MovieChat Forums > 127 Hours (2011) Discussion > Another question about the arm scene...

Another question about the arm scene...

posted 12 years ago by kevinw8305
16 replies | jump to latest

I know you guys are probably sick of people posting questions about this part of the movie but I only ask because I have yet to see the movie.

I checked out the IMDB parental guide to see exactly how gory that part was but my question is in the parental guide it talks about "a very disturbing sound is heard that sounds almost like the board game 'Operation'" It says it during the scene where he his cutting the nerves in his arm. What is the "disturbing sound" they are talking about?

[–] LarryStudios 12 years ago

It's the kind of sound that makes your ears hurt. High pitch.

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[–] hellishrocker 12 years ago

Yes.

I just saw this for the first time the other day and that sound in the scene in question truly and accurately portrays the pain he was going through. It made it quite hard to watch.

[–] dexteric01 12 years ago

Like nails on a chalkboard with a very high pitch. It coincides along with certain parts of the amputation where he has to sever the nerve that runs through his arm which was about as a swizzle stick and every time he touched it at all it would make that sound.

The sound is very similar to the loss of hearing and then the ringing after an explosion where you lose your hearing and you only hear ringing, that is probably the best comparison.

[–] kevinw8305 12 years ago

I think i've prepared myself quite a bit for that scene, now im just going to have to bite the bullet and watch it. Its weird because I usually dont dig this deep into movies before seeing them but i've heard a lot about how gnarly the scene is. Thanks for the info everybody.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Gib11 12 years ago

It's a good scene and the sound FX help you feel his pain. It sounds like an old dial up modem connecting to the internet but it's very high pitched and loud.

Excellent scene.

[–] RaxR1991 12 years ago

Wow, I didnt hear that sound at all.

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[–] snelling 12 years ago

It's a guitar twang on a thin string.

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[–] Zombie55 11 years ago

By the way, during that "high pitched" sound, what was that part in the arm that he was cutting, looked like some nerve thread or something, but do those parts really exist in human arms?

[–] jzak2392 11 years ago

Nope, they made it up for the movie. But let's just pretend they were actual body parts, they'd probably be nerves and tendon, which is extremely hard to cut through.

[–] kesta195 11 years ago

Yeah you have a main nerve that runs through your arms, I'd imagine it would look similar to how it looks in the movie. In his autobiography he said the tendon was the hardest part to cut through due to it being so thick and tough, he ended up using the pliers attachment on the knife to rip through it, but the nerve was by far the most painful. Don't think they showed the tendon cutting in the movie.

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[–] SierraLynn15 11 years ago

Aron said in an NBC documentary that it looked like a string of spaghetti.

"Phalanges, phalanges, phalanges! Dancing phalanges!" - Dr. Bones

[–] ndirish5567 8 years ago

Zombie,

I would guess he went through the superficial radial nerve, although I'm not a doctor, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express tonight. I just know that it's very long and goes all the way down to your wrist.

I believe we have ulnar and median nerves too, but not sure how long they are.

[–] SierraLynn15 11 years ago

It's a disturbing sound but it's meant to portray the pain of touching a raw nerve. Aron described just touching the nerve was like the burn/fire of sticking his entire arm into a pot of liquid metal and the only way to cut it was to put the knife under the nerve and yank upwards. It's is kinda like nails on a chalk board.

"Phalanges, phalanges, phalanges! Dancing phalanges!" - Dr. Bones

[–] coolbrett 11 years ago

I thought Boyle did a really good job of conveying the pain he went through, which was obviously even more evident by Franco's amazing acting. Dying slowly would have been more tempting when compared to cutting your own arm off, even if dying slowly would have been worse. That's how brave he was for doing it.

[–] LadyDi4476 10 years ago

It reminded me of the "Operation" sound effect too. It almost sounds like electricity or fire...which is exactly what Aron felt. It's one of the most effective sound cues I've ever heard in a film.

-Di