The Summit
2012
Documentary
The Summit
2012
Documentary
67%
TOMATOMETER
· 36 reviews
63%
AUDIENCE
· 1K ratings
6.8/10
5.6K
Plot summary
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.
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Interesting Story, Chaotic Plot
Emotion over reason
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.