We cannot go to the mountains right now due to COVID-19. We’re in a lockdown. But don’t let that keep you from revisiting stories and memories of some brilliant mountain expeditions.
Here are 22 mountain movies suggested mostly by Trekkers. Watch these while being inside your house, for they carry a whiff of crisp mountain air.
These mountain movies trace the journeys and lives of climbers and mountaineers who dreamt big and dared to climb some of the loftiest peaks. Here is a list of 22 Must-Watch Mountain Movies During Lockdown.
So, take a look and tell us – did we miss a mountain movie you love?
1. Meru
Meru is a 2015 documentary film chronicling the first ascent of the “Shark’s Fin” route on Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas. This mountain, also known as Sumeru, stands between Mt. Thalaysagar and Mt. Shivling and is visible from the Gaumukh Tapovan trek. And it offers a challenging climb, the team runs out of resources while still having 90% of the mountain to climb. What happens then?
Available on: On Demand
2. Everest
This movie is based on Jon Krakauer’s legendary book Into Thin Air. It is based on the real events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, and focuses on the survival attempts of two expedition groups, one led by Rob Hall (Clarke) and the other by Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal). This movie takes us through the grit of climbers who are struggling to survive in the Death Zone.
Available on: Netflix
3. Touching the void
The plot concerns Joe Simpson and Simon Yates‘ near-fatal descent after making the first successful ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes, in 1985. It is based on Simpson’s 1988 book of the same name. Disaster strikes when a surprise storm hurtles Simpson off the mountain and he breaks his leg. Yates tries to pull Simpson up, but fails. Should he cut the rope and save himself from the impending storm? The movie moves through the gullies of trust and courage.
Available on: On Demand
4. Into the Wild
Released in 2007, It is an adaptation of the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name written by Jon Krakauer and tells the story of Christopher McCandless (“Alexander Supertramp“), a man who hiked across North America into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s. A beautiful movie of self-discovery while on an adventure.
Available on: Netflix
5. Vertical limit
A high-adrenaline tale of young climber Peter Garrett, who must launch a treacherous and extraordinary rescue effort up K2, the world’s second-highest peak. Peter risks his life to save his sister, Annie, and her summit team in a race against time. You also get a great insight on Acute Mountain Sickness and how it affects the body in this movie.
Available on: YouTube
6. 7 Years in Tibet
In 1939, Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) leaves behind his pregnant wife to join Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis) in a team attempting to summit Nanga Parbat in the British Raj (present-day part of Pakistan). When World War II begins in 1939, they are arrested by the authorities for being enemy aliens and imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Dehradun in the Himalayan foothills, in the present-day Indian state of Uttarakhand.
Available on: Netflix
7. Wild
Wild is a 2014 American biographical adventure drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Nick Hornby’s screenplay is based on Cheryl Strayed‘s 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed’s story is about her determination to complete the Pacific Crest Trail by hiking and backpacking after numerous problems left her life in shambles.
Available on: YouTube
8. Death On Matterhorn
The Matterhorn. An invincible mountain – until 150 years ago. It all changed on 14 July 1865, when two mountaineer groups raced to the top, wanting to be the first to reach the peak of the majestic mountain. The British-Swiss team were victorious. But the triumph soon turned into tragedy. But was it an unfortunate accident, or sabotage? Or even murder?
9. Cold
For the past 26 years 16 expeditions have tried and failed to climb one of Pakistan’s 8,000 meter peaks in winter. On February 2, 2011, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards became the first. Cory is now the only American to summit any 8,000 meter peak in winter. The journey nearly killed them.
10. 180 degree South
Adventurer Jeff Johnson retraces a 1968 trip to Patagonia undertaken by his heroes, Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins. After finding footage of the 1968 expedition, Johnson decided to make climbing the Corcovado Volcano in Patagonia as his life goal and, after speaking to Chouinard and Tompkins, planned his own journey.
Available on: On Demand
11. Mountain
An experience about the highest peaks around the world. This movie explores the relationship between humans and mountains. So, if you have ever wondered, why do we climb? This is a must-watch.
Available on: On Demand
12. The Himalayas (Korean)
This is a South Korean adventure drama film. Based on true events, renowned mountaineer UM Hong-gil sets out on a mission to Everest to retrieve his late junior climber’s body and faces the greatest challenge of his life.
13. Dawn Wall
In an unbelievable story of perseverance, free climber Tommy Caldwell and climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson attempt to scale the impossible 3000ft Dawn Wall of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park, California.
Available on: Netflix
14. Kaphal: Wild Berries
KAPHAL – Wild Berries explores the life of a small village, the small moments, the relation between children and nature, their wonder at it, the stories that they build around it, their fears and terrors and their joys.
It is a simple tale, seeking to capture the sensual pleasures of childhood, with a glimpse of hard reality. Set in a village in the Uttarakhand, this movie takes you to the heart of local life in the mountains.
15. The Summit
The Summit is a 2012 documentary film about the 2008 K2 disaster, directed by Nick Ryan. It combines documentary footage with dramatized recreations of the events of the K2 disaster, during which – on the way to and from the summit – 11 climbers died during a short time span, creating one of the worst catastrophes in climbing history.
Available on: Dailymotion
16. Togo
Togo is a 2019 American drama adventure film directed by Ericson Core and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film centers on Leonhard Seppala and his titular sled dog in the 1925 serum run to Nome to transport diphtheria antitoxin serum through harsh conditions during an epidemic of diphtheria.
Available on: Disnep+ Hotstar
17. Beyond The Edge
Beyond the Edge is a 2013 New Zealand 3D docudrama about Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary‘s historical ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. As well as featuring dramatised recreations shot on location on Everest and in New Zealand, the film includes original footage and photographs from what was then the ninth British expedition to the mountain. It also includes audio from interviews with Hillary and recorded narration by expedition leader John Hunt.
18. A walk in the woods
A Walk in the Woods is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Ken Kwapis and starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson. It is based on the 1998 book of the same name by Bill Bryson.
Available on: On Demand
19. The Wildest Dream
The Wildest Dream is a 2010 theatrical-release feature documentary film about the British climber George Mallory who disappeared on Mount Everest in 1924 with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine. The film interweaves two stories, one about climber Conrad Anker (who discovered Mallory’s body lying on Everest in 1999) returning to Everest to investigate Mallory’s disappearance and the other a biography of Mallory told through letters (read by Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson, in her final film), original film footage from the 1920s and archival photos.
20. Poorna
Poorna is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language biographical adventure film directed by Rahul Bose. The film stars himself with Aditi Inamdar as Malavath Poorna, the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest. The movie traces how Poorna Malavath, belonging to a tribal family, becomes the youngest girl to scale the tallest mountain in the world.
Available on: Amazon Prime
21. Mile mile and a half
This one traces a historic route too – the John Muir Trail. It is an endearing tale of how five friends decide to follow in the footsteps of John Muir and cover the distance in 25 days. And how, while on the journey, people start joining them.
22. The Peanut Butter Falcon
The Peanut Butter Falcon is basically a travel movie, a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz. Its plot follows a young man with Down syndrome (Gottsagen) who escapes from an assisted living facility and befriends a wayward fisherman on the run (LaBeouf); as the two men form a rapid bond, a social worker (Johnson) attempts to track them.
Available on: Amazon Prime
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