YMMV / Alive

• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • In an example of Latino Is Brown, some viewers criticize the film for its overwhelming cast of "white people"... to portray Uruguayans, who are overwhelmingly white. Uruguayan criticism instead centers on the actors not being Spanish speakers and not pronouncing names like Spanish speakers would, or claim that some changes to the story appear to have been made to appeal better to US audiences. Casting US Latino actors wouldn't necessarily have been an improvement since most of the real people were of French and northern Italian descent, and others included English, German, or Yugoslavian descent.
  • As the movie is known to have added or changed elements to the story, it is easy to find viewers who overshoot their mark and assume that events that actually happened were also fictional, like Nando carrying Roy on his arms back to the plane, or taking a baby shoe with him for the final hike while leaving another on the plane until his return (the shoes had been bought by Nando's mother for a nephew, and he really did fly back with it on the rescue helicopter).
• Americans Hate Tingle: Though not without fans there, the film is commonly seen in Uruguay and South America at large as a "Hollywoodized" version of the story, with added action scenes and levity moments. This is partly derived from criticism made by some victims and families. Such viewers find Society of the Snow to be more faithful and superior because of its aim to tribute the victims who didn't make it.
• Just Here for Godzilla: A lot of people pick up the film just because of the plane crash at the beginning (and mostly the nightmare inducing shot of passengers occupants falling out of the plane) and the featured survival cannibalism.
• Never Live It Down: This is a film about people caught in the worst conditions imaginable and surviving. It is an exploration of facing the worst and not backing down. It is an astonishing true story about the power of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle. Bring it up in a conversation and you will probably hear it described as "The film where people eat their friends", best exemplified by The Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying" ("Pass another hunk of co-pilot."). The actual scenes where they discuss, and then follow through, with the plan to eat their friends who have died only takes up about a fifth of the movie and is handled with all the sensitivity and seriousness required for such a scenario. Hearing people talk about the movie leaves one with the impression that as soon as the survivors wake up the first thing they do is slice up the dead and chow down. Hell, as a result of multiple Black Comedy parodies of the film, many need to be informed there are no cases of murdering or eating comrades alive.
• Nightmare Fuel: The infamous cannibalism. The mere idea of being trapped in such horrible circumstances and being forced to engage in the ultimate taboo activity. The idea that you, like they, could ever be forced to have to choose between chewing the flesh of your dead friends or dying of starvation. It's almost too horrible to think about.
• Retroactive Recognition: Richard Ian Cox plays one of the survivors in the film. This was before several of his more well-known voiceover roles, such as Ranma Saotome, Inuyasha, Quicksilver, and Snails.
• Tearjerker: The whole damn thing really, but any time a survivor dies is bound to break your heart.

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