Fall

In the spring of 1998 i did something i have not planned, or didn´t think i would do. I bungy jumped right down into a big ravine, and i don´t think i have ever been as scared as i was then. Everything went alright and the instructors were really good, so i had no need to be worried. But when you actually do something like this, it is hard to explain how it feels. In my case it was mostly fear, but once you have done it then it is quite a unique experience. I remember watching other people do it as well ( we were a study group who did this together, it was an activity day the school have arranged outside of our studies ), and i remember one young woman who backed out because she was too afraid. It was alright though, and the instructors said that it´s good that she did not force herself or felt forced to do it. We had some other activities as well that day, such as ax throwing, shooting arrows, so it was a fun day so everyone got a chance to spend time together. Speaking of heights ( thinking back at the bungy jump in the ravine ), i don´t really like beeing too high up in the air. A building of 10 floors is ok, however if you get to 30 floors that´s when i would rather stay in the lobby. If you personally don´t mind being high up in the air, i suppose it is no problem and i know i would never bungy jump again. But it was fun trying it in 1998, just to see how it would be. When it comes to films that takes on the issue of heights i have a personal favourite film. And that is the 1993 action film Cliffhanger from director Renny Harlin, with legendary action actor Sylvester Stallone. Cliffhanger is one the best height action films ever, and you can actually feel like you are hanging in the mountains of this film, as the character Gabe Walker ( Sylvester Stallone ) try and survive in the mountains against a gang of heist criminals. Even if Cliffhanger is getting closer to 30 years old, it is still a really well made action film and a worthy Sylvester Stallone classic. Cliffhanger proved that you can actually make an action film in snowy mountains, where you don´t need CGI effects. Director Renny Harlin proved once again why he is such a great action director with Cliffhanger ( before his career took a big turn with Cutthroat Island ). If you have not seen it, watch it on Netflix, Amazon Prime or any other streaming service, or i highly recommend the Blu Ray release. Speaking of heights, since the summer of 2022 i heard about a new film called Fall, that looked like it could be interesting. A film about two women climbing a 2,000-foot tall radio tower is something you don´t see everyday. I finally got a chance to watch this film, so the question is, does this film deliver more than i expected, or is Fall a perfect ecample of a film that falls flat to the ground?

Adrenaline junkies and best friends Becky Connor ( Grace Caroline Currey ) and Shiloh Hunter ( Virginia Gardner ) are climbing a mountain with Becky´s husband, Dan ( Mason Gooding ), who loses his footing  and falls to his death. Becky´s whole world is destroyed, as she tries to struggle each day mourning after her husband. After some time have passed, Hunter suggest that Becky has to face her fears and go with her on another climbing trip, this time to climb B67 TV tower ( that is 2,000-feet tall ) out in the desert. Becky does not feel ready to do anything like this, but decides to go with Hunter.

I will say this, since a lot of movie releases that comes out every year look very similar to each other, Fall at least tries to go in a different direction. When was the last time you saw a film with 2 people stuck completely up in a radio tower? When ever i see a film that attempts to actually tell a story, i am always interested. Fall does open up some important questions such as: How you do survive up in a 2,000-foot tall radio with a very limited amount of supplies? What do you do if you can´t contact anyone ? How far are you willing to go to survive? There are probably other questions as well that you will think about as you watch this film. If you don´t like heights for some reason, you will definetely feel the tension in some of the most intriguing scenes. So what is especially good about this film? I would say that the cinematography from Miguel "MacGregor" Olaso looks beautiful. You can tell that he really did a good job on this film, and knew exactly what style this film needed to work. The main characters Becky and Hunter, played by actors Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner, they actually match well on screen and you believe that they are friends. I would say that their acting performances are solid, and we do get to know some personal details about them that actually makes the plot a bit more interesting. Only one annoying thing, and that is the social media stuff. I understand that these women are young and want to show their climbing skills, but you get a feeling that especially one of them might be too engaged in her social media attention. Especially when their lives are at risk, it is probably the last thing you want to think about how many likes you can get. As a survival thriller i will say that the film knows how to tell a simple but effective story, and the location out in nowhere is actually a great idea to make it look more difficult. The height scenes are really beautiful filmed and you can actually feel the fear in certain scenes. Fall is perhaps not a film for everyone, especially if you happen to be a Michael Bay fan and love lots of CGI and explosions. If you enjoy a different kind of film experience, this might actually be something worth checking out. Fall is actually a susprisingly good film, and even if it will never be a classic such as Cliffhanger, it is definetely one of the better height films in the last 15 years. Director Scott Mann ( who directed the entertaning action thriller Final Score with Dave Bautista ) proves that you can make a solid height film on a limited budget, and i am actually looking forward to see what he will bring us next.

Rating: DDD