Into the Wild

Factual error: Most of the semi trucks shown in the movie are much newer than 1990, even 1992. One of the trucks that gives Chris a ride has a DOT color-coded inspection sticker in a style that was not around in the early 90's.

Factual error: There is a shot in which Christopher/Alexander Supertramp looks up towards a railroad trestle. You see four Burlington Northern Santa Fe locomotives. The story takes place in the early 1990's, and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad companies had not merged yet. They merged in 1995. They have gone through a couple different locomotive paint schemes since then and the one shown in the shot is a modern day one.

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Mistakes

Other mistake: When Chris is sleeping in his yellow car during the thunderstorm, he gets hit by a flash flood. Afterwards he abandons his car and removes his licence plates. His plates are: UW4-924. A few minutes later his parents decide to visit Chris in Atlanta. We then see a shot of a white car on the freeway, which has the exact same licence plate (UW4-924).

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Quotes

Christopher McCandless: If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed.

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Trivia

Trivia: Hal Holbrook was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role as Ron Franz. At the age of 82, Holbrook became the oldest nominee in Oscar history.

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Questions

Question: Alexander shoots the moose with a rather rapid fire action: it sounds as if the rifle is semi-automatic. What was the true story, and why did Alexander specifically ask for a a cal .22 rifle? Was it because he planned to hunt small game, and knew that a heavier rifle/calibre would be unsuitable? To plan for moose hunting, he would choose something like cal.308.

Answer: Having read Krakauers book: The rifle was a .22 Remington scoped semiautomatic. Accounts at the time mention that this may not have been the best choice, and it is clear that McCandless did not have enough experience to live in the wild, although it is impressing enough that he managed to survive for 16 weeks.

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