The 100 Best Mountain Films
A personal selection about mountain films, with climbers, hikers, skiers and professional alpinism from the silent movies to present.
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- DirectorLuis TrenkerStarsLuis TrenkerHerbert DirmoserHeidemarie HatheyerThe Italian mountaineer Carel wants to be the first man to stand on the top of the Matterhorn. Since the climb is very difficult, he agrees to try it together with the British mountaineer Whymper. But due to an intrigue this agreement is dropped and the two man try it on the same day with two different teams and then disaster strikes.
- DirectorJacques ErtaudMarcel IchacStarsRoger BlinPierre DannyPierre RousseauA group of mountaineers embark on high mountain climbing and photographing. In the evening, at the refuge, they also recount some of their most perilous climbing adventures.
- DirectorJacques ErtaudStarsPierre RousseauGeorges ClaisseVictor LanouxVeteran Chamonix mountain guide Michel Servoz (Pierre Rousseau) and the young aspiring guide Patrick Falavier (Jeane-Pierre Marry) attempt to climb the west face of the Dru in the Mont-Blanc massif. When they are gone for five days, the captain of the gendarmerie Morteau (Jean Valmont) is worried, but he can not undertake research for a rescue without the permission of the family. Mary Servoz (Jeanne Allard) wants to respect the wish of her husband to keep the race secret. His daughter Catherine (Joëlle Fossier), engaged to Patrick, does not share this opinion. For her the waiting has been long enough. A journalist reveals that Michel tries to climb the west face of the Dru. After being rescued Michel recounts the circumstances in which Patrick was killed, struck by lightning. A month later, Michel resumes his activities as a guide. During his first expedition the client reveals his true identity: he is the brother of the deceased Patrick and he wants to know what realy happened high up in the mountain. Again the expedition goes wrong: Michel must sacrifice his life to save that of Philippe Falavier (Georges Claisse).
- DirectorMilton RosmerVincent KordaLuis TrenkerStarsRobert DouglasFrank BirchGeoffrey WardwellDramatization of the first climbing of the Matterhorn in 1865.
- DirectorMario BonnardNunzio MalasommaLuis TrenkerStarsLuis TrenkerMarcella AlbaniPeter VoßThis Alpine thriller is based on the story of English climber Edward Whymper who vies with Jean-Antoine Carrel, an Italian mountain guide, to conquer the Matterhorn.
- DirectorArnold FanckLeni RiefenstahlStarsLeni RiefenstahlLuis TrenkerErnst PetersenDiotima meets Karl in the mountains where they fall in love and have an affair. When Karl's friend, Vigo, meets her, he mistakenly believes she is in love with him. Karl then believes that she is betraying him with his friend.
- DirectorPhilipp StölzlStarsBenno FürmannFlorian LukasJohanna WokalekA secretary at a Berlin newspaper in 1936 gets to write about two Alpinists, as she knows them well. She later gets to report on and photograph her friends' and other Alpinists' climbs of the dangerous Swiss Eiger north face.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsSimon YatesJoe SimpsonBrendan MackeyThe true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
- DirectorKarl HartlLuis TrenkerStarsLuis TrenkerLissy ArnaClaus ClausenShortly before the First World War, an Italian and an Austrian take part in a mountaineering expedition together. Not long afterwards they find themselves fighting on different sides. The plot also features references to the Mines on the Italian Front (World War I).
- DirectorArnold FanckGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsGustav DiesslLeni RiefenstahlErnst PetersenA man climbs a 12,000-foot mountain to search for his wife, who was lost on their honeymoon. Another couple makes the dangerous climb with him.
- DirectorArnold FanckStarsLeni RiefenstahlSepp RistErnst UdetIn the Mont Blanc Observatory works Hannes. The only contact to the outside world is a pilot and Hella over the morse-code-radio. As Hella climbs the mountain with her father, the father dies. Also Hannes gets endangered as his fingers freeze. But Hella gets help.
- DirectorMario Piacenza
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsVittorio MezzogiornoStefan GlowaczMathilda MayTwo famous competitive climbers make a bet on who can climb Cerro Torre, one of the most dangerous mountains in Argentina and the world, first. As the day of the climb approaches, their increasing competitiveness becomes destructive.
- DirectorDonald ShebibStarsBruce GreenwoodJames HurdleKenneth WelshBased on the true story of the 1953 assault on Nanga Parbat, a treacherous Himalayan Peak.
- DirectorJoseph VilsmaierStarsFlorian StetterAndreas TobiasKarl MarkovicsDrama about the tragic Nanga Parbat expedition by the two Messner brothers in 1970, on which Reinhold Messners younger brother Günther died.
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsClaude RainsGlenn FordAlida ValliA group of people come together in the Swiss Alps to climb a previously unconquered mountain, revealing their inner selves in the process.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsSpencer TracyRobert WagnerClaire TrevorSelfish Chris Teller pressures his older brother, a retired climber, to accompany him on a treacherous Alpine climb to loot the bodies of plane crash victims.
- DirectorGeorge LoweStarsMeredith EdwardsJohn HuntGeorge BandDocumentary that covers the famous and successful expedition of the Everest conquest by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, the first climbers to reach its peak.
- DirectorLeo DickinsonStarsReinhold MessnerPeter HabelerEric JonesLegendary high-altitude climber Reinhold Messner pushes himself to the limit in achieving the first successful summit without the use of supplemental oxygen.
- DirectorAnthony GeffenStarsConrad AnkerSusan RobertsonRobert MacfarlaneUses astonishing visuals to tell the intersecting stories of George Mallory, the first man to attempt a summit of Mount Everest, and Conrad Anker, the mountaineer who finds Mallory's frozen remains 75 years later.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsRichard BurtonClint EastwoodMary UreAllied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding American brigadier general George Carnaby prisoner, but that's not all that's really going on.
- DirectorArrigo Frusta
- DirectorPetter NæssStarsFlorian LukasDavid KrossLachlan NieboerWorld War II: After an aerial battle over Norway, British and German airmen find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Finding shelter in the same cabin, they realize the only way to survive the winter is to set aside the rules of war.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasRichard HarrisUlla JacobssonNorwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during World War II.
- DirectorMarcel IchacStarsPierre AllainJean ArlaudJacques AzémarAccount of the first French expedition to the Himalayas, which attempted to climb the hidden peak (Gasherbrum I) in 1936, from the preparations for the trip to the end of the ascent. After a long approach walk through quasi-desert regions, then on a huge glacier, the caravan of 700 porters arrives at the foot of Hidden Peak. The expedition was led by Henry de Ségogne, with Jean Charignon, Pierre Allain, Raymond Leininger, Jean Carle, Jean Deudon, Louis Neltner, Jacques Azémar, doctor Jeand Arlaud and director Marcel Ichac. Weather conditions, logistical problems and a strike among Sherpas forced the team to retire at 6900m on the south face. The film received the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1938.
- DirectorArnold FanckStarsLeni RiefenstahlLuis TrenkerHans SchneebergerA young Italian girl living in the Dolomites falls in love with a member of a tourist party skiing on the nearby mountains.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlBéla BalázsStarsLeni RiefenstahlMathias WiemanBeni FührerWhen the moon is full, young men die attempting to reach the mysterious blue light in the mountains.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodGeorge KennedyVonetta McGeeClassical art professor and collector Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, who doubles as a professional assassin, is coerced out of retirement to avenge the murder of an old friend.
- DirectorFranc RoddamStarsMichael BiehnMatt CravenAnnie GrindlayA U.S. climbing team, funded by millionaire Clairborne is determined to conquer K2.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsSean ConneryBetsy BrantleyLambert WilsonSir Sean Connery stars in Fred Zinnemann's haunting tale of incestuous love set against a magnificent background of the Swiss Alps.
- DirectorGilles LegrandStarsJacques VilleretJules-Angelo BigarnetMichèle LaroqueA man leaves his 8-year old son with his father-in-law who lives near the glacier where the boy's mother died.
- DirectorRafael FlorezStarsGloria MartinezFrank MadridMartín BuscagliaMusical warriors on a mission to expand the cultural landscape of Australia... A short musical documentary that follows the adventures of the 1st Pura Vida Latin Music Festival, a celebration of the diversity, eclecticism and sophistication of contemporary urban Latin culture. This is Latin America in the 21st Century.
- DirectorCurt MorganStarsTravis RiceMark LandvikJohn JacksonTwo years in the making, this film gives snowboarder Travis Rice and friends the opportunity to redefine what is possible in the mountains.
- DirectorFrank LeberechtStarsWilli MerklWilli WelzenbachAlfred DrexelAn 8,000 meters high mountain in British India took the lives of four German climbers and six bearers, when they were driven away by a snowstorm, 400 meters short of reaching the peak, in 1934.
- DirectorJoseph VilsmaierStarsFlorian StetterAndreas TobiasKarl MarkovicsDrama about the tragic Nanga Parbat expedition by the two Messner brothers in 1970, on which Reinhold Messners younger brother Günther died.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsJames FrancoAmber TamblynKate MaraA mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive.