Meru, the near-mythic mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya, offers 1400m of steep ice and overhanging granite. But in the film, it’s the human beings that matter. [1300 words 5 mins
Must watch Meru now and glad you included Touching the Void. I went to a workshop by Keith Partridge a few years ago which was eye opening in terms of what filming involves especially before the days of digital cameras. For your dud list I still can't believe I actually paid to watch Cliffhanger one afternoon!
I take your point about the Eiger Sanction having a ludicrous premise to get the protagonists onto the Nordwand, but the climbing sequences are actually pretty well done. I talked to John Cleare (i.e., I mostly listened to JC) about it—he was one of the climbing camera guys—and he said they were all very impressed with Eastwood's commitment to realism.
The same can't be said of Cliffhanger. I went to see it with some climbing mates, probably after a couple of pints, and we must have ruined it for the other people there by laughing uproariously at pretty much every climbing sequence.
But for sheer awfulness and inauthenticity nothing can quite match Vertical Limit.
Eiger Sanction - shame the script writer didn't share that commitment to realism! We could discuss worst ever climbing films - but someone would have to watch them all.
Must watch Meru now and glad you included Touching the Void. I went to a workshop by Keith Partridge a few years ago which was eye opening in terms of what filming involves especially before the days of digital cameras. For your dud list I still can't believe I actually paid to watch Cliffhanger one afternoon!
Yes, Cliffhanger seems to be heading the nominations for WOAT (Worst Of All Time). Going by the clips seen online, the accolade is well deserved.
It was a useful article, thank you
Well, that's one for the 'must-see' list.
I take your point about the Eiger Sanction having a ludicrous premise to get the protagonists onto the Nordwand, but the climbing sequences are actually pretty well done. I talked to John Cleare (i.e., I mostly listened to JC) about it—he was one of the climbing camera guys—and he said they were all very impressed with Eastwood's commitment to realism.
The same can't be said of Cliffhanger. I went to see it with some climbing mates, probably after a couple of pints, and we must have ruined it for the other people there by laughing uproariously at pretty much every climbing sequence.
But for sheer awfulness and inauthenticity nothing can quite match Vertical Limit.
Eiger Sanction - shame the script writer didn't share that commitment to realism! We could discuss worst ever climbing films - but someone would have to watch them all.