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If you’ve never seen a movie about gruff guys climbing giant rocks, this one may seem like the pinnacle of originality...actually even then it wouldn’t. Look past the familiar trappings and you might find something to stimulate you, if only in a visual sense.

Michael Biehn and Matt Craven are the two domesticated lunkheads who trudge off to Pakistan to climb the legendary K2 peak. That one guy’s a family man and the other's a playboy matter not one iota as they’re each meant to represent one personality trait apeice: the cocksure and the cautious. Add the fact that most of the mono-syllabic climbers often take to waxing pretentious about the importance of defeating mountains, and you’re looking at an adventure movie that offers truckloads of yap and very intermittent adventure.

Sure, K2 is gorgeous to look at, and anyone who’s a hardcore climbing enthusiast will probably find lots to enjoy, but the end result is surprisingly toothless. There are a few isolated moments of high-altitude tension, but nothing that hasn’t been done elsewhere and done better. Screenwriter ~Patrick Meyers` may have been better off sticking with his original (stage-produced) source material; American adventure flicks generally don’t mesh too well with this sort of existentialist navel-gazing.

Julia Nickson-Soul (yeah, the gal last seen as the hilariously ill-fated love interest in Rambo: First Blood Part 2) offers a quick (dark) glimpse at her goodies, but you’ll need a powerful VCR and a quick remote finger to catch it. And enjoy it while you can, because this is a GUY movie in every sense of the phrase.

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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=6857&reviewer=128
originally posted: 01/15/03 12:44:07
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