Summit Fever

SUMMIT FEVER is one of the more disappointing mountaineering films out there, mainly because it has no real plot. At least thrillers like CLIFFHANGER and A LONELY PLACE TO DIE (which director Julian Gilbey also made) had thriller plots with a mountaineering backdrop, which gave them drive and narrative coherency. Here, we just get a group of dull young friends (and added Hollywood star Ryan Philippe for name value) who decide to go climb a few mountains. Tragedy strikes on occasion, but it's not very thrilling or indeed involving. Gilbey obviously has a real-life passion for mountaineering but I do wonder if this would have just worked better as a documentary.

Ok, this isn't a masterpiece. But negativity it gets is totally undeserved. I mean, if you just want a simple movie to pass some time, I can totally recommend it. If you are a climber and have been to Chamonix yourself - even more so, since it is realistic enough to bring some memories back.

Acting and story are fine. Sure, there was a couple of times when I rolled my eyes and scoffed, but "a couple of times" is actually quite good by my standards. I mean, take almost any Oscar-winning blockbuster with some insane budget and it will be yet another mind-numbingly stupid piece of crap. Yet people still like it somehow, it will have 7+ score on IMDB and might even become a classic.

Now, here is a pretty solid drama/adventure movie. Honestly, I was even touched by it. Is it plausible? Well, yeah, as I've said, there are some questionable moments, technical stuff being done incorrectly, totally unrealistic timing and such, but given how bad climbing/mountaineering is usually represented in the movies - wow, this one is actually super realistic. Usually it doesn't even make sense what gear they use, and here they even manage to use it correctly most of the time. Places are totally real, scenery is real and recognizable, dangers are (mostly) real.

All in all, if you've never been to mountains - it's a nothing out of ordinary drama, don't expect anything special and you won't be disappointed. It surely isn't awful. And if you've been there yourself, you may as well appreciate how familiar all of this is instead of complaining over relatively minor details.

And, once again: this is NOT a masterpiece. Normally, I wouldn't even bother to comment, but it just felt so unjust that it currently has IMDB rating of below 5, while being a better adventure and love story than 90% of all Hollywood.

The writers, producers, and directors put a lot of love into this movie. The actors were excellent and the climbers were superb. The story line was actually great... a lot of characters you really feel for in the end. The shots were amazing, really took my breath away. For any climbers out there, they actually had real climbers doing crazy stuff; awesome to see. In most climbing movies, the story lines are cheesy and just TOO fictional; they also usually have non-climbers trying to act out climbing scenes and it just looks BAD. Definitely NOT the case in Summit Fever. You can tell the actors actually trained in the sport before climbing, and the stunt doubles were real pros. Plus the stories of love and friendship were genuine and real. Icing on the cake was the super 8 film video at the end. Overall the movie was beautiful and acting was phenomenal!

Half of Summit Fever is watching people climb. I know that may not seem like a criticism when that's what the movie is about. But you need more than that for it to feel like a real movie. I might as well watch a documentary or real footage of climbers.

The other half of Summit Fever is the most basic and useless character development and story setup. They throw in a love story that actually works but isn't necessary and doesn't make up for the rest of the movie.

I don't have much else to say. This movie is extremely boring with almost no intrigue. The main part of the story, the biggest mountain they will climb, doesn't happen until 70 minutes into the movie. By then I was mostly checked out. (1 viewing, 3/27/2023)

There was a good film in in here somewhere, however, I feel that poor execution, casting, and weak writing (specifically the first half) let the entire concept down. If you can manage to get past the first 45min the film does become significantly more eventful and entertaining.....aided by lower reliance on the character "background" stories and any actual acting.

That being said, it's the first time since The Avengers (1998) that I kept looking at my watch praying for the agony to stop.

In terms of redemption, the climbing scenes were well executed and there are some beautiful cinematic sequences of the mountains.

Probably not the worst film I've ever seen, and I've likely been harsh with my rating so take with a pinch of salt.