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Trust Weighted
Great
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83Trust Points
Wick's Review
Summary - Great 4.0
Wow. Not many movies peg the meter in terms of skiing, mountaineering, WWII and contemporary history. This documentary does.
A great lens into the Greatest Generation, Fire on the Mountain explores the exploits of the legendary 10th Mountain Division. Perhaps the greatest group of soldiers the US ever fielded, this fraternity of American übermensch beat the Germans in the high mountains of northern Italy, then went on to create the ski industry, found Nike, serve in Congress, lead the Sierra Club, grow the National Ski Patrol, run MIT, win the world downhill ski championship, get Aspen Mountain going, found Vail, and run for President.
American übermensch, an appellation not lightly bestowed.
A brisk hour-twelve long, Fire on the Mountain makes ideal winter vu’ing. Even the heavy heart of war doesn’t weigh these guys down for long. Serving in the 10th Mountain Division was the best thing that ever happened to them, and was damn lucky for the rest of us too.
Netflix has this once obscure doc available for streaming as well as via red envelope.
Acting - Great 4.0
Avuncular in extremis, our heroes get interviewed in their 70s, sounding more like great-uncles than great warriors.
Talk about an era when men were men. Their WWII heroics made them American legends. Their post-war achievements made them exemplars of the greatest generation.
Male Stars - Great 4.0
Female Stars - Great 4.0
Female Costars - Great 4.0
Male Costars - Great 4.0
Film - Really Great 4.5
Most every frame holds fascination, many hold beauty, and all hold 100% reality. Astonishing indeed.
Direction - Great 4.0
Dialogue - Really Great 4.5
Music - Perfect 5.0
_Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B:_ as great a pop song as any generation - even my g-g-g-generation - ever had. The Andrews Sisters had it going on. You gotta marvel at the fact that the 10th Mountain Men were spontaneous singers. In what area don't they excel?Visuals - Great 4.0
Edge - Tame 1.2
War dead are shown, appropriately so.
Sex Innocent 1.0
Violence Fierce 1.7
Rudeness Polite 1.0
Reality - Natural 1.0
To pick one of these guys’ extraordinary lives, how about Morley Nelson, “an American falconer and educator. He is best known as a seminal influence on raptor conservation in the Western United States,” per Wikipedia. He’s the one holding a large raptor on his hand, one of the movie’s “We’re not worthy” moments.
Circumstantial - Natural 1.0
Biological - Natural 1.0
Physical - Natural 1.0
3 Comments
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Wick Jan 17, 2011 10:40PM
Regarding BrianSez’s Review
Solid review Bri. You forced me to reconsider with your reference to Burns, who is certainly the benchmark when it comes to documentaries. Thus I knocked back my rating from Really Great to Great. -
Wick Jan 15, 2011 12:37PM
Yeah, I stumbled on it last night looking for a “January movie.”
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BrianSez Jan 15, 2011 12:32PM
Regarding Wick’s Review
How have I missed this? Thanks for the review! I’m adding to my streaming list now….