The Summit (2013)
The Summit is a 2012 documentary film about the 2008 K2 disaster directed by Nick Ryan. It combines documentary footage with dramatized recreations of the events of the 2008 K2 disaster. On the way to and from the summit, eleven climbers died during a short time span creating one of the worst catastophes in climbing history. Much of the documentary footage was captured by Swedish mountaineer Fredrik Sträng. Sträng was planning to do a Documentary which was aborted due to the fact that he did not reach the summit. The footage was still valuable to help solving what really did happen since all the climbers had different stories about what happened.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Pretty Good
It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
The visuals are for the most part great, sometimes blurring the line between archival documentary footage and re-enactment. But the movie itself is poorly structured. For seemingly no reason at all it jumps back and forth in time, making one unsure exactly what happened when, and how much time has passed. I imagine a more linear approach would have been much more effective. There was a bunch of climbers divided into three groups, but the movie doesn't do a very good job of introducing them, with a few exceptions, making them indistinguishable from one another. Consequently it's sometimes hard to understand who is where on the mountain and when, exacerbating the problems of the non-linear narrative. It's a pity. This movie could've been great, especially with the documentary footage, but it's lacking in focus.
Confusing and untrue at times. I had to read about what actually happened to find out the facts after 2 hours of poorly put together interviews. Also the Serbian climber was quite selfless and died because he unclipped to let other people pass him, not to pass Skog. I don't know why they would make such a strange mistake on this detail, but it's either deliberate lying to make the story better or poor research.At 8 a.m. climbers were finally advancing through the Bottleneck. Dren Mandić, from the Serbian team, decided to attend to his oxygen system and so unclipped from the rope to let other climbers pass. Mandić lost his balance and fell, bumping into Cecilie Skog of the Norwegian team. She was still clipped to the rope and was only knocked over. Mandić fell over 100 m down the bottleneck.
So-so documentary portrays events of 2008 on K2.Things are getting crowded on mountain tops. We had the massive loss of life on Everest this year. And Krakauer's documented event on Everest. And 2008 on K2.Bad things happen when too many people hook onto a rope.Slow climbers slow all climbers.Dependency on ropes is similarly fatal, and attracts novice climbers.Pity this documentary focuses on after events, instead of pointing out that (1) leaving too late in the day, with (2) too many climbers on the same route at the same time, and (3) mixing in novice teams, on a mountain as deadly, unpredictable and daunting as K2 is a recipe for disaster. Throw in a dash of summit fever -- people not knowing when to turn around and live to climb another day -- and you have K2 in 2008.Noticeably absent from this documentary is the voice of Ed Viesturs -- perhaps the safest high altitude climber of them all.For what it is worth, I would have appreciated the dramatization moments being labeled as such. Or be removed/replaced with voice-over of the people involved and still/video images of K2.Neither a great nor an awful documentary, let's at least try to learn from it and other sources. That would be showing respect for those who have gone before us.
This movie shows the challenges met by a high altitude mountaineer on K2 and the codes they conform to in order to survive. Its well worth watching to get a great insight into such a dangerous activity and try and portray the enormous risks and challenges people take in conquering the most dangerous mountain in the world. The movie also tells the truth of what really happened on the mountain from reliable witnesses (the surviving climbers themselves). It was also great to see such a great character Ger McDonnell shine through in his personality and character from personal footage on the mountain. It makes me proud to see such a great Irishman accomplishing such a huge challenge. 10 out of 10 for an overall excellent film