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mike_ok
May 12, 2004, 6:50 PM
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The movie receives a B+ from Yahoo users; for the most part, the users gave an enthusiastic review of the documentary. Only 4 out of 64 gave the movie a grade below B. I have copied those 4 reviews here, minus the users screen-name. I find the last review, a "C," to be the most interesting.
In reply to: This was the most boring movie I've ever seen in my life, I would rather the long version of Ghandi in a foreign language than ever see this movie again, two guys sit in a chair and tell what happened to them at this mountain... I can't believe they actually made people pay for this trash. Grade: F
In reply to: Nothing can prepare you for the mind numbing that is this movie... From the time of the start, to the finish at the end, the cast bores the audience. Grade: F
In reply to: this film is absolutely for a niche market. i went with my mate not knowing what this thing would be, but alright krk, we'll see it. the story was, i imagine, incredibly cool for mountain climbers and outdoor enthusiasts to see. it bored me out of my mind. Grade: D-
In reply to: Ok,.our favorite topic,.overcomming insurmountable odds and obstacles, only to rein supreme in the minds and hearts of men. Now,.lets get down to earth and be humble. What people in their right minds would attempt such a stunt without radios, a way to get help, or rescued? These boneheads are like many others that are egomaniacs, trying to prove to themselves and everyone else that they are superiour in some way, or just adrenaline junkies needing a new fix, while risking their lives and others lives to save them. Totally self absorbed individuals. If it was about helping someone else it would be different, but its not. The story should never had every happened. Bottom line. Grade: C |
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killclimbz
May 12, 2004, 6:55 PM
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The final quote is pretty funny. The first three I can see their point, not that I agree with them, but with any movie there are going to be people that don't like it. The last guy just doesn't have a clue. Everyone has an opinion just like everyone has...
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edge
May 12, 2004, 6:59 PM
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In reply to: These boneheads are like many others that are egomaniacs, trying to prove to themselves and everyone else that they are superiour in some way, or just adrenaline junkies needing a new fix,
Wow, he's got me pegged.
Oh well, time to go juggle sawblades while I walk barefoot through hot coals.
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dingus
May 12, 2004, 7:06 PM
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In reply to: The final quote is pretty funny. The first three I can see their point, not that I agree with them, but with any movie there are going to be people that don't like it. The last guy just doesn't have a clue. Everyone has an opinion just like everyone has...
I think the last guy's post touched on some raw truths in our sport. Good to see an outsider's viewpoint from time to time, eh my fellow egomaniacs?
DMT
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kimmyt
May 12, 2004, 7:19 PM
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Yeah, sometimes it's so easy to forget that not everyone finds the same things interesting. I mean, I was enthralled with the movie and saw it several times, and reading those reviews I was utterly confounded. But then I realized that, hey, not everyone LIKES being in the outdoors (though it's hard to believe), and that many people think people who are mountaineers and such are crazy.
The other day this realization happened to me, when I was hanging out with a friend who doesn't know anything about climbing. At all. I mean, I guess I just always took it for granted, that most people know at least general info about it... but anyway what happened was, I was telling her how I just bought a new rope, and she looked at me blankly. She then asked me 'what type of rope' and the only thing I could say was, 'a climbing rope' and she shook her head. "What rope is that, like the kind they use on ships?" she asked. I couldn't believe it, I never thought that someone wouldn't know something like that, but it does make sense. I looked around, but couldn't find anything to explain what a climbing rope was like, nor anything to compare it to that she'd know. So I just shrugged. It was like trying to find a word that doesn't exist in a foreign language (I suppose how you may have heard that Inuits have like 17 different words for snow, none of which can be translated into english...)
Anyway, it was kinda refreshing. I always like getting shocked and realizing that the way I look at things isn't necessarily the same as other people. Very cool epiphany, and it's amazing when you relearn that.
K.
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imnotbob
May 12, 2004, 7:20 PM
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I am assuming none of these people read the book first.
Even so, I know people not in the 'niche' who truly loved the book but found the movie 'lacking'.
For me the movie was pretty good but the book is classic.
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madmax
May 12, 2004, 7:30 PM
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Certainly for non-mountain climbers the movie would be boring (although the cinematography was excellent in and of itself). How many of us thought the movie was great because it was so realistic? That realism is simply lost on someone who has never climbed a mountain or used rock climbing gear. Additionally, risking ones life simply to climb a mountain has a certain selfishness to it. Despite their comments, however, the movie also conveys, as the last reviewer wrote, the challenges of "overcomming insurmountable odds and obstacles, only to rein supreme in the minds and hearts of men." Whatever. Grade: A
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petro
May 12, 2004, 7:31 PM
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I enthusiastically took my girlfriend to the movie, and I think that she was bored stiff, while my palms were sweating. Ahh well, at least she humors my climbing habits.
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sullerito
May 12, 2004, 7:33 PM
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I saw it before I had ever climbed above 7 feet (I'm pretty new to this) and thought it was riveting. I didn't think either of the guys looked like daredevil types at all.
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luke
May 12, 2004, 8:09 PM
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Reminds me of a conversation with our cab driver on the way to vegas airport, at the end of a red rocks trip. We explained to him that we had come out to go rockclimbing...
driver: So did you gamble at all?
us: no
driver: you came all the way to vegas and you didnt even gamble a little bit?
us: nope.
driver: you mean to say you came right aross the country to climb a rock?
us: yes.
driver: I dunno, that seems weird to me. I mean, I went hiking once but it just seemed like work. I could think of a lot of better things to do on my vacation.
Kind of freaky really. He was, I suppose, fairly fat, but to think hiking is work?!? And it blows me away that he can't understand someone going cross-country to climb, but it makes perfect sense to him that people do so to gamble. As far as I'm concerned they might as well stay home and mail the casino a check.
I guess it takes all kinds of people to make up this world, but it sure is a shock when you meet one of the "other sort".
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lostcause
May 12, 2004, 8:22 PM
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I know a lot of people who think I'm crazy for the climbing that I do but I don't think I've ever heard anyone as critical as the last reviewer.
I personally haven't seen the movie yet (definitely need to), but the book is definitely one of the best I've read of this genre. How do others feel the movie compares to the book.
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marks
May 12, 2004, 8:39 PM
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ive seen it,very good
a friend of mine played the lad who stayed back at base camp,he happens also to be an awesome climber too (v12+)
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katydid
May 12, 2004, 8:43 PM
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Sounds like my ex-husband wrote that last review. :roll:
k.
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slablizard
May 12, 2004, 8:46 PM
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Is the DVD out already?
KAty your quote is the bets ever.
In reply to: Sounds like my ex-husband wrote that last review. :roll: k. |
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marks
May 12, 2004, 8:46 PM
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why?youve lost me
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marks
May 12, 2004, 8:48 PM
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didnt mean i am aswel im crap.
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maculated
May 12, 2004, 8:52 PM
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I saw the movie with non-climbers and they all liked it. They though my after-movie commentary was inappropriate. While *I* was bored during the slow ice-climbing scenes, I'd look around at all the dropped jaws and feel pretty smug about it. Some people likey, some people don't. Surprise surprise.
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mike_ok
May 12, 2004, 9:19 PM
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In reply to: Some people likey, some people don't. Surprise surprise.
Right, agreed. The fourth reviewer, however, was saying something quite different from, "I don't like it," or, "I was bored." The claim is that remote alpine ascents are inherently a) selfish and b) irrational.
If the reviewer is right, then alot of us are selfish idiots. Worth pondering...
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pylonhead
May 12, 2004, 9:30 PM
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I'm always suprised when the people I know aren't as fascinated by rock climbing as I am. I tried to tell my brother about the climbing I did last weekend, and he pretty much cut me off with a, "so you had a good time, that's great!"
I on the other hand can read/talk for hours about climbing. I think I'm driving my friends a little crazy.
And my co-workers could not understand my glee at receiving my first rope in the mail. One said.. "It's a rope Karl. Couldn't you just have picked that up at Home Depot?".
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dingus
May 12, 2004, 9:41 PM
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In reply to: The fourth reviewer, however, was saying something quite different from, "I don't like it," or, "I was bored." The claim is that remote alpine ascents are inherently a) selfish and b) irrational. If the reviewer is right, then alot of us are selfish idiots. Worth pondering...
Climbing is inherently selfish. As to irrational, beauty is in the eye of the beholder? But to some folk, going to the ends of the earth at the risk of life and limb for no apparent gain other than whatever personal satisfaction the participants can wring out of the adventer, typically at great cost, IS irrational.
I have trouble classifying climbing as a rational activity. But then again, I am not always rational. What does that really mean anyway?
DMT
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maww
May 12, 2004, 9:41 PM
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Pylonhead - I have experienced the same responses. :) And I understand your glee too. But yes, it takes all kinds to make this world turn. I don't mind if people don't like climbing or anything else I'm into, just don't mock me for it and I'll do the same for you. I only have issues with people who don't respect others' viewpoints.
But I too enjoyed the movie immensely. There were about 4 other people in the theatre..no idea what they thought. I was also by myself so I have no friends' opinions to share. I enjoyed and was quite pleased (unlike countless other films out there).
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mike_ok
May 12, 2004, 10:25 PM
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In reply to: I have trouble classifying climbing as a rational activity. But then again, I am not always rational. What does that really mean anyway? DMT
To act irrationally is to act in contradiction with one's goals. If survival is your supreme telos, then climbing (more specifically, Alpinism) is inherently irrational. If you have other goals which you are willing to put above - or at the very least equal to - survival, then there is nothing contradictory (and thus irrational) about the pursuit.
I find the charge of selfishness more pertinent. Over the past year or so my life has increasingly gravitated toward climbing. The last month or so, however, I have meditated quite a bit on the selfish side of climbing. More specifically, I feel guilty that my time and energy are dedicated to an inherently selfish pursuit. I'm not so concerned with the nagative aspects of my death (grieving parents, friends, etc) though that may change with children. These are considerations to be sure, but I don't pursue alpinism with the assumption that I will die, and therefore cannot let death be a determining factor. Yet the time/energy issue is immediately aparent and, for someone who proclaims an ethic of radical selflessness, quite damning.
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kachoong
May 12, 2004, 11:11 PM
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I'd have to agree a little with dingus and mike_ok.
In reply to: More specifically, I feel guilty that my time and energy are dedicated to an inherently selfish pursuit
I had a debate with my GF and her parents about.... well it got eventually to climbing and alpinism, which I would never give up for ANYBODY (perhaps tame myself a little)...but actually the conversation was about those two aussie guys who walked across the Antarctican Peninsula, and who from the beginning proclaimed they were to do it without outside help, by themselves and they also confessed to one another if one was to be dead, un-helpable(??) or totally helpless, the other would continue despite the burden of grief.
Well......something did happen, one of them fell to the bottom of a crevasse and what happened? He did want to save his friend, tried, succeeded.....BUT with outside help (helicopter, men etc) who came in the end anyway. They accepted this..... should they have? The guy was presumed dead, but infact survived.
What my 'in-laws' thought was exactly what this fourth reviewer thought- selfish, compromising the lives of others to help; resources, time. I cannot totally disagree with them..... sometimes I don't know what to think.
People get rescued all the time, from sometimes dangerous situations - say in cars submerged in water, walkers on cliffs, divers on reefs, etc, etc so it's not really an isolated sport. And alot of the time nobody questions these rescue efforts....
Anyway.......Touching the Void is a little different again. They helped only themselves...sure they had family, friends who were at terms with their commitment.... as with most familys of climbers/mountaineers... of course you wouldn't ban the one you love from doing what they love just because it's inherantly dangerous. They could get run over by a bus tomorrow morning anyway!
I have read the book many times, but have yet to see the film, as it hasn't yet come 'Down here', but I would think that some people would see it in a different light...... if they have nobody in their family who is engaged in dangerous activities then they have every right in their own judgement to say these mountaineers/climbers/divers/basejumpers/etc/etc/etc are being selfish to their families. What they may not understand is that the families of these people accept the concequenses, and somehow cope with the results if something happens. Of course it's dreadful, but they are comforted knowing they were doing what they loved, and that they achieved a hell of a lot more than just climbing goals; career, family, friendships, etc.
As dingus wrote
In reply to: I have trouble classifying climbing as a rational activity
I do too, but we can make what we want from it, achieve what we want, and be happy knowing we are doing what we love.
....Dave
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changling
May 13, 2004, 1:20 AM
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In reply to: What people in their right minds would attempt such a stunt without radios, a way to get help, or rescued? These boneheads are like many others that are egomaniacs, trying to prove to themselves and everyone else that they are superiour in some way, or just adrenaline junkies needing a new fix, while risking their lives and others lives to save them.
I often wondered to myself, why the hell would I go and do risky things when the ultimate goal is survival? Then I would wonder why my cat, despite being well fed, given fresh cold water daily, and have a very comfortable home, goes outside, hunts for animals she doesn't really care about eating, drinks rain water from the dirty ground, and sleeps on dirt and rocks? I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything wrong since she comes back home everyday. Then I realised it's because we have been alienated from nature.
Most living things fight to stay alive, whether it be animals, plants, fungus, whatever. Us humans don't need to do anything. If we refuse to work, the government gives us money. If our heart stops beating, we get plugged into a wall and have a machine do it for us. Basically, we've got no real struggle. This makes our existance very different from all other living things, and therefore we cannot relate to nature.
So when I go out into the wilderness, I feel a certain alertness of my frailty, and I feel like I'm part of that natural environment, along with all the other living things there. I finally feel like I really am alive, and that I need to fight for my survival just like my fellow life forms. If placed in a really harsh environment, and I come out of there in one piece, there is a sense of accomplishment which surpases any other, because I would know for myself that I've got what it takes to survive, which is the ultimate goal for all living things. Being aware of this kind of life makes us more understanding of other living creatures beyond our little human world, and in turn, I believe, makes us better people.
So now I wonder if people, like the man quoted above, and others that feel the same way he does, truely appreciate their life, and are sympathetic towards non-human life forms.
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qpang
May 13, 2004, 1:33 AM
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I really liked the movie, however it did make me wonder about a couple things. First, why didn't he wait for his partner to give him a proper belay down the vertical ice wall, and then perhaps he wouldn't have broken his leg in the first place. Secondly, why couldn't he pass the knot without unweighting the rope? Seems to me guys taking on a mountain like that would know how to tie a prussik and mariners knot. Passing a knot isn't exactly super advanced stuff I didn't think.
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