ghimdb
How much technical climbing detail and realism is in this movie? I am more interested in documentary-style technical climbing detail and information (like what route was taken and why, what hazards were anticipated and prepared for, what gear was taken, what was the plan and what went as planned and what did not, etc) - and less in character development and that sort of information - will I be disappointed or not? For example, "Touching The Void" did have a lot of technical climbing detail and realism, which is one reason it has a strong appeal to some people. I would like to see someone, such as the other reviewers here, comment on this important point.
davideo-2
STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits A year before Cliffhanger came out, we were treated to this other mountain based adventure story without all the shooting and chasing but quite a fine spectacle all the same.Meet lawyer Taylor Brooks (Michael Biehn.) Arrogant, snazzy and a big shot on the scene. Meet his scientist pal Harold (or H) Jameson (Matt Craven) a more reserved, practical type guy. Two guys with seemingly little in common but one shared passion- mountain climbing. But they're two guys with their eyes on the big kahuna- K2, in Northern Pakistan, the seemingly unclimbable mountain. Taylor and H set out to do the impossible.K2 plays out as a simple, straight-forward mountain climbing thriller and on that level it works. Boasting some wonderful cinematography of the mountain ranges and some quite unnerving cliff top views, it feels like it's plodding along a bit sometimes, but it undeniably has clout for the type of movie it is and for this it's worth seeing. ***
joe_vegas51
K2 has to be one of the finest mountain climbing movies ever made. It is in many ways better than Vertical Limit, which had a big budget as compared to K2. However, In K2 the local color of the Himalayan mountains and the people and culture is exploited giving a special flavor to the movie. Michael Biehn ( star of the Terminator, Aliens, Navy Seals, The Abyss, etc) gives a memorable performance. His good old boy personality is top notch and his physical achievements are at its best. One has to see the movie to understand what mountain climbers do and die for. Matt Craven is the serous partner and the faithful sidekick to happy go lucky Michael Biehn.
otis-10
I bought the DVD out of a big bin for $4.99, thinking I'd lucked into some documentary pearl that would actually show extensive footage of the Karakoram mountains, and K2 in particular. Fast-forwarding through the film, I reached the climactic scene in which the climbers catch their first sight of ---- Mount Waddington, towering to all of 13,260 ft, in Canada's Coastal Range. At least one of the several bozos geared up to climb K2 clearly has no idea what the real mountain actually looks like -- he has to be assured by his friend and climbing partner that he wouldn't have been brought by said partner to an ugly mountain. Given that one of the film's premises is that 27 or so people have lost their lives on K2, you might think that the jerk in question might have taken a minute or two to bone up on a few basic facts, but the clown seems to think that preparations on this scale, while good enough for the likes of Reinhold Messner, are beneath him. To be honest, I haven't watched the whole thing. What I've seen makes me cringe. They say that you get what you pay for. At $4.99, I've been ripped off.
AD
