Customer Reviews

Yosemite: Ascending Rhythm

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

 

 

The producers have brought the soft porn tradition to rock climbing. Not that I think the sport has to be about extreme adrenaline with searing speed metal tracks in the background, but this is the opposite: New Age music, soft-lense photography, and pseudo philosophical quotes from the climbers woven throughout. Some people might prefer this, but I found it tedious.

On a more practical note, the filming is all over the place. They don't work any routes all the way through, but flit like a butterfly across various scenes. That's good for getting a panorama of the location, but it would have been nice to bring more focus.

Several of my friends have viewed this, and two-thirds of them liked it.

I am a novice rock climber who has never been to Yosemite. Although I have read many books and seen scores of pictures, this DVD does the best job of showing exactly how beautiful the valley can be. And if you are a rock climber, the artistry of the climbers will astound you.

In addition to the beautiful photography, background music is played with no voice over. It's much like the music you would hear while getting a soothing massage. While not running to my taste, it's not bad and overall enhances the beauty of the DVD.

But this tape is all about the artistry of rock climbing. My limited experience up to 5.10b feels like my muscles will explode. But these climbers look effortless on much tougher routes. Of particular beauty are the climbs near water and also distance photography which zooms in close to the climber taken from a great distance and at great height. Somewhat out of character is the short climb by two females followed by a brief romp in a waterfall. Anything to sell product I guess. I know, I enjoyed it.

Be forewarned that not all climbs are big walls with almost as much time spent in bouldering problems. That might be disappointing for some people who are mesmerized by the clean faces of the big walls.

For me, this DVD is a great experience. Even my wife with a fear of heights was amazed by some of the shots. I strongly recommend this DVD if you enjoy natural beauty, rock climbing, or just like soft background music with great natural beauty.

This is one of the most beautiful videos I've ever seen. You don't have to be a climber to enjoy it, just someone who appreciates the beauty of nature. Ron Kauk is one of the world's best climbers, and was recently seen in Mission Impossible 2, in the opening rock climbing sequence (you'll see his name in the closing credits). In addition to working with Tom Cruise on this film, he also worked on the Sylvester Stallone film Cliffhanger. In this video, Ron and the director show us their love of Yosemite with spectactular shots of the park's natural beauty. There are also many other climbers shown, including several women climbers. Many of the climbers climb high without any ropes for protection! "Ascending Rhythm" is a great title, because the graceful movements of the climbers are in perfect sync with the rhythms of nature. The shots of the climbers high up on cliffs next to waterfalls are especially breathtaking. You really get a feeling for Yosemite as a magical, sacred place, and this mood is helped by the Native American music in the soundtrack. There are also quotes from the climbers shown on the screen, mostly about the connection to nature and the environment that they feel when they climb. For anyone who loves Yosemite or natural beauty in general, or wonders what rock climbing is like, this video is a must-see.

If you like boring music and cool video transitions this is the movie for you. I think the editor of this movie was having more fun playing with the transition effects buttons on his new PowerMac than actually trying to get people excited about climbing. Of you want to see the physical strength, agility, mental toughness, pain, excitant, and exposure all inherent in the sport of rock climbing, this is not the movie that will get your endorphins flowing. If on the other hand you like still video shots of lakes, ponds, streams, and flowers this is a must see.

Wow- for any traditional climber this video explains better than words ever could, why we do it. The footage and the music are simply stunning. This is not your typical muscle flexing, testosterone example of dynos and drop knees. Instead the video really shows the beauty of climbing. My only complaint was that it was almost too long; only becuase the video made me want to go climbing and I got tired of watching others do it! Enjoy!

Beautiful climbing and scenery with very high production values. If the music is not to your liking change over to the alternate soundtrack which has intelligent commentary from Ron and director. For the technicaly inclined, the MPEG stream on this DVD averages 7+ mbps which is much higher than most -- so lots of detail!