Customer Reviews

K2

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

While K2 suffers from a certain predictability, it has some of the most spectacular mountain climbing scenes ever filmed. Michael Biehn and Matt Craven are two professionals from Seattle who join billionaire Raymond J. Barry and his team as they attempt to climb K2, the world's second largest peak. It's simply a story of how the team comes together to conquer the mountain. There is tragedy along the way and a test of personal friendship as the team makes its ascent to the top. It's somewhat remarkable that this Paramount/Miramax co-production of relatively recent vintage (1991) has been relegated to a release through a budget video company. The DVD presentation is extremely disappointing; the film has a soft look. I remember it looking much clearer and crisper in the theater at the time of its initial release. Most unfortunately, this DVD has been released in pan & scan rather than in widescreen; viewers are really being cheated of some outstanding cinematography. Also, the extras are minimal . . . there's a brief synopsis of the film, credits of the principal film makers, and short biographies of the film's two main stars, Michael Biehn and Matt Craven. This is the type of film where a "Making of" featurette would have been a great and welcome addition. Let's hope that sometime in he future, that Paramount or Miramax will see fit to give K2 the DVD release that it truly deserves.

This is the best mountain climbing movie made! I like to watch it every 3-4 months, which is why I had to get the DVD (my video tape version was about worn out). There are probably better documentary style movies about mountaineering, but for a hollywood-style movie this is the best. The images of mountains and the feeling of high adventure are awesome! I'm surprised by the other negative reviews about this movie.

I am a recreational mountaineer myself, and have read many mountaineering adventure books. I wish there were more mountaineering movies. Compared to "Vertical Limit", I thought "K2" was much more realistic.

This is essentially a buddy movie clothed in mountaineering garb. It is a story about two climbers: one, a Seattle based attorney, the other, a physics instructor. They are a mismatched pair of friends who are brought together because of their love for climbing. The story line is about the ultimate test that their friendship endures while high on K2, the second highest mountain in the world but the most perilous to climb.

The rock climbing scenes that take place in the first fifteen minutes of the movie are terrific to watch, even though they may not be technically correct. After all, it's a movie, not a documentary. The scenery is spectacular and the cinematography is excellent.

These friends decide to grab an opportunity to climb K2 with an expedition that lost two of its team members to an avalanche on Denali. The attorney has no problem going to K2, but the physics instructor leaves behind his weeping wife and child. Yet his friendship with the attorney and his own desire to climb K2 compel him to leave his distraught family.

There are a number of scenes in the movie that seem to be taken from real life. While on expedition to K2, the porters leave them stranded, refusing to go any further on the mountain, as they have portents of doom. They also want more money. One scene has the attorney burning rupees in defiance of the porters' strike. World class mountaineer Jim Wickwire did the same thing, when he climbed K2, and under similar circumstances.

In another scene, a number of climbers fall into a crevasse only to be saved at the last minute by the physics instructor, as he digs his ice axes in and grips the road. The film also include a scene that shows the expedition leader succumbing to high altitude sickness, necessitating his descent of K2 as soon as possible.

Animosity on the mountain between the climbing leader and the attorney over who will be part of the first summit team is also reminiscent of real life expeditions. It is here that the attorney's friendship with the physics instructor becomes strained, as he lays claim to be on the first summit team and does not include his friend, even though they had been climbing partners for ten years. So much for the brotherhood of the rope.

After the first summit team is finished off by the mountain, the two friends summit, but on the descent the physics instructor falls and is seriously injured, breaking his leg. As you can imagine, this is really bad news, as it is tantamount to a death sentence, especially when you are in the death zone and without oxygen.

Since this is a buddy movie, the attorney comes up with a plan to get his friend down K2. I won't tell you what it is, but I will give you a hint. The plan used is to be found in Joe Simpson's book "Touching the Void".

Interestingly enough, the movie is dedicated to two mountaineers of renown: Seattle attorney, Jim Wickwire, and physicist, Lou Reichardt, both of whom were among the first Americans to summit K2 in 1978. This film seems to be loosely based upon some of their mountaineering exploits. It is a moderately enjoyable film that should appeal to armchair climbing enthusiasts everywhere.

This movie is about two friends who are dedicated (not to say compulsive) mountain climbers. It is based loosely on Lou Reichart and Jim Whitacker who were among the first four Americans to climb K2-probably the world's most difficult mountain. The story is woven around the contrast and conflict between the two friends, one apparently being primarily self-oriented and the other believing in the importance of interpersonal responsibility. The climbing is a useful vehicle because it makes plausible that a close relationship between two such dissimilar people could exist. The mentality and mechanics of big mountain climbing are well depicted as the film moves to a resolution of its central issue. The acting is competent and the depiction of the mountain climbing is excellent. This movie is better than the obscurity into which it has sunken. I suspect that it is because most people are simply unable to empathize with the motivation that would drive climbers to deliberately put themselves in a situation in which they have a 30% chance of dying.

First, I won't spend too much time reviewing this film, there are enough reviews on here, or elsewhere, that tell the story. This is a good movie, and while not great, arguably the best, or most accurate dramatic film on mountaineering (Touching the Void being a documentary). It's a good story, well acted, and there is some spectacular cinematography along with a great score.

As to the DVD, while I am very glad it exists in the first place, I was a bit disappointed. The sound is good, though only stereo. The picture quality is good, but it's in 4:3 pan and scan, (not the original letterboxed widescreen it was shot in). And there are no real extras. That's too bad as there could have been a lot here. Perhaps missed most of all is an isloation of Chaz Jankel's excellent score, which was never made available on CD, and remains locked in a vault somewhere.

All in all, a good movie, but an average DVD.

This movie changed my life (is that a bit over the top?!)!

The story is loosely based on the first American ascent of K2. This is the second highest mountain on earth and arguably the most difficult to conquer. It clearly has been one of the most dangerous of all the earth's great peaks. By the end of the last century, fully 13% of all who summitted died during the descent--that's compared to only 3% on Everest and almost double that of any other 8000+ meter peak (there are 14 total). In addition, there is only one instance of a climber having reached the summit more than once, whereas Everest had seen 299 repeats by the end of 1999.

The movie's main characters are a lawyer (Taylor) and his not as technically adept (but very close) climbing buddy who's a biophysicist ("H"--for Harold). Taylor and H have the most extraordinary friendship that withstands little spats, but connects on a deep level. Though H is not as talented a climber, he's every bit as sharp, making important contributions in various ways. However, he's never been in the "death zone" (approx. 25,000+ feet) before, and Taylor has...

While the climbing sequences aren't necessarily technically precise, they are certainly among the very best that have ever been filmed for a "hollywood"-style movie. It's a shame that (according to other reviews) this is not letterbox--I don't know how the movie could survive without some of the incredible scenes of panorama and expanse, from the initial big wall climbing to the ridge camp with sprawling glacier below to the summit moments. I saw this movie 5+ times on the big screen and--wow!

Two scenes in particular are powerful. In one, H has to "sell" his wife on his taking another trip, after making a promise to spend time at home with her and their toddler son. During this scene he finds himself making another promise anew--that he'll come back--for she knows of the mountain's deadly nature. The tension in making a promise after having broken others really spills onto the screen, but you believe that he's sincere. It is this scene where he tries with inadequate and searching though profound words, to describe what it means to him to be able to stand on the top of a mountain that has challenged him to give all that he's got. Amazing!

The other scene of note occurs high on the mountain in a tragic moment of realization for the two friends. I can't imagine a more poignant moment in all of film history--faced with consequences of actions set in motion in a distant place seemingly removed from time, and helpless to change their outcome; a soul-searching sorrowing and lamenting, and in the same moment the most altruistic and lofty of sentiments--it rips a soul apart, if one is open to it's deeper message.

On the basis of this movie, I started actively climbing; not to do what they did, nor to find some extreme way to express myself physically. I somehow related to the ideas presented, that solace and the development of inner strength through exposure to the challenges and sublimity of the mountains would yield in me a better soul--one that could soar in this world of limitations.

One final note. I spoke with the author of "The Last Step", Rick Ridgeway--one of the first four Americans to summit in 1978 (the expedition upon which this movie was based). He was making a presentation at an REI flagship store in Denver and afterwards I asked him about this movie. He laughed, and said that he had been at the premier with the Japanese investors who underwrote the movie. He did mention that a scene where four climbers are lined up side by side on an ice wall with picks and crampons stabbing and crunching, and Pink Floyd-like rock music in the background beating, was "not like it is at all!" I guess Hollywood will always need to take some license...

I have this movie in VHS format. I was waiting for a DVD release in WIDESCREEN. The movie was shot on location in British Columbia and Pakistan. Mountain scenery is beautiful and climbing sequences breathtaking. Music is great. While not without flaws of its own, the movie captures the excitement, beauty, and tragedy of mountain climbing. It is much wiser than recent releases such as "Vertical Limit". When the movie is formated to fit the screen 30% of the picture gets [cut]. I am waiting for a widescreen release.

As an avid rock climber, the climbing scenes at the beginning of the film are fantastic. Responding to others who have pointed out the technical errors in film ... yes, there where several, but it is by far the best and most accurate mountaineering film by a mainstream Hollywood filmmaker.

This is essentially a buddy movie clothed in mountaineering garb. It is a story about two climbers: one, a Seattle based attorney, the other, a physics instructor. They are a mismatched pair of friends who are brought together because of their love for climbing. The story line is about the ultimate test that their friendship endures while high on K2, the second highest mountain in the world but the most perilous to climb.

The rock climbing scenes that take place in the first fifteen minutes of the movie are terrific to watch, even though they may not be technically correct. After all, it's a movie, not a documentary. The scenery is spectacular and the cinematography is excellent.

These friends decide to grab an opportunity to climb K2 with an expedition that lost two of its team members to an avalanche on Denali. The attorney has no problem going to K2, but the physics instructor leaves behind his weeping wife and child. Yet his friendship with the attorney and his own desire to climb K2 compel him to leave his distraught family.

There are a number of scenes in the movie that seem to be taken from real life. While on expedition to K2, the porters leave them stranded, refusing to go any further on the mountain, as they have portents of doom. They also want more money. One scene has the attorney burning rupees in defiance of the porters' strike. World class mountaineer Jim Wickwire did the same thing, when he climbed K2, and under similar circumstances.

In another scene, a number of climbers fall into a crevasse only to be saved at the last minute by the physics instructor, as he digs his ice axes in and grips the road. The film also include a scene that shows the expedition leader succumbing to high altitude sickness, necessitating his descent of K2 as soon as possible.

Animosity on the mountain between the climbing leader and the attorney over who will be part of the first summit team is also reminiscent of real life expeditions. It is here that the attorney's friendship with the physics instructor becomes strained, as he lays claim to be on the first summit team and does not include his friend, even though they had been climbing partners for ten years. So much for the brotherhood of the rope.

After the first summit team is finished off by the mountain, the two friends summit, but on the descent the physics instructor falls and is seriously injured, breaking his leg. As you can imagine, this is really bad news, as it is tantamount to a death sentence, especially when you are in the death zone and without oxygen.

Since this is a buddy movie, the attorney comes up with a plan to get his friend down K2. I won't tell you what it is, but I will give you a hint. The plan used is to be found in Joe Simpson's book "Touching the Void".

Interestingly enough, the movie is dedicated to two mountaineers of renown: Seattle attorney, Jim Wickwire, and physicist, Lou Reichardt, both of whom were among the first Americans to summit K2 in 1978. This film seems to be loosely based upon some of their mountaineering exploits. It is a moderately enjoyable film that should appeal to armchair climbing enthusiasts everywhere.

K2 is in my personal top-5 of all time. I'm an armchair mountaineer, so I like the story and scenery, as well as climbing action (most of which is pretty accurate, with just a few petty mistakes). The very good story is a character study within an action movie, and it stars Michael Biehn, a very under-appreciated actor who was also great in The Terminator, Aliens, and The Rock (he was even pretty good in the really horrible Navy SEALS). Matt Craven is quite good as the best friend. Among mountain action movies, K2 is better than Cliffhanger (which is very good) and WAY better than that stupid Vertical Limit a few years ago.