THE Revenant is awesome in the true sense of the word.

Acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Oscar-winning film is awe-inspiring with some of the most masterful shots of the remote wilds captured on camera.

The true story is one of survival when frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is left for dead by members of his own hunting team after being mauled by a bear.

But the film shoot, regarded as one of the toughest in movie history, was almost as much of an endurance exercise for the cast and crew.

With Alberta in west Canada standing in for Montana and South Dakota in 1823, temperatures rarely made it above -30C.

Every day was a battle to avoid hypothermia and at one point Iñárritu admitted defeat and suspended production for five weeks.

But striving for perfection and blurring the line between what the characters and the actual actors portraying them were facing is what makes the film such a staggering achievement.

Based partly on the novel by Michael Punke, this embellished version of true events sees experienced frontiersman Glass attacked by a bear while leading a party of trappers through unchartered territory.

The hard decision is made by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) to leave him behind under the care of Glass' half-Native American son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), the naive Bridger (Will Poulter) and the sly John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy).

Selfish Fitzgerald, who only stays behind because of the payment offered, loses patience and tries to take matters into his own hands before being confronted by Hawk.

Unable to move and fighting for life, Glass can only watch helplessly as his son is then killed by the traitorous Fitzgerald before he is abandoned.

Grief-stricken and fuelled by vengeance, Glass struggles on despite severe injuries, the harsh cold, starvation and hostile Native American tribes.

Much has been made of DiCaprio's performance and it is warranted. Literally suffering for his art, his performance is a study in human spirit and the powerful bond between father and son.

Gleeson's steely performance as Captain Henry also deserves note while Hardy is completely transformed as Fitzgerald.

Set in the savage beauty of the wilderness, this partly true story still has the power to stir almost two centuries on.

RATING 10/10

DAVID MORGAN