From the perspective of one who teaches wilderness survival, I enjoyed the movie. It was, after all, just a movie. But; I've met the consultants they hired for the survival bits and they are some of the best primitive survival instructors around, the movie did a good job showing a progression of learning and luck on the character's part and all the frustration that can go with it, i.e. the coconut scene - he tried to smack it on rocks until he "discovered" that a sharp jagged edge would work better, eventually ending up with the ice skate, I just pretended along with the movie and figured he learned how to grind a sharp edge on the skate with rocks. The fire plow method (which he used) can work with ALOT of effort (in my case at least), as well as the bow/drill, hand drill, etc., with the right combination of materials and body mechanics. And yes, many things contribute to a person's ability to hang in there during stressful, isolated and life-threatening situations. If you want to read a good wilderness survival book read the kid's book; Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I go to 5th grade classes and discuss the survival issues from the book while/after the kids read it, and we go out in the yard and they build shelters and "start" fires. Great fun, and a well written book, every kid should read it!