Challenges

Taglines: They were ordinary young men driven to the very limits of human endurance.

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Surviving the Impossible Through Unthinkable Actions

Taglines: They survived the impossible...by doing the unthinkable.

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Facing Death with Resolve

Roberto: We're gonna die, you know.

Nando: Maybe. But if we die, we're gonna die walking.

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A Dream of Hope and Success

Carlitos: [Nando, Roberto, and Tintin are about to leave] Wait!

Hugo: Carlitos, let them go!

Carlitos: [pause] I have to tell you something. I had a dream last night, a tremendous premonition. I saw green fields and flowers. I could smell the grass. Your expedition will succeed.

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Hope and Despair in Harsh Terrain

Nando: Between these mountains somewhere there's a green valley. See these mountains over here? There's no snow on them.

Roberto: Those mountains must be fifty miles away. You think you can walk fifty miles?

Nando: If we have to, we will.

Roberto: I can't.

Nando: Yes, you can.

Roberto: I can't. I'm not as strong as you.

Nando: Do you know what it is that we've lived this long the way we have? Seventy days? That we climbed this mountain. You know what it is? It's impossible. It's impossible and we did it. I'm proud to be a man on a day like this. Alive. That I lived to see it, and see it in such a place. Take it in. I love you, man. Look, it's magnificent. It's God. And it'll carry us over every stone, I swear. I swear to you.

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Hope Amidst Despair in Survival Situation

Nando: [addressing the survivors] Okay, uh, I got something to tell you. Good news - they called off the search.

Carlitos: [everyone objects and argues] Why the hell is that good news?

Nando: Because it means we're gonna get out of here on our own.

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The Value of Hope in Desperation

Nando: [the search for the survivors has just been called off] Better go tell the others.

Antonio: I can't. It'll kill everybody's hope.

Nando: [sighs] Well, what's so great about hope?

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Prioritizing Interests: Rugby vs. Girls

Felipe: What's more important to you, rugby or girls?

Nando: Girls. You?

Felipe: Girls.

Nando: But when I'm playing rugby, rugby's the most important thing.

Felipe: Yeah, unless girls are watching.

Nando: Right.

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Search for the Missing Bag

Dante: [shivering] My bag, my... bag.

Roberto: He wants his bag.

Gustavo: There isn't much on the floor. I don't... I don't see his bag.

Roberto: We're looking. What's in the bag?

Dante: [rolls his eyes] My... My gun. Gun!

Roberto: No, my friend. We can't be a part of that.

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Medical Crisis Amidst Chaos

Antonio: Zerbino, are you okay?

Gustavo: People are hurt, Antonio! I've only been in med school 6 months!

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The Ethics of Survival and Innocence

Antonio: I think God would want us to survive. Strive to live.

Gustavo: At all costs?

Antonio: No. I mean, we shouldn't murder innocents to live.

Gustavo: And what about our innocence? What's going to become of our innocence if we survive as cannibals?

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Questioning Faith and Understanding of God

Nando: What good is God to us? Why would He let my mother and my sister die so senselessly? If He loves us so much, why does He leave us here to suffer?

Antonio: You are angry at the God you were taught to believe in as a child, the God who is supposed to watch over you and protect you, who answers your prayers and forgives your sins. This God is just a story. Religions try to capture God, but God is beyond religion. The true God lies beyond our comprehension. We cannot understand His will; He can't be explained in a book. He didn't abandon us, and He will not save us. He has nothing to do with our being here. God does not change, he simply is.

Struggling with the Reality of Survival

Antonio: Alberto!

Carlitos: Dead.

Alberto: I'm not dead. I've never felt worse in my life, but I'm not dead.

Beauty and Discomfort in Nature's Presence

Susana: [the plane is over the Andes] Oh, mama, look at the mountains! They're beautiful!

Eugenia: Don't make me look at the mountains, Susana. The mountains look like big teeth.

A Lighthearted Moment Before the Flight

Federico Aranda: Are we supposed to fly that close to the mountains?

Carlitos Páez: Hey, I'll pay for pizza if you go get it.

Prayer and Love in Spiritual Connection

Antonio "Tintin" Vizintin: I don't pray to God for forgiveness or favors, I only pray to be closer to Him, and when I pray, I fill my heart with love. When I pray this way, I know that God is love. When I feel that love, I remember that we don't need angles or a heaven, because we are a part of God already.

Reflections on Survival and Sacrifice

Older Carlitos Páez: [voice over] And so we were saved. Nando and Canessa breached the Andes and we were saved. Later, a group went back and buried the bodies. They built a rough stone altar by the grave and on top of it, they placed an iron cross. There's nothing more I can tell you. We were brought together by a grand experience.

Encountering God in Extreme Isolation

Older Carlitos Páez: [voice over] After 20 years, you analyze a lot. You remember people, heroism. The Miracle of the Andes...that's what they call it. Many people come up to me and say that, had they been there, they surely would have died - but that makes no sense because, until you are in a situation like that, you have no idea how you'll behave. To be affronted by solitude without decadence or a single material thing to prostitute - that elevates you to a spiritual plane...where I felt the presence of God. Now there's the God they taught me about at school - and there's the God that's hidden by what surrounds us in this civilization. That's the God that I met on the mountain.

Building a Life Through Hard Work

Nando Parrado: [[life; [good] You can't build a ] on a foundation of dreams and wishes. A ] life isn't plucked from the sky. You build a life up from the ground, with hard work and clear thinking. Things make sense. There are rules and realities that will not change to suit your needs. It's your job to understand these rules. If you do, and you work hard and work smart, you will be all right.

Confronting Nature's Indifference and Human Arrogance

Nando Parrado: I saw no color at all in the mountains, just muted patches of black and gray. There was no softness, no life, only rock and snow and ice, and as I looked down into all that rugged wildness, I had to laugh at the arrogance of anyone who had ever thought that human beings have conquered the Earth.