so it's all about the scenery
and the long panning panoramic shots
I suspect DiCaprio would have died several times in the film. it seems to be a case of 'lets put the guy through ordeals and have him make the right grunting noises'. drifting your way down a frozen river, I'd think you'd lose motor neuron control after a few minutes. it was also quite unfair of them to slightly pan away from when he was lighting the fire with flint, because we didn't see his skills in actually lighting the fire
nice scenery though