K2 (1991)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Franc Roddam

Writers:

Patrick Meyers (play)
Patrick Meyers (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 May 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Between the earth and the sky lies the sheer face of adventure.

Plot:

Taylor and Harold are good friends and avid climbers. While climbing one day, they meet a man who it seems might be attempting to climb K2...

Plot Keywords:

K2 | Climbing | Mountain | Bare Butt | Avalanche

Cast

Michael Biehn	...	Taylor Brooks
Matt Craven	...	Harold Jameson
Annie Grindlay	...	Lisa
Elena Wohl	...	Tracey (as Elena Stiteler)
Blu Mankuma	...	Man on Wheelchair
Charles Oberman	...	Tony
Julia Nickson-Soul	...	Cindy Jameson
Christopher M. Brown	...	Carl (as Christopher Brown)
Leslie Carlson	...	Dexter
David Cubitt	...	Peter
Luca Bercovici	...	Dallas Woolf
Edward Spat	...	Mike Spatt
Andrew Spat	...	Todd Spatt
Hiroshi Fujioka	...	Takane Shimuzu
Patricia Charbonneau	...	Jacki Metcalf

Also Known As:

K2: The Ultimate High

Runtime:

102 min | Canada:111 min | UK:111 min | USA:104 min

Country:

UK | Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-8 | Germany:16 | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Norway:10

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Trivia:

Michael Biehn's character reads Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". Biehn starred in The Art of War (2000) alongside Wesley Snipes.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After Harold has been injured on the descent, Taylor gives him an injection of adrenalin he found on Dallas' body. Adrenaline (ephinephrine) has no effect on reversing hypothermia or mitigating pain, as the scene implies. In fact, the drug would have constricted Harold's blood vessels and hastened his demise.

Quotes:

Harold: What about, uh, Dallas? What's his name? What's his problem?
Taylor Brooks: Dallas Woolf. We went to Law School together. He was good in the classroom... I was better in the courtroom. There's no contest in the bedroom!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Incident at Loch Ness (2004)

Soundtrack:

Ascent

Best mountain climbing film

I have been waiting ages for this film and now, finally, it is out on DVD in the UK. This film did not disappoint me one bit and kept me thoroughly entertained. I was a big fan of Vertical Limit when it hit the cinemas but there can be no comparisons made. Where Vertical Limit aimed more for suspense and thrills, K2 follows character development and realism.

Taylor Brooks (Michael Biehn) and Harold Jameson (Matt Craven) are best friends who live almost opposite lives but share one common passion, mountain climbing. Brooks is a selfish jerk who has only ever thought about himself where as Jameson is a man driven by his family and his job who cares greatly for the safety of others. These two are perfectly cast without even acting. Biehn's voice is perfect for an arrogant character and Craven's nerdish looks personify a man in the science profession. Biehn does well in this performance to disguise his fear of heights and delivers a very strong, charming performance. He portrays Brooks' obsession with K2 very well and was definitely the right choice to lead this film.

The scenery for this film is simply breath taking, beautiful snowy mountains with a caressing mist. There was one scene where I thought my TV had broken because the screen appeared to be pure white, but then a person enters the shot and the camera starts to pan out, I realise how clean and untouched the snow is. Filming a feature like this is always challenging on crew and cast, equipment and supplies can be buried under 5 feet of snow when the day's up. Everyone rose to challenge and produced a visually stunning film. The climbing sequences allow appear very professional and without doubt help Roddam to build up tension on a bigger scale.

What is best about this film is that behind all the scenery, the suspense and the arguments, there is a very strong message about friendship. It was important for this film to have a positive element because there are so many mishaps and so many dislikeable characters that a lack of positive energy in any form would have made K2 far too bleak. The friendship between Taylor and Harold drives the story and leads to a wonderful transformation within Taylor that is very believable. Character development in this style has sadly been abandoned by Hollywood now in favour of special effects and period pieces.

Very underrated, K2 is definitely the best mountain climbing film I have seen and as a huge Michael Biehn fan, it is great to see him perform so well in a non action role. With the beautiful snowy mountains and great character story, K2 is blissful to watch and leaves you feeling good after watching.