UKC

If I could buy 1 DVD with my Xmas token....which one.....??

'Herbie does Dallas'..??

In reply to Grinning Donkey: watched committed, king lines and set in stone.

I preferred committed.

In reply to Glyn Jones:
Thanks Glyn..its on the 'countometer'

In reply to Grinning Donkey: I think either Hard XS or Committed. Psyche was a bit of a let down.

In reply to Grinning Donkey:

Hard XS for adventure or King Lines for inspiring photography/settings. Admittedly, I haven't seen the other two, but these films stood head and shoulders above most of the climbing movies I've ever watched.

J

In reply to Grinning Donkey: I've got King Lines, Psyche and Committed, and of those three, I prefer Committed. King Lines would be a close second but Committed gets the edge because it's Trad, and at places I recognise around the UK.

In reply to Grinning Donkey:

Not seen the others but I can vouch that Committed is ace. Watched it the other night and was sitting at the edge of my seat almost the whole time. Really gripping stuff, well shot and well produced. Best climbing film I've ever seen, bar Stone Monkey (and that only gets the top spot because I love watching Dawes climb).

In reply to HC~F:

Check out Hard XS, think it will appeal to you more than Committed.

In reply to Grinning Donkey: only got hard xs, its tremendous

In reply to Grinning Donkey:

>"King Lines, Hard XS, Psyche or Committed"

Well if you use a 50:50 life line...
I'd leave up King Lines and Hard XS.

These are the two best productions. The quality of 'King Lines' is fabulous but 'Hard XS' probably give you more for your buck with it's only let down being that in an attempt to show the diversity of British climbing one is left with the impression that most of the rock (and ice) we have in the UK is about to collapse.

In reply to JLS: one thing I thought odd about hard xs though, is that while it covered just about all aspects of climbing in the UK, trad style especially (winter, grit, sea cliff, chalk, dws etc etc), it didnt feature any long mountain routes?
otherwise excellent.

In reply to fxceltic:

Good point.

In reply to Grinning Donkey: I've got all of them. Committed is definitely the best. King Lines is also very good, but you have to like Chris Sharma as there isn't really anyone else in it.

In reply to Grinning Donkey:

There is a pretty good profile of King lines here - along with a quite long clip

a taster to see if its your kind of thing

http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/kinglines/

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC:

What, you mean apart from Ethan Pringle, Dave Graham, plus a host of others in the Venezuala section....

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

Come on, be honest it is just a film about Sharma!

In reply to JLS: No, there is more - there is oooooh mallorca and grunt grunt power move noises

In reply to Grinning Donkey: I have King Lines and Committed and I can definitely recommend both - King Lines is truly inspiring, the photography is fantastic and it's clearly one of the best climbing productions I've ever seen with the locations to match - the arch is amazing!- plus it made me warm to Sharma (who I've tended in the past to view as a bit silly, with his pointless screaming!) He comes across as quite a genuinely nice fella.
Committeed is also great, and probably more familiar as it is in the UK - again, inspiring to see so many hard climbs done in more familiar situations too - especially as the focus is also on female climbers - good tunes as well

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC:

>"Committed is definitely the best."

I reckon 'Committed' has some of the most intresting recent UK climbing 'caught' on camera this last year but alot of the tape wouldn't pass quality control for inclusion in the 'Extra scenes' of King Lines. I do buy the Hotaches stuff but I'd like to seen them up their game so don't wish to give them any more credit than's due.

In reply to Glyn Jones:

>"grunt grunt power move noises"

Which I've found to be very helpful on V3/V4 boulder problems down at the wall - the only aspect of Sharma's climbing I've been succesful in copying!

In reply to JLS:
King Lines is climbing porn, Hard XS is real advenuture.

In reply to John Alcock:

Haven't seen King Lines (it does look to be bordering on a lifestyle, rather than a climbing DVD), but have got Psyche, Committed and Hard XS.

All three of them are interesting. I think Alastair Lee is to be commended for trying to jazz up climbing films in quite a "British" sort of way, but I don't think "Psyche" is as good overall as "Set In Stone". One thing I will say is that the Steve McClure section actually gives you a decent idea of how horrendous 9a must be, and not a lot of films do that.

"Committed" is, I think, quite a traditional kind of film, something I could imagine Sid Perou doing in the 70s. It has some admirably gnarly footage, but some stuff where the outcome just feels too inevitable (while Dave MacLeod does occasionally grunt a bit, he never looks remotely like falling off on his headpoints. I know that's kind of the idea, but it can be slightly sterile to watch, certainly compared to "E11" anyway). And it's too long: some sections would have been better swapped to the Extras on the DVD.

"Hard XS" is easily the best of the three. Apart from the sheer diversity of the climbing featured, it feels like a collection of films about climbers and the places they go climbing, rather than about climbing, if that makes any sense. You certainly get a far better idea of their personalities on this one: in particular, the haunted looks on Martin Perry and Chris Cubitt's faces are hugely memorable.

In reply to Peter Walker:

Except perhaps the footage of Overshadow on HardXS and the Arch and Clarke Mountain footage in King Lines.

In reply to Grinning Donkey: I got hard xs for christmas, and was a little disapointed. Although there are some brilliant bits (slate, and mclure's 9a+ especially), i found some bits to be a little too excentric for me. I did enjoy these bits, but they're not the kind ill be watching time and time again for inspiration (im talking about the choss, chalk and esoterica bits). I found it was the kind of film youd want to watch round a mate's house. I did love the suffering andy extra though.

In reply to Grinning Donkey:
I've only seen Committed and King Lines, of the two I'd probably say Committed is a better buy which surprises me cause I am a big fan of Chris Sharma and I loved watching the climbing in Mallorca cause I know the area.

Committed is the better climbing DVD I would say, it's got lots of amazing climbing in it and is proper edge of the seat stuff at times. King Lines is a great movie but it is more a lifestyle type affair rather than pure climbing, very inspiring nonetheless and well worth a watch, especially if you're a fan of Sharma, topless ;D

In reply to Grinning Donkey: i've got hard xs and commited, but for me they both seemed pretty mediocre. Neither of them seemed to have the depth of hard grit and stone monkey, athough perhaps thats just because i haven't watched them enough times.

Just to throw another option into the mix, i'd quite lke to watch 'underdeveloped', from the little i've seen of it, it looks really interesting.

rem

In reply to Heddwyn:

>"I did love the suffering andy extra though."

Arguably the best film on the DVD and worth the 75% of the cover cost.

In reply to remtherockclimber:

>"underdeveloped"

Is fun and very watchable, low tech but high interest, definately worth a look.

In reply to Grinning Donkey:

A Film by Some Climbers, tops all on that list, doesn't get anymore hardcore, 10 000 maniacs at millstone.........

In reply to Grinning Donkey: I have King Lines, Hard XS and Committed. I didn't get Psyche as I hated the filming style used in Set in Stone, all that weird CG stuff and lack of atmosphere made the film into a big disappointment for me.

King Lines - basically a Sharma bio. The stuff in Venezuela was cool and was nice to see Sharma actually doing some trad.

Hard XS - big emphasis on the XS! Lots of insane choss type routes that make you say 'why the feck are you climbing that?' Didn't like the way the sections are not linked. Would be better to see them roll into one film. Or my DVD player may not be working? Suffering Andy film was great though.

Committed - great film lots of hard british trad, lacking in certain areas but the best I think out of the three if you enjoy British trad.

Best film I've seen lately is 'To Hell and Back' that would be a good DVD..
Underdeveloped sounds great - but does anyone know where you can get it? Not seen it in the shops...

In reply to Tris:

Here you go...

http://www.underdevelopedireland.com/

In reply to JLS: Great - thanks JLS...

In reply to Peter Walker:
"I think Alastair Lee is to be commended for trying to jazz up climbing films in quite a "British" sort of way."

I think Psyche is a an excellent representation of all aspects of the climbing game. I think a lot of the American films are a bit too glitzy. I really think the Steve MacClure bouldering section at the start of Psyche is brilliant!!!