5 best mountaineering films you must watch

Trust Ajay Devgn to go where no contemporary director has gone in recent times. Looking at the promos, Shivaay looks like a mountaineer’s dream come true. Here’s looking at some of the best Hollywood offerings about mountaineering…

Clint Eastwood stars and directs in this high stakes drama filmed on location in the Eiger Mountain, Switzerland. Eastwood plays a university professor and former assassin who agrees to join an international climbing team attempting the North Face of the Eiger Mountain in order to terminate a Russian assassin. Eastwood reportedly did all his stunts himself for this seat-of-the-edge thriller. 

K2 (1991)

This is a niche mountain climbing film that’s loosely based on the real life adventures of Jim Wickwire and Louis Reichardt, respectively, the first two Americans to summit K2 in 1978. The protagonists basically get a chance to be on the team traversing the second highest peak in the world and things turn kind of nasty when bad weather enfold the expedition. 

Cliffhanger (1993)

This was a film with one of the best premises ever. Your heart stands still as you watch Sylvester Stallone attempt a river crossing manoeuvre without a safety rope in order to save his friend’s girlfriend. The film was full of mostly improbable feats of climbing and was panned by real climbers for its unrealistic portrayal but still remains a cult thriller nevertheless. 

Call it a documentary, call it a feature or better still, call it a modern classic. Directed by Kevin MacDonald, it was based on the real life travails of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, two experienced climbers who faced death while climbing the West Face of Siula Grande in Peru in 1985. Joe hurt his leg badly and while attempting a rescue, Simon, unable to see or hear his partner, decides to cut the rope. He somehow makes it to basecamp and thinks his friend has died but after some days, Joe somehow manages to crawl to safety. The duo were taken back to the sight of their accident and were consulted every step of the way during the making of the film, which also contained their interviews. 

North Face (2010)

This brilliant German film is based on the exploits of young German climbers Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser as they raced to become the first mountaineers to climb the North Face of the Eiger, during the height of Nazi expansion in 1936. The film won several plaudits for its intense portrayal of events, as also its mindboggling cinematography. 

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