Product Details

• Actors: John Hurt, Gregory Smith, David Strathairn, Marla Sokoloff, Sarah Buxton
• Directors: Bob Swaim
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Spellbound Pictures
• DVD Release Date: August 21, 2007
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000SQVGNQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,803 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Climb" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Review
John Hurt, the star of The Climb, is an actor with an often staggering capacity for conveying human suffering. With his watery eyes and lean bony, tragic-looking face. Hurt can almost radiate pain. Yet there's a sardonic side to his acting (in stories like The Naked Civil Servant and Love and Death on Long Island ) that undercut any sentimental mush. He's capable of making us laugh at the victims he portrays and their folly even to empathize with their entrapment. Almost all Hurt's skills and view in The Climb which is one of those sterling independent films that some times unfortunately slip through the cracks. Set in 1959 in Baltimore suburb (although it was actually shot in New Zealand. It's an engrossing and sometimes wonderful little family drama, revolving around a young boy's relationship with his reticent father (played by David Strathairn), a man falsely accused of cowardice, and with the dying old engineer (played by Hurt) who lives next door. The boy, Danny Himes (a very good, unsentimental performance by Gregory Smith) obsessed with the notion of proving his courage, partly because in a neighborhood dominated by Korean War veterans, his non-veteran father Earl (Strathairn), is a target to abuse and ridicule. Danny becomes fixated on proving his own bravery by climbing an abandoned TV tower high in the hills above the suburb, as one of his collaborators is Hurt's, Chuck Langer a cancer-ravaged engineer who built many a bridge and road in South America. All of the actors in this film are good. But, as Langer, Hurt is simply tremendous. Impending death has snuffed out almost all Langer's inhibitions and turn him into a railing profane old tyrant. Yet, the warmth and the depth of his ties with Danny are always convincing. The Climb is a little jewel well-worth seeking out - for its humanity, its humor and, most of all, for the brilliant hurting of Hurt. --Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

Review
With a setting and atmosphere seemingly ripped out of the pages of Boy's Life magazine, The Climb is the kind of movie that isn't made much anymore a family film in the truest sense of the word. That means it's just as enjoyable to adults as it is inspiring to teens and preteens, and when's the last time you've seen a film like that? Incidentally, something s wrong in the movie business when a studio-produced idiotic film like last year's Wild America, which has the same target audience, can become a minor hit, yet The Climb which played successfully at the 1997 Mill Valley Film Festival has had to scratch for a distribution deal. Set in 1959 Baltimore, it's about young boy, Danny (Gregory Smith), whose dream of scaling a massive radio tower before it is torn down becomes the major obsession of his life. Climbing the tower will a) prove his fearlessness to a gang of bullies; b) make him better than his father, Earl (David Strathairn), who is considered a coward in the neighborhood because he did not fight in either Korea or World War II; and c) assert his superiority to his smug and scholarly sister Leslie (Bay Area native Marla Sokoloff, the secretary on the television series The Practice.). Trouble is, Danny breaks his arm in typical young adventurous boys fashion, he does it trying to climb onto of his roof of his house. It doesn't look like he's going to be able to conquer the tower before its demise, and to make matters worse, he's also been saddled with the after-school task of caring for a dying neighbor. Chuck (John Hurt, who has fun with his gruff performance) has lung cancer, and wants nothing better than to drink whiskey and smoke cigarettes until his day of reckoning arrives. What's a boy to do? Turns out that old curmudgeon Chuck, who beguiles the boy about his days as a civil engineer (building roads and bridges in such exotic, un-Baltimore-like places as Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, tamping virgin jungle ), has an idea or two about how to get up there. The Climb was expertly written by Vince McKewin, who certainly has to be considered one of the best writers of family movies going he also wrote Fly Away Home. McKewin takes young adults seriously; while he can present adolescent goals and longing in their proper, sometimes amusing perspective as when Danny accidentally sees a neighbor woman undressing he doesn't question the honesty of the feelings or their importance. And there's a lot more to it than just Danny's side of things. Much time is spent on Earl's clashes with his neighbor, a gung-ho war veteran (Stephen McHattie) who endangers his fellow residents by randomly firing guns while rip-roaring drunk, and the social interaction of the adults on the street. In style and spirit though the execution is different The Climb, actually filmed (believe it or not) in New Zealand and directed by Bob Swaim, has pleasant echoes of Stand By Me. It's properly nostalgic, beautifully made, and has a little something for everyone. --G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Examiner

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, Suspenseful and Perfectly Acted, December 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Climb (DVD)

Poignant, suspenseful and perfectly acted, The Climb is as rare as its unlikely central friendship -- and as full of humanity. - Sheila Benson, film critic

A solidly crafted film from the director Bob Swaim, The Climb is an engaging tale of growing up in the 1950's. - David Rooney, VARIETY

In a world where marketplace spin and the one-line pitch meeting has diminished movie-making to deplorably predictable levels, it is a joy to see Bob Swaim's multi-leveled and richly-textured new film. Instead of Hollywood clichés and cardboard figures, he gives us believable characters and situations alive with all the nuance of real life. Defying all easy categorization, THE CLIMB is destined to become a classic. -William Hjortzberg author (Falling Angel, Legend, Angel Heart)

.. one of those sterling independent films that sometimes unfortunately slip through cracks. ...THE CLIMB is a little jewel well worth seeking out... - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune Movie Critic.

The Climb' is a moving coming-of-age drama with a juicy performance by John Hurt as a cantankerous, chain-smoking, bourbon-slugging geezer. David Strathairn displays his typical understated brilliance playing a father who redefines heroism. -Annette Insdorf, Columbia University

Brilliant cast, insightful and sensitive direction. Without question some of John Hurt's finest work. Bob Swaim grew through his high school years in California, and it shows, for unlike most Europeans his vision of US life is honest to the core though clearly his years in French cinema give him an intuition most Americans desperately lack about their own culture. -David Franzoni screenwriter, Citizen Cohn, Amistad, Gladiator,Jumpin' Jack Flash

Funny, touching and thought-provoking. An island of reality and humanity in a sea of effects films. - Daniel Will-Harris, editor, eFuse.com

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Suspenseful Tale Of Courage, January 8, 2008

By	Jill Dunsmore "jjdunsmore50" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Climb (DVD)

Oh goodness!! I saw this on the television aeons ago, or that's what it feels like!! I remember absolutely loving this film, due to it's suspense, and it's courageousness, and its touching nature. I had been searching and searching and searching for this movie for a very long time, and I am very happy to now have it in my possession to watch whenever I wish. It's a great film for all ages! Very sad and very good.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, Suspenseful and Perfectly Acted, December 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Climb (1997) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Poignant, suspenseful and perfectly acted, The Climb is as rare as its unlikely central friendship -- and as full of humanity. - Sheila Benson, film critic.

A solidly crafted film from the director Bob Swaim, The Climb is an engaging tale of growing up in the 1950's. - David Rooney, VARIETY

In a world where marketplace spin and the one-line pitch meeting has diminished movie-making to deplorably predictable levels, it is a joy to see Bob Swaim's multi-leveled and richly-textured new film. Instead of Hollywood clichés and cardboard figures, he gives us believable characters and situations alive with all the nuance of real life. Defying all easy categorization, THE CLIMB is destined to become a classic. -William Hjortzberg author (Falling Angel, Legend, Angel Heart)

.. one of those sterling independent films that sometimes unfortunately slip through cracks. ...THE CLIMB is a little jewel well worth seeking out... - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune Movie Critic.

The Climb' is a moving coming-of-age drama with a juicy performance by John Hurt as a cantankerous, chain-smoking, bourbon-slugging geezer. David Strathairn displays his typical understated brilliance playing a father who redefines heroism. -Annette Insdorf, Columbia University Film Department

Brilliant cast, insightful and sensitive direction. Without question some of John Hurt's finest work. Bob Swaim grew through his high school years in California, and it shows, for unlike most Europeans his vision of US life is honest to the core though clearly his years in French cinema give him an intuition most Americans desperately lack about their own culture. -David Franzoni screenwriter, Citizen Cohn, Amistad, Gladiator,Jumpin' Jack Flash

Funny, touching and thought-provoking. An island of reality and humanity in a sea of effects films. - Daniel Will-Harris, editor, eFuse.com