Mountain (2018)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

As many have said here, they were cognizant of music that didn't fit the project. They're right - it was "dreadful" at least just past the halfway point. I was transfixed by what I was seeing, and tried hard to avoid what I could hear, except of course of the fine work by Willem Dafoe.I loved seeing mountain adventures that went far beyond my imagination. So many ways to climb mountains; climb, ski, mountain biking and jumping off of them~The final 15 minutes was majestic - the music improved and I was very glad to have seen the athleticism of so many young, talented people.

I read that review from the guy that loves mountains but hated this movie. That was the joke of the day to read that. Mountain is not only a beautiful documentary about mountains from all over the world, it's also a view on all kind of daredevils trying to master the mountain by climbing it, skiing it, jumping of it, or just riding downhill. Those stunts were pretty amazing and beautiful to watch. That was to me the best part of this documentary. But also the different techniques and shots to capture the mountains. From a high view perspective to close-up shots, from time lapsing to slow motion, all was very professionally done. Picking the best images from thousands of hours of filming. The only minor point to me was the background music from The Australian Chamber Orchestra, especially in the first half of the documentary. I thought that just didn't fit well, it was even killing the atmosphere for me. The narrating voice of Willem Dafoe was good, just a sober and calm narrating voice, perfect for this movie. I would watch it again, on a big screen if possible.

Sorry, but I hated this. I managed to watch around half of it and only found it irritating so switched off. I'm not disputing the content itself-I didn't like the filming of it-the music, the narrative. Others will like it, just not for meWhen I watch a documantary or a piece of film, I want to be immersed in the 'feelings' of the people who live, climb, work, die.. From the danger, the excitement, disappointment, the cold, the wet and the humid, the tragic, the sick, the beauty and above all-understand what people are searching for.I felt nothing, I could have looked through a book for this. I didn't feel it captured anything and the score was, at best, annoying The narrative failed to interest me, it was just rambling As a reviewer commented on Amazon, if you want to see a film about mountains? Watch the restored 'The Epic of Everest' from the 1924 Mallory/Irvine expedition-that is one stunning, beautiful piece of film. Probably the best I've seenOkay-as an edit to respond to another review. Firstly-I'm the 'guy' who loves mountains(except I'm female) and this is how I felt. I didn't connect with this film at all. Others will. I've seen far, far better films that made me 'feel' what I want to feel when I watch this kind of documentary-I loved 'Meru', for example, different horses for different coursesWhen I write a review, it's how I feel, not a critique of other reviews. Respect others' opinionsI'm not a pro critic-I know what I like-that's all. I didn't get the music score and I hated the narrative. That's my opinion. I prefer a more 'real' experience

Every now and then a film comes along that defies traditional genre labels. The 'documentary' is a trusted label that promises to truthfully 'document' some aspect of the real world. Calling Mountain (2017) a documentary shows how inadequate labels can be for what is a film meditation on nature that leaves viewers to create their own message.Mountain is a visual and aural ode to the beauty, mystery, and power of mountains. It draws on 2,000 hours of filming across twenty-two countries and is narrated sparsely and with solemnity by Willem Dafoe. The Australian Chamber Orchestra provides a rousing score that blends seamlessly with the visuals. The film showcases the world's highest places rather than any individual mountain. Unlike the brilliant Sherpa (2016) which had a coherent social and political message, Mountain is a poetic meditation on mountains everywhere. It includes footage of early mountaineers as well as examples of the modern-day exploitation of mountains. It lingers over their majestic beauty, sneering briefly at queues of commercial trekkers, the clearing of ski slopes for paying customers, and the never-ending cable-cars, chair lifts and helicopters that move hordes of skiers and hikers. The film admires not only snow-covered peaks, but all kinds of mountains and all kinds of mountain activities, including people in wing-suits or on mountain bikes jumping off cliffs and climbers grappling up vertical rock walls where a single misstep can be fatal.A higher aesthetic is created when you mix stunning mountain-scape cinematography with a superb orchestral score. It is spell-binding for at least half the time, and then the repetition and lack of narrative begins to bite. While the score enhances the visuals, it can also feel like one long musical cliché. Just as we can identify Jaws and Psycho by their signature musical tropes, the dominant orchestral effects in Mountain are predictable aural cues telling us that scaling cliffs is dangerous or that flying over a mountain peak will reveal a wondrous valley below. Some might ask why the film title takes the singular form when it shows many unnamed mountains in many unnamed countries. The reverence given to the subject does not include respect for identity or acknowledgement of place, so the film does not work as a travelogue. The anonymity of the mountains is also reflected in editing that often seems random and incoherent. In one second, a climber is scaling an icy sheer wall, in another, a mountain bike jumps off a ledge. The brief mention of harm caused by commercialisation is tokenistic and so much documentary potential is left unexplored. This means the film is about appearance not substance.If this is a documentary, it is not clear what it documents. It would make a thrilling short film on a big screen or as a visual background to a live orchestral performance. While the individual aural and visual elements have great beauty, without a narrative purpose they are lovely to admire but all too easy to forget.