helenbarclay
Wow!!!Stunning footage, genuinely excellent.
Narration solid and timely.The first frames sum up the whole film - 'Those who dance are considered mad...by those who cannot hear the music"
I WISH I COULDNT HEAR THE MUSIC!!!! It is so bad i lasted 12 minutes and 29 seconds.if this was released with NO MUSIC and narration only it would probably be very very good.I am genuinely dumbstruck
BasicLogic
Willam Dafoe's voice was humble and respectful when he narrated, the soundtrack, scores played by the orchestra were just sublime and quite matching what those great mountain scene after scene on the screen. There were so many of them so scary to watch. Those fearless climbers on the cliffs, those snowy vertical, dangerous ridges, my heart was uncontrollably pounding....A film about those high mountains, cold, relentless, fierce, silently ready to kill you....Gee, just don't know why so many people wanted to what they called "Conquer" those mountains and conquering themselves. Those mountains are just there, no matter what kind of objects or excuses that human beings trying to climb them to the tops. There were so many scenes that we could only barely see some tiny dots which were actually the human climbers. What I do know is, mountain climbing is a very expensive hobby or sports or whatever vanity that we human beings created. And such adventures are becoming more and more expensive now, more expensive than driving on the cities' street pavements.
Gordon Stainforth
Just awful, despite some (I repeat) some beautiful and exciting footage. There is just so much wrong with it, I can hardly begin. Particularly, it shows very little real understanding of mountains per se, or any understanding of climbing and mountaineering. It's all just seen as an 'arena' for extreme sports. And there's a huge confusion here. The huge increase in the number of people skiing and even a bit in mountaineering has nothing to do with a greater desire for adventure but is all the result of it becoming a lot SAFER and easier for the man in the street to enjoy. And yet all this is muddled up with examples of that very small minority of people who, as ever, are taking part in extreme sports ... that's always been, and always will remain, a virtually separate thing. The commentary is so muddled and so shallow that it almost defies belief at times (e.g. when he starts talking about skiing as a form of 'mountain worship') and the Pathetic Fallacy looms very large indeed throughout. However, if you're a fan of Beethoven, as I am, you can simply shut your eyes and enjoy the music when huge chunks of the Violin and Emperor Concertos are played ... but what on earth have they to do with the Khumbu Icefall etc? And what for that matter has Vivaldi to do with Tibetan Buddhism? The relentless music track throughout is best described as crude and/or crass.
Sam Stevens
A gifted director and cinematographer film their buddies free climbing El Capitan at Yosemite and the like, accompanied by the sublime arrangements of a world class chamber orchestra.We were lucky enough to catch this in live performance after skiing for the day in the Australian Alps, and I honestly thought we'd be asleep within ten minutes.... but it was riveting. The director Jennifer Peedom brings a wonderfully poetic sensitivity to put the viewer in the picture, as if you are there... awestruck by the majesty of some of the world's wildest places, and pumped by the adrenaline of the risks of personal conquest. William Dafoe presents a compelling narrative by travel writer Robert Macfarlane with a gravelly charm, and there, in the background, is Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, casting a spell with their beautiful harmonies...when you go and see this at the cinema, if you can bear it, close your eyes during Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and listen to Tognetti's violin soar....you won't be disappointed.
AD
