The review by P. Hintz is seriously misinformed and requires correction. Contrary to his assertions, "Messner" is a feature-length documentary with a six-figure budget, which contains multiple interviews with Messner for this production, which is obvious in the film, as well as multiple on-camera interviews conducted over the course of his climbing career, including his 1978 historic first ascent of Everest without using bottled oxygen (which was filmed by Leo Dickenson) and licensed for this film. The production further interviewed Ed Viesturs, America's most accomplished mountaineer, Sir Christian Bonington, Britian's most accomplished mountaineer; and Kitty Calhoun, one of the world's preeminent female climbers. The film includes many photographs from other Messner climbs that were not filmed."Messner" was the official selection of ten international film festivals, including two of the most prestigious and competitive mountain festivals: Telluride MountainFilm, where it was shown on opening night in 2004, and the Graz International Adventure Film Festival in Austria; juried festivals that certainly gave "Messner" strong affirmations.
In the DVD, Messner is quite candid and he also shows quite readily that contrary to some journalists opinion of him, he is not "perpetually sucking on lemons" [sic] nor "gruff" [sic] and can be rather jovial in demeanor. This too -it is not Messner's fault when the mountaineering accolades come his way but then, as I stated in the review of "Free Spirit", Messner doesn't have to 'shut up' since he has amply "put up" during the bulk of his long career ranging from being the first 8,000'er [** the first man to climb the world's 14 highest mountains over 8,000 meters] and not to mention the additional accomplishments in 'both' the North and South Poles, the Gobi desert 2,000 kilometer trek, the Greenland ice-cap adventure, his 5 year stint as an MEP [** Member, European Parliament] representing the Italian South Tyrol since he is in fact an Italian by birth [** which comes as a complete surprise to some folks and to this day one can see hither and yon on the internet where Messner is mentioned as the world famous "German" [!] or "Austrian" [!] climber] albeit his German mother tongue derives from the German speaking South Tyrol section of Italy, his many successful books and public mountaineering lectures and the multiple mountaineering museums which he originated and administers therein.
Personally, I think Messner should get into producing his own and indeed 'expanded' DVD educational series because he possesses such a wealth and breath of experience that sharing such input and climbing/mountaineering experiences would, at least in my opinion, easily find both an avid and well interested audience. Myself among them.
Doc Tony
Buy Messner_blu-ray (2002) Now
The name "Messner" sells.The producers of this DVD are taking advantage of that.
The title of this DVD should be "How to produce a DVD at minimum effort and minimum production cost which sells at a good price".
The answer is obviously:
"Interview Reinhold Messner a fascinating person with inspiring views about himself, the mountains and the impossible."
PLUS: "Make people think they are buying a comprehensive documentary on Messner's life and adventures on the mountains."
I fell for that and I was VERY DISAPPOINTED.
This DVD shows Reinhold Messner in a recent interview filmed in his castle in northern Italy. The SHORT interview in English language is interlaced with a few images and some miminal footage documenting his life and his breathtaking adventures.
If you buy the DVD DO NOT EXPECT a documentary! In the Amazon review this DVD is compared to Werner Herzog's "Dark Glow of the Mountains". In my oppinion this comparison is gruesomly inappropriate. What an insult for Werner Herzog!!
This DVD is definitely NOT A REVIEW of Messner's expeditions and achievements. Do NOT EXPECT more than 5 minutes of significant footage of this kind. Do NOT EVEN EXPECT this DVD to even mention all of Messner's historic climbs or expeditions.
This DVD was obviously produced to fill a 30min+ TV broadcast. At low production cost!
That it sure does.
Marketing the DVD as a great video compilation of Messner's life and adventures however is misleading.
Bottom line:
Messner gives an inspiring 30min+ interview which is worth seeing.
Messner is not only a fascinating man but also a remarkable philosopher.
Buy this DVD for $5. But asking $20 for this low cost production is definitely not okay. We shouldn't let the producers get away with that.
Read Best Reviews of Messner_blu-ray (2002) Here
I should've listened to the reviewer who said this DVD is short and really just an interview... or series of interviews. I wanted to like this but didn't. If you're looking for something about mountains, look elsewhere. Like the other reviewer said, this would be a good DVD to add to your collection if you can find it used for $5, but no more than that.Want Messner_blu-ray (2002) Discount?
The title and description had me thinking this would be more adventurous, more personal. Messner narrates and describes his climbs, and particularly his remarkable ability to climb at high altitude without oxygen packs, something very few can do and survive.The premise was wonderful, but it was just a little juiceless for me. Perhaps Messner was not that compelling a character outside of his favored activity. A remarkable climbing career though, and moutaineers will enjoy it no matter what.
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