48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good film done in by mediocre DVD release, August 27, 2001
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.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Mountain Climbing Movie Ever Made, December 4, 2005
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.
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35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
DECENT ADVENTURE STORY FOR ARMCHAIR CLIMBERS..., January 4, 2003
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.
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