North Face [DVD]

Firstly, please, please don't let the subtitles put you off watching this film! It's utterly absorbing and you will very quickly become engrossed in the story, which is of course based on real events, making it all the more compelling. I'd seen another fascinating mountaineering documentary which referred to the story of this tragic attempt on the North face of the Eiger - so when I saw that this dramatized film has been made of the same climb, I was very keen to watch. It's a beautifully shot, obviously high-budget, very moving depiction which covers the love interests, personal backgrounds and loyal friendship of the two climbers, the political climate at the time, and what led to them attempting the climb. The climb itself, and the events which unfolded on the mountain, are of course hugely dramatic, heart-breaking and real edge-of-the-seat viewing - an absolutely great film - would recommend to anyone.

As far as historical recreations go, this is fairly good, given that no one will ever know exactly what was said and what went wrong at several crucial points during the real climb, back in 1936. That said, I agree with several earlier reviews, in that the producers took a few too many liberties in tweaking the history for dramatic effect, and the adding of a fictional character for a rather bland love-interest plot served no purpose but to annoy history purists. The fact that four men braved the north face of the infamous Eiger, encountered difficulties, overcame challenges, kept on, then tried to save themselves and perished in different ways, each tragic, seems more than enough material to me without making it seem that the men were not united in their goal from the off, that someone was specifically to blame for each accident, that one man sacrificed himself, or that a woman could sit all night on the face through a bitter storm was quite ridiculous. The way each man struggled and died, up to Kurz's actual last words, should be respected, within the lore of the Eiger's history.I also highly recommend that anyone who likes this film watches  The Beckoning Silence [DVD ], which puts right some of the unfortunate rewrites this film has, as it is a fantastic documentary by climber Joe Simpson, from  Touching The Void [DVD ]. As a documentary, it recreates the climb on the Eiger face itself, and is not intended to be a drama, but an accurate recreation. "North Face" makes the mistake of rewriting history with the false belief that people find raw history boring, or that without a love plot there is no reason for people to strive to live (Hollywood is plagued with this.. it seems to be contagious). Toni Kurz, the last to die during that climb, did not die for Nazi Germany (a swastika on the UK cover is over doing it), did not stay awake all night for an ex-girlfriend, or try to cling on to life for any reason other than he believed he could survive against the odds. The fact that he was so close yet so helpless makes it all the more painful. If you can see past the few fictional elements of this film, it remains very enjoyable, the CGI is so very good (check out the short Visual Effects extra feature), the disastrous outcome remains as poignant now as in 1936. RIP to those brave fellows, and others like them, whose efforts were an example to humanity, striving to conquer the unknown through a great sense of youth and adventure.

For those that like the great outdoors and particularly mountain walking and climbing this is a superb film. It's better than the recent Hollywood blockbuster Everest films despite being in German with English subtitles. These are easy to follow and you really feel the reality of the situation all those years ago. If you watch one mountain climbing film this year, make it this!

I have read several books of this fatal attempt on the Eiger, all of which have been brilliantly written and this filmIs as excellent. Thought the filming was marvellous and really touching as the fate unfolded. How Tony Kurtz fought the elements through the night is something that always remains with me, especially after my visit to the Eiger.

If you enjoyed reading Heinrich Harrer's 'The White Spider' then you will love this film. It is beautifully shot, fully capturing the immense challenge of taking on the only remaining north face in the Alps yet to be climbed. Some liberties with the facts were taken for the sake of dramatic effect, which is great in terms of plot, but seems rather harsh to the memories of some of those concerned. This film nonetheless comes highly recommended as a realistic depiction of hard Alpine climbing.

German dialogue, with no subtitle option.Apparently, subtitles add massively to the cost of producing the DVD.As the DVD box is covered in English, it was not unreasonable to suppose that there would be something to allow me to watch it.I failed to notice in the specs that it says German but although not hidden, it was not immediately apparent.

I think the review here by Bob Salter says it all. I know nothing about this episode of climbing history and as I watched I forgot it was a film with actors and I experienced real emotion. It was true heroism to attempt to rescue others when they could have managed the summit. There's hope for us while there are people born of this caliber.

I made the mistake of checking on wiki to see if it was truly based on fact, which basically made it an unintentional spoiler. Normally such films have a habit of making one appreciate the courage and daring of those involved. While that is still true here, to a degree, it is also poignant and moving, a frankly deeply uncomfortable watch given that the characters are very easy to like and admire. This isn't Disney.