Survival on the Mountain (1997) Online

This film irritates from the first scene, as many films of this genre do, because of the inability of the makers to convey a mountain experience to their public through film. The aerial shots are great, but the rest of the film is totally unconvincing, in every single aspect. The avalanches seem like flour poured out of a bowl, the lost climbers walk uphill to reach the valley, etcetera. Evidently Americans are running the show in Nepal. Even the helicopter pilots are American and the Sherpas need their American clients to save the day. The story is a cliché: almost a copy of another (terrible) mountain film: "Vertical Limits". Guess what willpower and the thought of the family at home can achieve in an emergency! Mountaineering deserves better films than this one.

This film is priceless but also needs a public health warning. Supposedly a rescue drama in the Himalayas, director and crew have obviously never gone further afield than Banff. It is not clear why the rescue was necessary. The weather is fine - the action is always below the tree-line (difficult in the Himalayas). There is a lot of falling over by the US actors and endless ridiculous incongruities. A mountaineering accident (British flag, obviously) but with ski poles?! A blood orange for nourishment (not a native Nepalese fruit). Rescue workers 100 yards away that require an unsuccessful mountain range trek to pursue. The storyline is pathetically racist and I hope Nepalese guides drop US customers down crevasses in retaliation. Except there is no storyline. US leads spurn head-covering but end up with frostbite in hands rather than ears. US Embassy is threatened and helicopters (with US pilots, no doubt diverted from Iraq) abound. An insult to anybody's intelligence. Do NOT view!

Yes this was produced by Coppola's company American Zoetrope. So why is it such a poor and so typical TV movie? Both the lead actors are acceptable and forgettable, the movie obviously never got anywhere outside of Canada, the music score is poor, the special effects are sparse and poor as well.

It's also hampered by a flashback structure with a poor teaser scene and then a "two weeks earlier" title that lets you know you've got a long time to wait to get back to the poor opening scene, that is then re-shown in it's entirety when you finally get there.

The script and direction are bland, but both writer and director went on to do much TV, I can only think they did better TV than this.

There are a few nice aerial shots that convey a bit of a sense of being lost in the wilderness but the rest is boring.

Why would Coppola produce this? For the money I guess, or to get his company into producing television but there is no excuse for a script this bad being made. I would have turned it off, only I kept thinking this must have some aspect of quality. I found none and found myself fast forwarding through the many unexciting walking through the snow and camping out at night scenes in the pine forests of Mt Everest. Pine forests!!!! A failure on all levels from people who must have known better given the rest of their careers.

I mean....with all those dry looking "Himalayan" pine trees....did no-one think of starting a fire... ? Can you build a shelter that good with dry powdery snow....? Why sit in it with all head torches and a lamp switched on? This movie is totally unbelievable from start to finish...Massive storms blowing in and no-one bright enough to take heed of the warnings....pretty ski wear...complete with poles and no-one looking in the least bit cold....Seemingly warm cosy night in the igloo..and endless energy expended climbing up and down massive mountain slopes. Salvation in a mountain village across the valley which it would have taken a week to reach...A very poor film....and as someone else has pointed out....an insult to Nepalese guides..