Movies with crazy rock climbing scene

Kong Yong En

Editor

Rock climbing scenes had been featured in numerous blockbuster movies. Some are exciting to watch but most are just plain crazy and honestly a bit insulting to us rock climbers. We had sieved through numerous movie clips and compiled a list of 7 movies with the craziest rock climbing scene and give each movie a bullshit rating. Starting with:

#7 – Failure to Launch

This is the only movie with a climbing scene that is believable and we can actually learn something from it. Never climb with an idiot belayer that doesn’t know how to belay.

Bullshit rating: 1 star

#6 – Vertical Limits

Trad climbing had never been so nerve-racking. 2 climbers from another route fall on you pulling you and 2 of your kids off the wall and the only thing that is holding all 5 climbers is a cam. Again like the movie 127 hours, it seems like having a knife can come in handy anytime, be it cutting off your arm or cutting a rope.

As unlikely as this accident may be, It is still somewhat believable.

Bullshit rating: 2 stars

#5 – Lakshya

Superheroes are regular features in Bollywood movies. So other than having superhuman strength, Bollywood heroes must have superhuman testis when comes to rock climbing as well as an uncanny ability to rock climb with winter gloves and army boots. As crazy as the scene may be at least the hero used a rope on some part of the climb.

Bullshit rating: 2 stars

#4 – Cliff Hanger

In this scene Sylvester Stallone free solo with a harness and a handful of quickdraws (which serve no purpose) to rescue 2 climbers up on a mountain peak. I don’t understand why can’t the helicopter just lower Sylvester Stallone on a rope to the stranded climbers.

Bullshit rating: 3 stars

#3 – Point Break

Ahh a movie from this decade. Extreme athletes free soloing up a wet cliff next to a waterfall and leaping off the top. Nice. Stopping in the middle of a death-defying climb to have a conversation with a huge waterfall crashing next to you makes the scene so “believable”.

Of course, there are some strategic in your face product placement so look out for them.

If you find the climbing moves executed by the actors, look kind of familiar is because Chris Sharma is the climbing scene coordinator and a stunt double in this movie.

Bullshit rating: 4 stars

#2 – Mission Impossible 2

MI2 should be #1 on this list but unfortunately, a Bollywood movie beat Tom Cruise to it. But MI2 will always be the movie with the coolest climbing scene. When the movie was released in 2000 free-soloing was unheard of which makes the MI2’s climbing scene unrealistic. But then Alex Honnold came along and made what Tom Cruise did in MI2 a child’s play.

Bullshit rating: 3 stars

#1 – Shivaay

This is technically not rock climbing. But this scene is just so unbelievable that it has to be #1. A fellow climber post this video on FB and that was how I found out about this movie. Shivaay is the movie title and if there is going to be any movie that can top Hollywood’s BS it can only be Bollywood. I don’t how to describe the scene, it seems to me like he is in a rush to get off the mountain, and how he did it just leaves you in awe…