User Reviews

I watched this late one night while staying at a hotel in Vientiane, Laos. Needless to say, there wasn't much else on to watch. It played on Star Movies - a Fox movie network and a subsidiary of News Corporation.

I have to say I do indeed have a lot of respect for independent writer-director-producers of film (the budget was approx. $1.5M), but this movie just doesn't work. It says in the 'Fun Facts' that this movie was to be shot in Alaska. However, it was shot near Austin, Texas - and suffers as a result as the mountains shown on screen don't match the ferocity in which the characters speak and act around them, at times laughably so. Hence, the movie would've been better if the setting at least matched the story - or brought a twink of an eyebrow at least.

What follows is quite a trite plot, notwithstanding the problems with the setting. It centers around Emily (Josie Davis), a mountain-climber guide, and her emotional struggles a year after her fiancé's unfortunate early demise. As it happens, she is meant to take a crew of people up a deadly mountain on the one-year anniversary of her fiancé's death. Surprise! They are the naughty outlaws that are responsible for his death. While climbing the mountain (hiking is more like it - there would be no possible need for a guide), they take her hostage and force her to take them to some gold that she and her fiancé had previously found. What follows is at best an illogical and clichéd-to-the-max story - filled with flat and uninspired over-acting and dopey dialogue. It is one of those movies that is so bad, it's fun to watch and laugh at. However, on this budget, I think they did somewhat of a good job.

Ergo, I give it a more-than-fair three stars.

Some mild spoilers.

I caught the last half of this on TV last night, and seeing there wasn't a single review here on IMDb, thought I would scribble a few words.

Well I can't believe this was actually released - the acting is poor & hammy, the dialogue stilted and the 'action' scenes completely unbelievable.

With such an obvious small budget, the director has been too adventurous - far better to have concentrated on character dialogue rather than such poor 'adventure' scenes. With TV shows such as '24' and 'Dexter' managing to be fun & exciting, as well as reasonably realistic, there really doesn't seem to be a place for this type of movie any more.

• Cave scene - the interior is obviously fake cement 'rock' and there are no wide shots at all.

• 2 characters fall over a cliff, and are then shown hanging by their fingertips, somehow *beneath* an overhang, on an obvious climbing-wall !

• 1 character gets stabbed in the stomach, apparently so badly that his bandages get blood-soaked every few minutes, but he hardly experiences any pain and is able to carry on OK, albeit with a limp !

• Some characters are killed, and there is no emotion or tension at all in the survivors.

• After trekking & struggling across some quite rugged terrain, there is suddenly a path with a guide rail !

1/10, with a bonus point for "so bad, it's good".

I got invited to a screening for The Ascent and i gotta tell ya, I really enjoyed this film. First, I'm a rock climber and mountaineer and even though the scale of this film was constrained due to what has to be a lack of budget, what they used, they used to the fullest. The film also goes out of it's way to be accurate with it's climbing and mountaineering terminology. Really can't say that for films like Cliffhanger and The Vertical Limit. Who cares? Some of us do. This could be considered an ensemble film but it really is Josie Davis's baby. She does a great job capturing the essence of Emily and the pain and turmoil that she has endured to get to this day and then through it. The writer/director must love the films of his youth like I do, because he cast actors I've always loved but always felt were never fully utilized. Guys like Courtney Gains and William McNamara really shine as does the cooler than cool Martin Cove. I love writer/directors who pull from talent they love as an audience member themselves, and this film is a prime example of that. The story was good and never felt slow or bogged down. I really wish they had more money to do the film bigger and as I said, the cut I saw still need to be finished on some tech aspects like sound and score. All in all a really great little mountain climbing film that in allot of respects has nothing to do with climbing. Just one woman's journey of revenge, redemption and loss...and a swinging ice axe duel never hurt anyone either.

I recently had the opportunity of attending a screening of the new film, "The Ascent," by writer/director Steven Creazzo and producer Kerry Wallum. And I was pleasantly surprised.

In some ways, the director was definitely trying to reach beyond the budget he appeared to have. Which was most likely less than 1M. In my opinion, the settings/locations were not entirely vast enough to tell the story they were telling. Such a dangerous mountain, with such a deadly history, should have been more dangerous looking than it was. I'm not sure where they shot this film, but it didn't appear to be very mountainous. Some of the terrain was really cool, and there are some cliff/climbing scenes, but not enough in my opinion. That aside, the reason this film, and story work so well is the emotional journey of the lead character, Emily Wilks.

Emily, played by Josie Davis, is the center of the film. It's not an "action film" at all, but more the journey of a person who is so broken she makes choices that will forever change her life. And not in the greatest of ways. I was truly taken by Josie Davis' performance. I remember her from years ago, in "Charles in Charge," and I was really blown away by her focused and passionate performance in this film.

William McNamara plays the "slightly crazy" villain, Joel. And I mean he's really a bit crazy, but in that cool, creepy way. Yeah, he creeped me out.

Courtney Gains, from so many great films, was really wonderful as Andrew. And I must say, kinda under used in my opinion. For me, Courtney Gains and Josie Davis shared one of the best scenes in the film.

Other featured cast members are; William Duffy, Joe Estevez, Anne Griffin, and the great ("Sweep the Leg") Martin Kove, from the original, and one and only "The Karate Kid." To summarize the story. "The Ascent" takes us on a journey of a great mislead. We think one story is happening, when really, an entire other story had been happening right in front of our eyes. On its surface, it is a story of a mountaineer who takes a group of novice climbers up a dangerous mountain. Or it's a story of a mountaineer who is forced to take a group of thieves to a buried treasure in gold. Or it's a story of how far a person will go to avenge a loved one... For me, it was all these things.

I really loved this film. Good acting. Good pacing. It had a nice slow burn. And most of all, fleshed out main characters. Indeed, some of the secondary characters needed a bit more, but I was taken with Emily, Josie Davis' character, I didn't much care. And note a great, small scene, with Martin Kove and Anne Griffin.

I hope this film comes out on DVD, or airs on cable, soon. I recommend "The Ascent" to anyone looking to rent/watch a good film, with a real story, and real emotions, that really entertained me.

I also hope the film is given the proper technical completion, as the cut I saw still needed its score, sound, and color grading to be completed.

I give "The Ascent" two thumbs up, and I look forward to the sequel.

I saw "The Ascent" about 8 months ago, and I really loved it. It's nothing ground breaking, but it's got a real good story, and a real great twist at the end. And it's much weightier than I thought it would be.

Now let me be very clear. This is not a review of "another version" of this film, floating around, which has aired on cable overseas. At the screening I attended (8 months ago in L.A.) it was titled (the director's cut) of "The Ascent."

"The Ascent" centers around a very experienced mountain guide (Emily Wilks) on The Devil's Peak, (very cool name) a mountain somewhere in the U.S. The film never specifics where this story takes place, and I wish it had, but no biggie.

Emily (as does the film) starts off in a very somber, and even retrospective way. This film, which I love, does not throw a lot of crap (action for the sake of action) at you in the first 30min. It takes its time and slowly builds the characters, and mystery, over the first act. And then when the crap hits the fan, boy yes it does.

Now, don't get me wrong, this film does not have amazing (big budget) action sequences. But what it does have is a very good story, which I am finding very rare these days.

The lead characters are fleshed out and very strong. The supporting characters are a bit thin, but I really didn't mind, as I was invested in Emily's story.

Once the first twist hits, "The Ascent" has its share of nice action scenes, and a great dramatic/action scene with two characters hanging from the bottom of an overhang.

At the end, I really enjoyed the great Ice Ax Fight, (I've never seen that before on screen) between Emily and Joel, the lead baddie.

But I must say, I never saw the twist coming. Just Great! What a dark turn that completely changed everything that came before.

I just really love this film, and wish there were more films made with this level of weight, of heart, of drama.

Peter J.