UKC

Okay, saw that Verticla limit clip, very funny. and cliffhanger is another laughable attempt,

But what else is there? there must be a good collection of dreadfully inaccurate climbing and mountaineering movies out there, anyone seen any others?

In reply to Paulcmountain:

I don't think Vertical Limit and Cliffhanger were meant to be documentries, but more as entertainment - I enoyed both with the same suspense of reality I apply to most blockbuster movies

I thought the most accurate, whilst stil entertaining film drama was K2

In reply to Paulcmountain:

Cliffhanger is a crap film with good scenery. I have never missed a showing on the television.lol

In reply to kevin stephens:


I see what you're saying, but when something becomes so beyond the realms of reality that it's so bad it's funny... they are supposed to be action adventures, not comedies.

Don't get me wrong here, I love bad movies, a couple of my favourites are Troll 2 and 'Trapped in the closet', which is almost embarrasing to admit.

but cliffhanger and VL are unintentionally hilarious with thier portrayal of climbing, and I want to see what else, if anything, hollywood has to offer...

In reply to Paulcmountain:

Watched 'Sub Zero' on SciFi today (i was bored). Good god in valhalla it was awful. Sky's plot synopsis: 'A group of climbers must climb the terrifying K2 in order to prevent the destruction of the earth by orbiting space laser satellites.' At least Vertical Limit had a reasonably plausible plotline.

Then the good stuff starts. Continuity errors, no oxygen (which IIRC is needed for K2), minimal climbing hardware (they seemed to be climbing alpine style aswell), some dude with bright, shiny Friends/Camalots on his harness for no apparent reason, at one point a piton gun (you know, the ones BD developed a few years ago that perfectly place a peg with a trailing 11mm rope from 50ft away) appeared from nowhere despite being the size of a bazooka. The final climax takes place over a rock gorge about 1km deep but only about 30ft wide - I'm pretty sure there are none of those on K2. Then 2 people jump into the gorge and it turns out that one guy was not only carrying food, bivi gear etc but also had a godsdamned parachute in his jacket/rucksack somehow.

The weather is disjointed - one minute it's perfectly clear, the next they're fighting through a storm. The climbers in question also only have walking axes, and only half of them are wearing harnesses. Despite walking along ledges with apparently huge drops to one side, they aren't roped together in anyway, despite carrying several long ropes.

The best bit? this was just the last 30 minutes.

In reply to stewieatb:
>

Now we're talking...

In reply to Paulcmountain: There was an old B&W film called (I think) The Blue Peter, about the early daysof Outward Bound. Had a brilliant 'rock climbing' sequence in it which was, at least shot on location, on rock, outdoors. Only trouble was, the rock was horizontal and the camera tilted. Even then they might have got away with it, but you could see the horizon 'below' the guy who was 'climbing'.
Also, it was telly rather than a film, but for all those who remember Rockfarce... who will ever forget the disaster which befell the climbing monks?

In reply to Paulcmountain:

so how do you feel about science fiction? very little portrayed in star trek, star wars (or anything else involving stars for that matter) will ever be posible - I'm thinking explosions you can hear, space craft that fly in a vacuum like a jet fighter and many many more inaccuracies.

If you can enjoy films like these that are far beyond the realms of reality, then why not films like K2, cliffhanger etc that are also meant as an entertainment.

In reply to graeme jackson:

I think the climbing sequences in Lord of the Rings are the quite simply fantastic products of someone's imagination!

In reply to graeme jackson:

I do enjoy them. that's the point. but they are funny as they are, usually, trying to stay within the physical bounds of this world. sci-fi, by definition, isn't.

Vertical Limit entertained me anyway

Saw North Face on Blu Ray last week and thought it was a brilliant film though

In reply to Paulcmountain: Theres a horrible cringey scene in the descent where shes using cams rather than her hands to climb upside down.

In reply to ldavies87:

You mean she's slightly aid-climbing a roof crack? How is that "cringey"?
(I'll say nothing about the belaying...)

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I think if I had to climb that roof, I'd use cams too... not that I know any cavers that take cams with them into caves.

More importantly what I want to know about that movie is, what the hell are they caving with ice axes for?

That said, one of the best horrors I have seen in a long time. Sequel was a typical pile of pish though.

In reply to Paulcmountain:

The main flaw with the descent was the cast.

1 pretty caver in real life = Unlikely
A big group of gorgeous caver girls = Ain't never gonna happen!

In reply to metal arms: I know what you mean.

The things in the cave were more typical