Customer Reviews

Fire on the Mountain [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An excellent documentary of the WWII Tenth Mountain Division, the only US troops ever trained for mountain battles. Sort of an outdoorsy version of Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation. The division proved an irresistable opportunity to the best skiers, climbers and outdoorsmen of the day who wanted to both pursue their avocations as well as serve their country. The film provides an entertaining look into the training methods and battles of the division. But the most interesting part of the story of the tenth division is the significance of the post-war contributions of its members in fields such as sports business and environmentalism. The surviving members, all well into their seventies and eighties, still hold an annual reunion to climb, hike, ski and reminisce about their fallen comrades. In one incredibly moving segment, the film documents one recent reunion where the members held a joint climb with members of a similar club of Italian veterans on the mountain that was the sight of their greatest battle.

Anyone should find this video entertaining, but outdoor enthusiasts should find it particularly enjoyable. These men are admirable to me for their skill and dedication in the outdoors in an era before such activites became fashionable; add in their sense of duty and honor as well as their eloquence and I find them to be true heroes. I thank the producers of this film for introducing them to me

Fabulous movie for anyone even remotely interested in the 10th mountain division or the outcome of WW2.

I agree that Dole's absence is curious, and if done for political reasons, unpleasant. However, Dole apparently joined 10th Mountain in Feb. 1945 and didn't undergo the training in the Colorado Rockies that most of this film is focused on (http://www.life.com/Life/lifebooks/military/intro.html). That might be why the movie didn't interview him -- only talking with either the filmmakers or Dole himself will settle the question.

Anyhow, about the movie -- it's good enough, I suppose. The use of a harmonica during some of the narration is hokey, but tolerable. I wish there was more discussion of how all that training specifically came in handy; I wish there were more war stories here period. Otherwise the film just comes across as a bunch of guys having fun until late in the war, while other soldiers are fighting and dying.

My son joined the Army a few months ago and has been assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain. It was very interesting to see the origins of his unit, and why they stilll wear the "Mountain" strip above the division patch.

This was a proud unit, built up from people with specific skills for a specific objective. I would have liked to see more about the postwar activities. I did find the short film about the 10th Mountain in the 21st century very interesting. After I got over initially being scared and worried for my son, I enjoyed being able to learn more about his unit.

If you like skiing, mountaineering, and WW2 historical movies, you'll love Fire on the Mountain. It's the story of the selection, training, operations, and post-war accomplishments of the 10th Mountain Division during WW2.

A fair look at the WW2 Tenth Mountain Divison Men. However, this documentry is written and produced by typical knee-jerk liberals(just check out some of their other projects). Ironically,liberal biased PBS produced an earlier excellent ***** look at this WWII unit and it's postwar legacy. I have this PBS video on VHS made several years before this documentry. The producers appear to have deliberately shunned a man such as 10th veteran Bob Dole, simply out of political motivation. I am only echoing here what two other reveiwers have already written, but is rings true. In many ways this documentry appears to be a plagiary of the earlier PBS documentry! I served in 3/172nd INFANTRY BATTALION (MOUNTAIN) New Hampshire Army National Guard, attended the National Guard Mountain Warfare School and trained with the Italian Alpini. I therefore have a special interest in this area of Military History. PBS came out with a new special about the 10th called "The Last Ridge" recently. I believe that would have been a better use of my hard earned money rather than this DVD...

I just finished seeing this film that I got from Amazon and it has everything good mentioned in the other reviews (professional and customer), but when it comes to listing the post war accomplishments of 10th Mountain Division members (which were considerable), it leaves out 10th Mountain member Sen. Bob Dole, a man who went on to become Majority and Minority Leader of the US Senate. This is an outrage. Guys who founded ski resorts and the Sierra Club are worthy of mention, but a US Senate leader who overcame years of rehabilitation from his WWII wounds (he still doesn't have use of one arm) is not deamed worthy of mention by the artsy types who made this film. Could he have been left out because he is a Republican? I bet if Bob Dole were a Democrat leader in the Senate, that would have been featured prominantly in this film that won a prize at the Sundance Festival.

Leaving Bob Dole out this film is an outrage and a testament to the mean spiritedness of the "tolerant" Hollywood elites. It also is a "1984" or Soviet style attempt to rewrite History. The "artists" should be ashamed of themselves.