Low key and somber, this is probably the most realistic account of whsf happens to someone stranded after a plane crash in the middle of nowhere on a rocky mountain, close to the tallest peak in the United States. Blair Brown, a photographer, is off to a shoot when the plane suddenly crashes, leaving two badly injured and ultimately results in her being alone. The mountain surface isn't as picturesque as it seems from the sky, steep and slick, completely covered in granite, and difficult for even the most experienced of mountain climbers. Her boyfriend is concerned when she doesn't show up and a search proceeds, and one begins to wonder how someone could survive mentally from such an ordeal.
The scene of one of the survivors slowly sliding down the mountain, softly moaning in agony, then disappearing over the edge, is one I'll never forget, and the other injured survivor does slowly go out of their mind afterwards. The film is slow moving but intense with long periods of no dialog. G. D. Spradlin and Vera Miles as Brown's parents have smaller parts with David Ackroyd as her boyfriend and Maggie Cooper and James G. Richardson as the others aboard the small craft. But it's Brown's film which she must have considered challenging work to make interesting, something that doesn't easily occur with stories like this. Uplifting because of her character's determination, and more so since this really happened.
The scene of one of the survivors slowly sliding down the mountain, softly moaning in agony, then disappearing over the edge, is one I'll never forget, and the other injured survivor does slowly go out of their mind afterwards. The film is slow moving but intense with long periods of no dialog. G. D. Spradlin and Vera Miles as Brown's parents have smaller parts with David Ackroyd as her boyfriend and Maggie Cooper and James G. Richardson as the others aboard the small craft. But it's Brown's film which she must have considered challenging work to make interesting, something that doesn't easily occur with stories like this. Uplifting because of her character's determination, and more so since this really happened.