11 Best Mountain Climbing Movies to Inspire Your Expeditions
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Are you a keen mountain climber, a rock climbing enthusiast, or a hiker of epic peaks and ridges around the world? Even the most intrepid of adventurers need a day off once in a while. Luckily, you can spend that day watching the best mountain climbing movies to inspire your next adventure!
I usually list movies to watch before visiting certain destinations, but there are obvious connections between travelling and mountain climbing.
If I know anything about mountain climbers, they are constantly pushing themselves to tackle higher and steeper peaks in tougher conditions. They’re super competitive, and many want to break records climbing mountains all around the world.
While I prefer steady, long-distance hikes, (I lack a high fitness level and love of heights) it’s still fun to watch documentaries and movies about climbing mountains. So, here are some of the best movies about mountain climbing and where you can stream them!
List of Best Mountain Climbing Movies
1. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
English, German, Nepali, etc. | 136m | 58% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
Seven Years in Tibet is one of the best mountain movies which is mostly not about climbing mountains! Brad Pitt plays Austrian mountaineer and SS sergeant Heinrich Harrer in this film based on Harrer’s 1952 memoir of the same name.
It covers his experience hiking in the Himalayas in 1939 and being captured by British soldiers, escaping a prisoner of war camp, and becoming a mentor to the Dalai Lama. Seven Years in Tibet is a great mountain climbing movie to watch with someone who doesn’t love mountain climbing!
2. Touching the Void (2003)
English | 106m | 94% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
Based on the 1988 non-fiction book of the same name, Touching the Void is a docudrama recounting the chilling story of two British mountain climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. In 1985, they almost died on the descent after their successful summiting of the previously unclimbed West Fact of the 6,344ft-tall Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.
I first watched this climbing film when I was studying Film Studies as a 17-year-old. It surely has to be one of the best mountaineering movies ever made!
Touching the Void benefits from the detailed talking head interviews with both men as well as the dramatic reconstruction. There’s an abundance of suspense and tension that it doesn’t lose anything from not being a full-on documentary.
3. The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest (2010)
English | 94m | 77% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
British mountain climber George Mallory participated in the first two attempts to summit Mount Everest in 1922 and 1924. Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew “Sandy” Irvine disappeared on the second attempt, only for his body to be found later on the North Face of the mountain by Conrad Anker on his expedition in 1999.
The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest is a documentary about both of these men using archival footage of Mallory and new footage of Anker investigating Mallory’s disappearance. This mountain climbing film shows that, despite the risks and the costs of climbing Mount Everest, it’s a challenge that mountaineers have been obsessed with for 100+ years and will continue to do so!
4. Beyond the Edge (2013)
English | 93m | 69% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
Want more movies about climbing Mount Everest? You’re in luck because there’s even more to come on this list of the best mountain climbing movies!
However, Beyond the Edge is one of the few movies about mountain climbing that focuses on Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. They are the first confirmed climbers to summit Mount Everest which is a feat they achieved in 1953.
Beyond the Edge is a docudrama comprised of recreated footage shot on Everest and New Zealand as well as original footage, photographs, and audio featuring Sir Edmund Hillary. It was originally released at Toronto International Film Festival in 3D but it might be difficult to get that experience now!
Sir Edmund Hillary’s achievement is an incredibly inspiring story to watch unfold, I’m surprised there aren’t any Hollywood films about this climb.
5. Valley Uprising (2014)
English | 103m | 90% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch for Free on Redbull TV
This is a grassroots yet highly ambitious documentary and one of the most well-loved rock-climbing movies out there. Valley Uprising follows the history of rock climbing in Yosemite National Park from the 1950s until the present day.
There was almost a beatnik, counterculture movement rebelling against the legalities of climbing in this part of the US. But the innovation required to scale these sheer rock faces which these outside communities experimented with should be recognised, and that’s what Valley Uprising brings to light.
The documentary features over 50 rock-climbing legends who contribute their two cents on rock climbing in Yosemite which is a mecca for the sport. As Tommy Caldwell said, “All the standards of rock climbing have been set in Yosemite. It’s the center of the universe for big wall climbing.”
6. Everest (2015)
English | 121m | 73% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
Based on a true story and the biographical book Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, Everest follows two commercial climbing groups as they attempt to summit Mount Everest. It doesn’t take long before things take a turn for the worse and not everyone makes it off the mountain with their life.
This entertaining mountain-climbing film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley and several other amazing actors. It highlights just how tough it is to climb the world’s highest mountain and you shouldn’t underestimate the risks.
If your dream is to climb Mount Everest, you might be interested to know about all the other incredible multi-day treks in Nepal you can do instead!
7. Meru (2015)
English | 87m | 88% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
Meru is one of the best climbing movies about mountains in the Himalayas that isn’t Mount Everest! It’s a documentary following the first ascent of the ‘Shark’s Fin’ route on Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas.
You’ll recognise the name Conrad Anker as he was the person who found Mallory’s body on Everest. On this expedition, he’s joined by Jimmy Chin (also the co-director of Meru!) and Renan Ozturk.
This movie about mountain climbing won the U.S. Audience Documentary Award at the Sundance Film Festival. It not only covers the successful ascent but the failed one too, which showcases just how many failures are behind one solo success.
8. The Dawn Wall (2017)
English | 100m | 100% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
Back in Yosemite National Park, The Dawn Wall was produced by the same indie company behind Valley Uprising. It’s a documentary following one of the greatest rock climbers in the world, Tommy Caldwell, as he prepares to free climb the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite.
And he’s not the only one. Another climber, Kevin Jorgeson, also wants to take part in the first ascent of the Dawn Wall. Plus, Caldwell was once kidnapped while hiking in Kyrgyzstan, accidentally chopped off his index finger, and is going through a painful divorce. Yeah.
It’s one of the best rock-climbing movies in existence. It might have been the best if it weren’t for a film released only one year later…
9. Free Solo (2018)
English | 100m | 98% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Disney+
Free Solo was a sensation when it was released by National Geographic in 2018 and it even won Best Documentary at the 91st Academy Awards.
It’s a documentary about climber Alex Honnold and his attempt to free climb the Freerider route on El Capitan (yes, the same vertical rock formation in The Dawn Wall). It’s a 3,000 ft sheer rock wall in Yosemite National Park that no one has attempted to free climb before.
One of the main reasons why this movie is one of the best mountain climbing films is because of the way it was shot. I was terrified when I watched this film largely because of the cinematography! They captured every single goosebump-inducing, spine-tingling, hair-raising angle of this drop.
10. 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)
English, Nepali | 101m | 91% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Netflix
Want to know what the best mountain climbing movies on Netflix are? 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is a Netflix production so it will be available to stream on the platform no matter when you are reading this guide.
14 Peaks follows Nepali climber Nirmal Purja on his mission to climb all 14 mountains in the world with an altitude higher than 26,247 ft (or 8,000 metres) within a record time of seven months. It features footage taken from Purja himself via action cameras and his expedition team with lots of interviews with other high-altitude climbers too.
11. The Alpinist (2021)
English | 92m | 93% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime
If you’re looking for new climbing movies, check out The Alpinist. It’s a documentary that covered the solo climbs of 23-year-old Canadian rock, ice, and alpine climber Marc-André Leclerc in 2015 and 2016.
There are several aspects to The Alpinist that are compelling (I won’t spoil them all!). One is that Leclerc is not used to being filmed and also doesn’t care for accolades. He often fails to tell the film’s director when he is going to attempt climbs, which adds an interesting dynamic to an already powerful film.
Other Best Mountain Climbing Movies: The Eiger Sanction (1975), Cliffhanger (1993), Into Thin Air: Death on Everest (1997), Hard Grit (1998), King Lines (2007), Progression (2009), Reel Rock 7 (2012), Torn (2022)
Best Mountain Climbing Movies: That’s a Wrap!
Those are some of the best mountain climbing movies available on streaming services that you can watch right now. The best part is that you don’t need to exert much energy to enjoy them!
Are you planning an epic mountain hike or rock climbing expedition? Is there are cool new climbing movie I should include in this list? Let me know in the comments below!
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This selection of mountain climbing movies is a great resource for anybody looking for inspiration before their next journey. I enjoy how each clip captures the essence of climbing, from the physical hurdles to the emotional trip. “Free Solo” and “Touching the Void” are standouts, both captivating and very motivating.
The Dawn Wall and Free Solo are two of my favourite documentary films of the last few years. Incredible feats of determination, courage, physical strength, and talent. I get vertigo from some of the shots captured by the equally fearless filmmakers.
I really struggle watching them, they’re worse than horror movies haha! Absolutely incredible, I hope to go to Yosemite soon and see these places in real life.