I find myself agreeing with reviewer John Gregory that the opening scenes [** see my review on "Touching the Void" on the issue of the real-life 'cutting the rope' matter] were more interesting than the rest of the far-fetched movie!

After the initial scenes, the movie goes down hill [no pun intended] from there. Yeah, I know, it's classic Hollywood fiction and the old "hold the audience" and "build the tension and excitement" kind of thing but hey, even in pure unadulterated 'hold the audience/build the excitement' fiction, and with Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror genre flicks aside, at 'least' make the adventure fiction film and plot half-way believable and don't de facto take the audience for a bunch of folks allegedly looking for a cross between 'Star Wars' and some shoot-em-up video game come to life! Whew!

As for whoever came up with the nitro thing as the "cure" [!?] for solving the crevasse trapped problem or those wild hand/feet moves in a sort of rope and ice axe follies kind of thing [and 'this' after being airlifted to an altitude where, in real life, the whole party would have been finished forthwith since even the best of the best when it comes to high altitude tolerance and endurance MUST first acclimatize and this takes 'weeks', not hours!] , anyway, the nitro 'cure' had to be the icing on the farce, as it were, and I would hardly suggest that this was a movie for, as one reviewer put it, the "REI crowd" [sic] as much as for the "Yo! Gimme some action, man, ANY action, especially those visuals" crowd.

And this too, on the personal side -- the cameo of real-life and world class climber, Doc Ed Viesturs, where his 'Hollywood' scripted line in the movie is scripted along the lines of, "You don't send six to rescue two" [during a mountain storm] yet was it not Doc Viesturs [** Ed holds a DVM credential] ET AL who in real life was there on Everest in '96 when Doc Beck Weathers [** see my review of the Everest 1996 IMAX film] needed the helping hand getting back to C1 for the helicopter rescue attempt! And got it! As for K2 itself, it's hardly literary rhetoric that gives K2 the moniker of 'savage' and/or 'killer' mountain as its most recent victims [11 climbers] tragically demonstrated on August 1, 2008 when, besides climber falls, a serac fell. For those into the climbing community, rock or Alpine versions, catch the 12/08 issue of "Rock and Ice" magazine and the Freddie Wilkinson piece, "Perfect Chaos" [page 56], on the K2 disaster. Good piece. No finger pointing but more so letting the reader make the call.

Doc Tony

The only interesting moment in this movie is the rock climbing scene in the begining where Dad insists that the Son cut him lose to save his kids.

I am stunned Ed Viesters allowed himself to be part of this project. I mean, common, you copter up to 22k feet to start a climb? You would be unconcious in 10 mins. Trapped in a cravase? Well, bring up some nitroglycerin to get me out buddy... explode things above my head.

OK.. one great line.... when the supplier mentions his girlfriend is "French-Canadian. When she is Canadian, she can be quite nice. Today she is obviously French."

A complete waste of film and time...

I'm not sure they got this film right. The heart throb guy is very pretty. The wealthy guy is evil. The sister is stupid and should have been left to die anyway. The scary man would like to find his wifey-popsicle. The Mountain was big but the air was a bit blowey, the snow was warm and inside the mountain it was very very cosy (they even had drugs 'n all!) The one thing I am sure that they got right was the American psyche that the way forward in saving stupid people's lives is to go in with high explosives and blow everything up. Who said life doesn't imitate art.
I have got to say though that I really enjoyed this film. I watched it for free on tv but to make sure as little revenue gets back to the producers etc, I am going to boycot all the products that were advertised during its screening. BTW. The two stars are for the pretty guy playing being pretty very well.

That movie REALLY boosts sound into another dimention......HD sound is over the edge......It is considered to be one of my BEST movies of ALL time!!!!

What a great escape while watching true suspense. The beautiful mountains they have in this movie are amazing. In addition, learning another whole world of mountain climbing and the crazy lengths they go to - all to climb to the top.

A movie to own and watch over and over!

Merna Throne
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