I'd like to add to the chorus of voices complaining about The Summit, a collection of poignant interviews, skillfully staged re-creations of actual events, and documentary photographs and film footage, all jumbled together into an almost incomprehensible mess. It's not as if this documentary about the tragic events on K2 in the summer of 2008 is poorly edited, it's more like it wasn't edited at all. Imagine watching a story that has been chopped into pieces, thrown into a blender, and then reassembled by someone suffering from the same hypoxic delirium that contributed to the deaths of some of the climbers. One is left with the feeling of having watched an interesting and compelling story that should have been told in a far more concise and straightforward manner. Unfortunate, too, because it's a heck of a story.

The question "what is happening?" came at almost every turn throughout this piece.On the back of incredible climbing stories that have been so well told in the past (Touching The Void and The North Face rank highly in my collection), I sat awaiting this story eagerly… I was however VERY disappointed for two reasons:1. This fails as a documentary to accurately and effectively document and express to the viewer a single piece of detail regarding the event. In 2008 there were a few groups of mountaineers that climbed the mountain - some of those climbers made mistakes - 11 people died and no coherent story could be wrought from the survivors. This SHOULD make for an interesting story, however there is so little viewer involvement, the story just doesn't make sense - even the number of climbers was contradicted at each point on the mountain!?2. The interviewees provided nothing of interest in this documentary. I felt these were a group of selfish, generally reckless people who I had no common ground with. That said, the film maker did not assist these people in accurately supporting them visually in their telling of their piece and as such I was left not understanding where any of them were on the mountain at any particular time, how far away from each other they were, what they were doing or at what point in the climb they were at.In this instance, i am sorry to say my 3* review is for the sensational views of the Himalayas and for what was some interesting POV shooting taken by the team on the mountain.In recommendation, seek out other climbing documentaries. This deserves a re-make.

This movie shows the challenges met by a high altitude mountaineer on K2 and the codes they conform to in order to survive. Its well worth watching to get a great insight into such a dangerous activity and try and portray the enormous risks and challenges people take in conquering the most dangerous mountain in the world. The movie also tells the truth of what really happened on the mountain from reliable witnesses (the surviving climbers themselves). It was also great to see such a great character Ger McDonnell shine through in his personality and character from personal footage on the mountain. It makes me proud to see such a great Irishman accomplishing such a huge challenge. 10 out of 10 for an overall excellent film

"He discovers things about his own body and mind that he had almost forgotten in the day-to-day, year-to-year routine of living." James Ramsey Ullman, High Conquest.I don't know about you, but if I were approaching the "death zone" while mountain climbing, I'd turn back. However, you can bet the heroes of the documentary, The Summit, hiking the world's second biggest and most difficult mountain (it defeats 1 out of every 4 climbers), K2, had no such thoughts. The Summit won the Sundance World Cinema documentary award this year.More interesting than the physical exploits is the rationale for doing such a dangerous sport in the first place. Yet, such psychoanalyzing is not a matter for The Summit, a thrilling doc long on the difficult climb and more difficult decisions while fates are decided in sometimes inscrutable and random ways. It's short on the motivation, which pretty much is accepted these days as, "because it's there." Eleven climbers of 25 lost their lives that day in 2008 without an adequate explanation for any of the deaths. However this thesis is proved once more: Most lives in climbing are lost on the descent. The film has a fragmented, multiple-points-of-view (think of a climbing Rashomon) approach that cuts among the several players and history while featuring a couple of the more charismatic climbers, especially Ger McDonnell, whose death is the most difficult to understand even as he's touted for his alleged attempt to save 3 Korean climbers. This discursive storytelling can be confusing while it saps the thrust of the inherently intriguing story. The many re-enactments drain the film of its immediate "what-the" doc impact. The film retains some of the awe we all feel when in the presence of such a manifestation of Nature's power: "You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn