February 2, 1993 -- You wouldn't think that a film about how victims of a plane crash have to resort to cannibalism to survive would carry messages of religious faith and the joy of living, but it does.

``Alive,'' a film based on a book about how victims of a 1973 plane crash in the desolate high Andes manage to survive not only the plane crash, but an avalanche and over 70 days of exposure to cold weather and snow storms.

If this all sounds familiar, it is probably because the same story has been filmed before, a 1976 Mexican film dubbed ``Survive!'' told the same story, but not anywhere near as well as this film does.

The plane crash sequence and several other action scenes are very well staged and the special effects are first-rate. The dialogue is spiced with some unexpected humor and the cannibalism is handled forthrightly and with taste. The centerpiece of the film, however, is not the cannibalism, but religious faith and how it helps people cope with their terrible ordeal. It really is an inspiring story.

The film also does a good job of showing how different people deal with the situation in their own ways, about the strengths and failures of leadership, the importance of hope and the ultimate power of the human spirit to triumph over seemingly impossible odds.

An indication of this is a line from the movie when the leader announces to the group that he heard on the radio that the search for their downed plane has been called off. One of the men stands up and says, ``Good! Now it is up to us to save ourselves.''

The others look at the man as if he is insane, but eventually he accomplishes the rescue by undertaking the long journey back to civilization to get help. His faith, his vision, and his inner strength carried him through when others had given up.

The film also illustrates something which is lacking in almost all Hollywood films in recent years, any positive mention of religious faith. Other than Malcolm X, which dealt with Islam, there hasn't been any quality film, perhaps going all the way back to ``Places in the Heart'' in 1984, which portray the Christian religion in a positive light.

Film critic Michael Medved has made a crusade out of this issue in recent years, and it appears he may be right. Some of the most successful films in recent years, ``Aladdin'' ``Beauty and the Beast'' and ``Home Alone'' contained little of the downbeat existential claptrap that oozes forth from most of the slime coming out of Hollywood. You'd think they'd learn.

This film rates a B.

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