Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In the air above Switzerland, on the sheer rock-and-ice wall known as the Eiger, an American climber is about to embark on the most perilous and meaningful ascent he has ever undertaken: an attempt to scale the legendary mountain that took his renowned father's life.

This short film was produced for IMAX and shot with IMAX cameras. Like most of the IMAX features it reminds me a bit of something you’d see on Discovery channel. The film features absolutely stunning photography of Switzerland and the Swiss Alps and looks at the journey of an American climber who plans to climb the north face of the most dangerous mountain in Europe; the Eiger. His father died climbing this mountain when he was a boy and now 40 years later he plans to face the mountain to move past those events. This is a great short film that combines stunning imagery with a heartfelt story that had my palms sweating through nearly the entire film.

IMAX cameras use 70mm film stock and pass it through sideways giving it incredible vertical resolution compared to standard 35mm film. This Blu-ray has incredible dynamic range and fine object detail, even in the longer shots. The white balance is perfect with no signs of clipping and the colors are vibrant and detailed. The aerial photography has a scope that feature films just can’t match and you really get a sense of the beauty of the Swiss countryside and mountains. Some of the most beautiful photography I’ve seen in HD yet.

The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio but the results are a bit of a mixed bag. The sense of ambiance is excellent and I liked some of the front to back panning during aerial shots but the dialogue didn’t hold up very well. The narration sounds a bit boxed in and thick and the standard dialogue has a noisy and drowned out quality that can be distracting at times. The film features some music selections from Queen that are pretty good but the overall result is average at best.

Extras include a great making of feature that shows the challenges of shooting this film on the massive Swiss mountainsides. The whole time I watched the film I was wondering how they managed some of the spectacular shots and this feature gives you a great look into the production. There is also some trivia and some bonus videos of the mountains.

If you are a fan of great short film based documentaries and love stunning HD video this is a release for you. It is a great story and I can’t say enough for the imagery. Highly recommended.