K2 - L'ultima sfida

... K2: The Ultimate High. Well, while I'm sure climbing the actual mountain really is a great high, this movie does a mediocre job of portraying the thrill. It's not that the acting is bad, but the plot is pretty generic and predictable. Leaves you just a bit wanting in places. Too much "made for TV" juice in its veins.

The real strength of this DVD comes with its crisp video and pretty impressive camera work on the slopes. You almost feel cold and light-headed as you travel up the spine of K2 with the protagonists. No clues in the special features or jacket info about the actual filmed locations for the movie, but especially the shots from the climax at the apex connote well the feeling of reaching nearly to the top of the world (I don't think I've revealed any plot twists here). I doubt the scenes here are all from K2 itself, but some good aerial camerawork make it just as well.

Not much on the special features perks for this one. A chapter selection list and two bios, but that's about it.

Overall, not a bad buy if you like moutains and climbing and can find it for a decent price. Recommended viewing with hot brandy and licorice.

I liked this movie enough to having watched it three times as of now. With few exceptions, it's a realistic adventure movie - this according to a friend who has done 5000+ meter climbs - with beautiful scenery, very interestingly developing plot, personal intrigues, good humor etc. Also, the acting is generally excellent, where the two main characters are the cream of the crop.

The only thing I don't like is the kind of "Crap, we ran out of money, how do we put a quick end to this?" ending. Also, the quality of the picture is a bit "amateurish", the "home VCR" kind of quality at times with that dreaded bad contrast which makes for a "grey-biassed" picture. Not a good thing for an adventure/trek movie with beautiful scenery.

All in all, it's indeed enjoyable to watch, though. Moderately recommended. Rating: 7/10

I have been waiting ages for this film and now, finally, it is out on DVD in the UK. This film did not disappoint me one bit and kept me thoroughly entertained. I was a big fan of Vertical Limit when it hit the cinemas but there can be no comparisons made. Where Vertical Limit aimed more for suspense and thrills, K2 follows character development and realism.

Taylor Brooks (Michael Biehn) and Harold Jameson (Matt Craven) are best friends who live almost opposite lives but share one common passion, mountain climbing. Brooks is a selfish jerk who has only ever thought about himself where as Jameson is a man driven by his family and his job who cares greatly for the safety of others. These two are perfectly cast without even acting. Biehn's voice is perfect for an arrogant character and Craven's nerdish looks personify a man in the science profession. Biehn does well in this performance to disguise his fear of heights and delivers a very strong, charming performance. He portrays Brooks' obsession with K2 very well and was definitely the right choice to lead this film.

The scenery for this film is simply breath taking, beautiful snowy mountains with a caressing mist. There was one scene where I thought my TV had broken because the screen appeared to be pure white, but then a person enters the shot and the camera starts to pan out, I realise how clean and untouched the snow is. Filming a feature like this is always challenging on crew and cast, equipment and supplies can be buried under 5 feet of snow when the day's up. Everyone rose to challenge and produced a visually stunning film. The climbing sequences allow appear very professional and without doubt help Roddam to build up tension on a bigger scale.

What is best about this film is that behind all the scenery, the suspense and the arguments, there is a very strong message about friendship. It was important for this film to have a positive element because there are so many mishaps and so many dislikeable characters that a lack of positive energy in any form would have made K2 far too bleak. The friendship between Taylor and Harold drives the story and leads to a wonderful transformation within Taylor that is very believable. Character development in this style has sadly been abandoned by Hollywood now in favour of special effects and period pieces.

Very underrated, K2 is definitely the best mountain climbing film I have seen and as a huge Michael Biehn fan, it is great to see him perform so well in a non action role. With the beautiful snowy mountains and great character story, K2 is blissful to watch and leaves you feeling good after watching.

When I first saw this movie's title I thought it was going to be another "Cliff Hanger", but I was wrong.

This multi-national creation is stunningly high quality production. Each scenes are vivid, and points well delivered.

K2 is one of the most dangerous mountain to climb in the world, killing one out of every four who climb's there. This movie captures the audacity, and adventure of the team who dares to attempt it. Very little facts about climbing on K2 were known in 1992, so they did an excellent job getting all the details right.

International cast of actors includes Hiroshi Fujioka who's the original Kamen Rider, and Julia Nickson who was playing various exotic roles both in the US and Asia. Other actors were spot on choices for their roles as well.

I wish I had the physical ability to climb a mountain. My high blood pressure makes me high risk at high altitude, so climbing something above 10000 ft is out of the question. But I wish I can experience some of the extreme conditions like the characters in this movie has experienced. But movies like this gives me the opportunity to feel what it's like to be there.

If you have seen "Cliffhanger" and "Vertical Limit" and thought they were good mountaineering movies, "K2" might probably surprise you! As the first two are action movies based at high altitude (probably due to the lack of a decent story!), "K2" is actually a movie about mountaineering. Having read about mountaineering, done it myself and seen "Everest - the IMax movie", the realism in "K2" is astounding!

The actors are doing an impressive job on the mountains, their gear is correct, their reaction to altitude is 98% real and their pace is realistic as well.

If you are looking for "Cliffhanger 2" or "Vertical Limit 2", this is not the movie to go for. But... If you are looking for a catching mountaineering movie with breathtaking scenery and an OK storyline - go and buy "K2". It has FINALLY been released on DVD - at least in Europe.