Went to see this last night (inc live q&a), totally epic. Madness of course but you have to admire Alex’s singular focus!
https://youtu.be/89H0BHXjkXI
Has anyone else seen it?
Last edited by Mr Tetley; 13th December 2018 at 00:38.
Thanks for this. I love films about extreme climbing (that I can't do) and extreme skiing (that I dabbled with when younger) but had not previously heard about it. l will definitely be seeing this.
Last edited by Skier; 29th April 2019 at 00:35.
I thought you were going to say there's a new Star Wars film coming.
"A man of little significance"
I’d like to see it (and probably will) but I am slightly put off by the title as “free” climbing and “solo” climbing are two different things.
Well I guess I have to see it to understand how, as in my climbing world (which to be fair is pretty out of date as I haven't climbed for nearly 30 years) "free" climbing means not "aid" climbing, but you still have ropes and gear and other protection; whereas "solo" climbing means just the climber, with no gear or protection of any sort.
NB "aid" climbing was when climbers would pull up on and use artificial gear (i.e. the aid) that they had placed on the climb so they didn't have to just rely on the features of the rock face itself
I was at the Dublin screening. Excellent movie with amazing cinematography. Would really recommend it.
Listened to an interview with the chap on BBCR4 the other afternoon. Absolutely bonkers IMO but definitely worthy of high praise. Looking forward to catching this.
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I loved it - some bits were hilarious as he tried to navigate the new relationship with his girlfriend. An odd and likeable guy.
Thought I’d bump this thread as I saw Free Solo last week on NatGeo and I have to say it blew me away. Please watch it if you can; a phenomenal film
Great film. He’s an amazing climber, a very odd guy and punching massively viz his girlfriend.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
I've just watched it; utterly nuts! To climb that in under 4 hrs is amazing. Echo the comment above re his girlfriend - very attractive.
I've watched this recently and, I'm going to go against the grain and admit that I found the film a bit lacking.
Don't get me wrong, Alex's achievement is absolutely monumental and there was some good imagery, but there were multiple aspects of the film that I didn't care for:
- for a climbing film, there was very little climbing shown
- quite a bit of filler like the stuff about Alex's foundation (it's great that he's doing something for charity, but does it really belong in a film about free soloing?)
- a lot of whining from the camera crew ('oh, poor me, what if I have to watch him die'?)
- his bird was extremely irritating, always trying to change his ways and get him to stop climbing (really, what were you expecting when you started dating one of the most prominent free soloists of our time?)
Anyway, as I said, what Alex has achieved is immense, so my criticism is strictly about the film, not his climbing
I've also watched The Dawn Wall (the 'other' big climbing film that launched recently) recently, and thought that was miles better in every way and definitely worth a watch (I think it's on Netflix if you're interested)
In a previous (5 stone) lighter life, I used to do a fair bit of climbing.
Started watching this last evening.
Truly amazing... but at times actually made me feel quite sick.
The guy is completely bonkas.
I understand what you are saying but that is not how I would use the terms:
free climbing means not aid climbing but still uses rope, gear, partner, etc.
soloing means no rope or gear at all
I see that wiki says the following on the subject: Free solo climbing (known in the UK as soloing) is perhaps the best-known solo technique. The term describes climbing without the use of any rope or other forms of protection, wherein a fall could result in serious injury or death.
I guess this is the cause of my confusion, what I call "soloing", others (presumably Americans) call "free solo"
I remember being blown away by how big El Capitan is. Looking up at it, I though OK, that's a big bit of rock. Then slowly I started to notice there were tiny little dots on the face, and even more slowly realised that those dots were climbers. The thing is freaking huge.
My sentiments exactly. Free Solo is an average documentary about an Oscar winning achievement - but unfortunately they don't give out Oscars to climbers so the documentary got one instead and it's not wholly justified. Dawn Wall is a much better story, and in many respects even Valley Uprising is a better documentary.
Still utterly incredible mind you. If anyone is hungry for further recent Honnold adventures he was part of the recent North Face expedition to Queen Maud land with Conrad Anker, Cedar Wright, Jimmy Chin etc etc and there's lots of footage of him and Cedar climbing crazy stuff in an even crazier location.
I totally forgot about that, but you're right: I don't think it won for being the best film, but because of how extreme the climb was, coupled with the fact that most people that have watched it probably aren't even climbers or know the first thing about climbing (I'm just guessing based on how popular Free Solo was compared to any other climbing film, I don't have any hard evidence to back this up) , so the shock factor is even more profound.
If you missed it, Free Solo is on All4 catchup to stream.
Dawn Wall is on netflix...another great documentary.
I did, thankfully I recorded it as well as I'd like to watch it again. I considered my stomach to be flipped and mind blown, such an incredible achievement.
I'll seek out the other couple of climbing documentaries mentioned for comparison however I thought that, as a whole, Free Solo was a great piece of work. It wasn't just about the climb of El Capitan, it was also about Alex himself and how his quest spilled over into the lives of those close to him - I thought it well balanced, personally.
Saw free solo also, agree with the comments. Alex was a bit of a 'Spock', the girlfriend having to educate him on matters of the heart. Could probably have a second film on the technical aspects of the climb.
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Loved it .
We were there last year and it is mind blowing.
He is a really likeable odd bod . The bit that always gets to me is after the first real test of the climb, he negotiates the “down climb” to access the easier route and his leg slips ever so slightly. It probably doesn’t even register with Honnold but watching it gives me goosebumps.
Brilliant film. and has been said, Dawn Wall is a belting watch too.
Alex Honnold hosts the climbing support desk for Wired. An entertaining and informative, (for at me least,) ten minutes.
https://youtu.be/kDUeh8nyLT0