Maarten VanderDoes There have been times that Werner Herzog stood for quality films. Is this time long past? To my taste Scream of Stone is a terrible bore: soap-like acting with a cliché deep-voice performance of Sutherland, a cliché thin story based on the cliché opposition of intuitive versus experienced climbers, a failure to attain the cliché excitement of cliffhangers even even when the cliffs are at their steepest. Once more: a terrible bore!

the_running_paper_tiger I must say that I'm little disappointed after watching this movie. It's not this way because I've heard so much about it earlier. It's more like, Werner is trying to do His best because the industry is watching and He wants to show Hollywood His best (this one is even English, not German spoken film).Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. I've seen it few minutes ago (it's 7:54 am, 20/5/2002) and I consider this picture as one of Herzog's worse creations/works (from what I've seen so far). Why is it so? Well..Firstly I do miss quotes! I cannot forgive this one! I love'em. Quote at the beginning of "The Mystery Of Kaspar Hauser", quote at the end of "Woyzeck"... These are just unforgettable. Here We've got none of this sort.Second issue is this constant lack of feeling, feeling like "are We there.? Is it a dream?"... I personally caught myself few times changing into a daydreamer while watching "Aguirre Der Zorn Gottes" or "Herz Aus Gold" and believe my I am not addicted to drugs ;). Next case here is baddish script (I mean it). After all I gave "Cerro Torre..." 6/10. You may ask why... Well.. again: Donald Sutherland may wake You up if You fell asleep. There's one scene with cigarette (very short, but kept in lively manner) I really like. In my opinion Herzog doesn't focus on the main guy in the story as he did in His previous pictures. Shame on Him! :) This guy isn't bad at all, and PLEASE all of You... do me a favour ... Try to imagine that Kinski plays Roccia,okay? thanks. Mentioning actors, I cannot forget about Brad Dourif.. You'll love this fella. You could see Him in: "One flew over cuckoo's nest" for instance. What Herzog is doing with camera is His business, but I preferred when it was more static, showing more landscapes... etc. We saw it during "Aguirre", "Fitzcarraldo"... Well ! mr Herzog! these are mountains ... shouldn't We watch'em some more, instead of some naked bodies? Sounds coming from the screen are not those of heart-shaking type. One last thing, I believe. You liked it the way Werner put some music here, some music there in "Woyzeck"? Well forget about it... CONCLUSION is: That's not the step forwards, it's .. oops! I don't know exactly where I am, Klaus Kinski is dead (Great Man) and I feel like I must do something completely different. Hello? Is it Hollywood? I'm sorry I'm lost. I must have dialed the wrong number...

che-29 This is probably one of Herzog's least known films in States,but it's definitely worth seeking out.As always his visuals are stunning.Especially in the Climbing sequences.There is this really great shot of the younger climber hanging on the edge of the cliff ,and the way Herzog holds this shot and let's us absorb it .He always has things like that in his movies,that's one of the things that makes a Werner herzog much more than just another movie.A note to Herzog fans,you'll find all of his trademarks in this movie if you look close enough.

jmydgeek I saw this at the Telluride Film Festival and was impressed by Herzog, but not in a positive way. He's a pompous ass. That doesn't necessarily detract from a movie, but I thought I'd mention it. This film has some absolutely stunning shots (especially of the incredible peak, Cerro Torre), but the human elements are a complete waste of time and film stock. There's actually not much climbing in it.I liked "Fitzcaraldo" and "Aguire" quite well; check those out instead.