K2 (1991)

Why does it seem like if mountain climbing movies often are complemented with a bad script? In this case also bad cut, on a broad scale (more or less script level?).Let me start with what I like. Actors are good, and the two heroes do their parts very well, well cast. The mountain climbing scenes were generally excellent.The script, however, is pretty lame. There is a question of predictable events, but what bothered me was badly handled personal conflicts. The conflict within the team feels slapped on and I wonder why the leader would keep both in the team. There are also some conflicts between the heroes, which are also superfluous. And we have the conflict adventure vs family, which is also never more than annoying.The weakest thing with the movie IMHO is how each conflict, each problem, each part, is always cut before it reaches any conclusion. Over and over I feel that the producers felt "OK, enough of this, just stop and move on to the next scene". This is true all the way to the end. Present problem, start elaborating problem... stop! Never finish anything!I felt it was worth watching, but also that it could have been better. Watch it for the mountaineering scenes and forget the rest.

I can't believe the amount of reviewers who praise this as realistic. I'm a million miles from being an expert, and I'm never going to climb a mountain; but even the very basic knowledge attained from reading Into Thin Air, and watching Everest Beyond The Limit and a few other Everest docs meant that this film just got more and more ridiculous as it went on. There is some good climbing footage at the start; and when the billionaire mission leader asks early in the film "How much experience above 8000 metres do you have?", I was encouraged to hope that this might be a gritty and accurate man-vs-nature odyssey. Instead you have a bunch of climbers zooming up a mountain with no acclimatisation; climbing with goggles off in full sun, and they are barely ever out of breath performing miraculous feats of endurance. Only near the summit is a little fatigue suggested, to dramatically accentuate the physical feat of climbing such a monstrous peak, almost as an afterthought. If you have no knowledge of mountaineering, give it a look: be prepared for some clichéd heroics (although no more clichéd than a hundred other passably diverting flicks), and a clichéd outcome. I've been developing a minor fascination with high mountains and was looking forward to watching K2; but other than some amazingly beautiful scenery, it was a let down because it was so far removed from reality. I can imagine some experts being employed in the making of this movie, but then being conveniently ignored in the pursuit of the heroic, and sadly fantastical storyline. Also, you would sound like a bit of a tit if you said "welcome to the death zone" at 200000 feet.

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits A year before Cliffhanger came out, we were treated to this other mountain based adventure story without all the shooting and chasing but quite a fine spectacle all the same.Meet lawyer Taylor Brooks (Michael Biehn.) Arrogant, snazzy and a big shot on the scene. Meet his scientist pal Harold (or H) Jameson (Matt Craven) a more reserved, practical type guy. Two guys with seemingly little in common but one shared passion- mountain climbing. But they're two guys with their eyes on the big kahuna- K2, in Northern Pakistan, the seemingly unclimbable mountain. Taylor and H set out to do the impossible.K2 plays out as a simple, straight-forward mountain climbing thriller and on that level it works. Boasting some wonderful cinematography of the mountain ranges and some quite unnerving cliff top views, it feels like it's plodding along a bit sometimes, but it undeniably has clout for the type of movie it is and for this it's worth seeing. ***

Seen vertical limit. Thought it was a decent film so decided to get K2 on DVD but just wasn't as good. The plot was really straight forward. Get to the top of a mountain and come back down. The music seemed really dodgy and didn't seem to fit in. The ending was somewhat sudden. Thought there would be a short bit at the end showing Biehn and Craven back at home and the other survivors reflecting on their K2 visit. Moreover, who had actually heard of Biehn and Craven before watching K2. Although the acting was good, thought it could have been done with more famous actors. However, must give credit to the scenery. Must have been really difficult to film - one aspect that was much better than vertical limit. Another thing, thought it took ages to get to the point and once up on the mountain, it slowed right down and not much happened. Still, an OK movie but deserves no more than a 6.