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Free Solo - Documentary Won Oscar - Unbelievable (1 Viewer)

Kevrunner

Kevrunner

Footballguy
Anybody watch this documentary.  I just watched it on National Geographic and it has to be one of the most incredible individual accomplishments by a human being.  I had trouble watching some of the scenes, ended up turning my head away on multiple occasions.  It's a little under 2 hours long, but I ended up watching it twice and still turned away numerous times on the second viewing.   I've never done any kind of rock climbing, but I was just amazed at what Alex Honnold accomplished.   Even the cameramen had trouble watching while they were filming.  

Free Solo Trailer

 
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By far the best athlete in the world. Ever. Not even joking.   I cannot even begin to understand the mental toughness this man possesses let alone the strength and skill required to do what he did.  Truely amazing. 

 
Kevrunner said:
Anybody watch this documentary.  I just watched it on National Geographic and it has to be one of the most incredible individual accomplishments by a human being.  I had trouble watching some of the scenes, ended up turning my head away on multiple occasions.  It's a little under 2 hours long, but I ended up watching it twice and still turned away numerous times on the second viewing.   I've never done any kind of rock climbing, but I was just amazed at what Alex Honnold accomplished.   Even the cameramen had trouble watching while they were filming.  

Free Solo Trailer
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Watched at home as well.  I figured it would be too stressful to watch it in a theater and I was right.  Even though I knew the outcome, that was a truly intense viewing experience.  I've only climbed maybe 60 to 80 feet routes and always with a rope of course.  Even with that, it was stressful at times.  I can't imagine the mindset necessary to pull off that climb.  However, his description of his free solo of Half Dome freaked me out a bit more in that it seemed like it was done more on a lark, whereas his preparation for El Cap was meticulous.  I remember reading his description of that in his book Alone on the Wall and he was genuinely freaked out for a bit just below the top, while he made his trip up El Cap seem like a routine day in the climbing gym until he had finished it.

If anyone wants to see another climbing movie, I highly recommend The Dawn Wall, which you can stream on Netflix now.  It features Tommy Caldwell, one of Honnold's training partners in for the El Cap climb, and Kevin Jorgensen completing the first successful climb up what is widely regarded as the most difficult route in climbing history.  It also talks about Caldwell's climbing career, which is quite the story on its own.  It isn't quite as stressful, which made it more enjoyable for me.  

 
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Just finished watching...absolutely insane. 

To be the guy waking up tented on the side of the mountain in his pink unicorn onesie jammies and see Alex Hannold casually walk by you with no gear must’ve been surreal to say the least. 

 
offdee said:
To be the guy waking up tented on the side of the mountain in his pink unicorn onesie jammies and see Alex Hannold casually walk by you with no gear must’ve been surreal to say the least. 
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Was trying to think of an equivalent type of event that I could relate to if I was the guy in the unicorn onesie...

it would be the year 1989 sneaking into Bulls stadium and falling asleep courtside....wake up in an empty stadium and Michael Jordan strolls by you, says good morning with a fist bump and proceeds to do a 360 windmill dunk taking off from half court. 

 
offdee said:
Was trying to think of an equivalent type of event that I could relate to if I was the guy in the unicorn onesie...

it would be the year 1989 sneaking into Bulls stadium and falling asleep courtside....wake up in an empty stadium and Michael Jordan strolls by you, says good morning with a fist bump and proceeds to do a 360 windmill dunk taking off from half court. 
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What color is your unicorn onesie? 

 
This documentary is incredible! 😮It should have been eligible to win more Oscars in film production and cinematography. I really am in awe of Alex, his pursuits and will forevermore be hesitant to open either one of these threads. Live long and prosper, Alex. 🖖

 
just watched. being a human being is a goofy & incredible experience and there aint too many folks more goofy & incredible than Alex Honnold.

woulda liked more climbing in Free Solo but i understand why.

she almost killed him, y'know. that's why he backed off in the fall - doubt & worry (and the spectre of death) the gf sowed. she'd almost rather he died than not integrate the experience into her life. there's love, then there's care
 
I love the part at the end where he swims out and jumps out of the water over the rock formation into the open ocean to his freedom.

 
jon_mx said:
I love the part at the end where he swims out and jumps out of the water over the rock formation into the open ocean to his freedom.
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I love the part where he didnt die, cause there were about 900,000,000,000 moments where he could have easily died in those 4 hours.  

 
even knowing the result of what he did, i still couldn't watch it.   I watched the beginning where all his friends talked about him potentially dying and they showed bits about previous free solo dudes, all dead.   Couldn't take it.   I think the guy is insane and will end up dead soon,  all of these guys that do this are insane

 
offdee said:
Just finished watching...absolutely insane. 

To be the guy waking up tented on the side of the mountain in his pink unicorn onesie jammies and see Alex Hannold casually walk by you with no gear must’ve been surreal to say the least. 
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I think you're looking at it the wrong way.  Think about what Alex was thinking.  He's making the climb of his life and in the middle of it you walk past a guy tenting it on the mountain wearing a unicorn onsie.  He probably was wondering if he was hallucinating.

 
Foosball God said:
I think you're looking at it the wrong way.  Think about what Alex was thinking.  He's making the climb of his life and in the middle of it you walk past a guy tenting it on the mountain wearing a unicorn onsie.  He probably was wondering if he was hallucinating.
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WHo knows what Alex was thinking.  People on the autism spectrum don't tend to think the same way.

Speaking of the unicorn dude, wtf?  I mean what in the actual ####?  He needs to be on one of the late shows for an interview.  

 
Just watched "The Dawn Wall".  Free Solo and now The Dawn Wall have convinced me that I will never try to climb anything, ever.  

It's too bad we don't have good people like this who are this resourceful and motivated to solve world issues rather than how to climb the unclimbable.  World peace would be achieved in like 3 months. 

I have never at any point cared about rock climbing or any of this stuff, but damn, these are good documentaries that obviously doesnt only appeal to the climber types.  

 
Still boggles my mind the dude climbing that mountain with no gear.  He made like 9000000000 consecutive correct moves.  He basically won the lottery 5 times in a row.

 
ghostguy123 said:
Still boggles my mind the dude climbing that mountain with no gear.  He made like 9000000000 consecutive correct moves.  He basically won the lottery 5 times in a row.
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That's what i would like to hear - more of that li'l snippet of him talking his moves. Just like an old HOF pitcher can tell a guy he faced once 50 yrs ago and hasn't seen since what he got him out on, Honnold probably has every moment ready to tell. There's a rap hits my gr00ve

 
A lotta credit to the film maker, Jimmy Chin, this guy is the man. I appreciated that he included the moral dilemma that he was dealing with regarding the fact that the presence of the camera presented a potentially dangerous situation to Alex's mentality.  It was also really funny to see the dudes hanging from the side of the cliff with massive camera gear strapped to them. 

 
Waingro said:
A lotta credit to the film maker, Jimmy Chin, this guy is the man. I appreciated that he included the moral dilemma that he was dealing with regarding the fact that the presence of the camera presented a potentially dangerous situation to Alex's mentality.  It was also really funny to see the dudes hanging from the side of the cliff with massive camera gear strapped to them. 
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Jimmy Chin is my mountain-climber crush.  If you haven’t seen his prior documentary Meru, in which he’s also one of the three climbers being filmed, it’s well worth checking out.

 
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krista4 said:
Jimmy Chin is my mountain-climber crush.  If you haven’t seen his prior documentary Meru, in which he’s also one of the three climbers being filmed, it’s well worth checking out.
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Yes, Meru is also unbelievable. The drive and courage of these guys is unreal. 

 
I can't remember watching a movie with my hands sweating at the end like that - the last time I remember something that tense was the end of Silence of the Lambs. 

Damn, that was effing nuts.  I can totally feel for the guy at the bottom who couldn't watch, but couldn't not watch.

And the girlfriend is smokin'.

 
Finally watched it last night. I was surprised how little was spent on the climb. Editing it like that won them the Oscar, but I want to see the director's cut.

 
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