With the Australian Chamber Orchestra doing the music, and Willem Dafoe doing the narration, Mountains (2017) is a delight to the eye and ear. The director embarks us in a cinematic trance, using an incredible essay that depicts the relationship between nature and human perseverance. Portrayed as an eternal fight, this relationship seems to go into extremes at times. A must watch film for any mountain lover.

Magnificent cinematography and a range of music from classical to contemporary. Footage of mountains on all 7 continents. Saw this with a friend who's an excellent skiier and even he was blown away.

"To those who are enthralled by mountains their wonder is beyond all dispute... to those who are not, their allure is a kind of madness!"It takes us through that inexplicable journey to a higher plane with some explanations on how you get into that mad spell in first place.That "the mountains we climb are not only made of rock and ice, but also dreams and desire.They are mountains of the mind!" It also weighs up that sublime takeaway of an expedition by beautifully summarizing how one comes back to the world from heights with experiences that cannot be expressed or be priced.A moving visual marvel that leaves the ones who seeks the pinnacles within and the summits laid out out by the nature, spellbound!

Just awful, despite some (I repeat) some beautiful and exciting footage. There is just so much wrong with it, I can hardly begin. Particularly, it shows very little real understanding of mountains per se, or any understanding of climbing and mountaineering. It's all just seen as an 'arena' for extreme sports. And there's a huge confusion here. The huge increase in the number of people skiing and even a bit in mountaineering has nothing to do with a greater desire for adventure but is all the result of it becoming a lot SAFER and easier for the man in the street to enjoy. And yet all this is muddled up with examples of that very small minority of people who, as ever, are taking part in extreme sports ... that's always been, and always will remain, a virtually separate thing. The commentary is so muddled and so shallow that it almost defies belief at times (e.g. when he starts talking about skiing as a form of 'mountain worship') and the Pathetic Fallacy looms very large indeed throughout. However, if you're a fan of Beethoven, as I am, you can simply shut your eyes and enjoy the music when huge chunks of the Violin and Emperor Concertos are played ... but what on earth have they to do with the Khumbu Icefall etc? And what for that matter has Vivaldi to do with Tibetan Buddhism? The relentless music track throughout is best described as crude and/or crass.