A preface: I will go out of my way to see a movie that takes me to a new part of the world. Thus I was excited to see "Mountain Patrol" as I'd never been to Tibet. The local reviewers (Chicago) gave it very high marks.
The scenery and the background-story (destruction of the antelopes) makes this movie worth seeing.
Yet, as I watched this movie, I found myself thinking: if this movie was about Mountain Goats in the Sierra Nevada (i.e. something less exotic than Tibet), Chicago reviewers would be more critical. The characters are flat ; the plot is somewhat thin. The mountain patrol are "searchers", but the movie doesn't have that edge of the John Ford western. The movie seemed formulaic for the first hour, but happily breaks out of that rut.
A similar "high altitude" movie which I enjoyed more was "Himalaya." I recommend both "Mountain Patrol" and "Himalaya", especially for those interested in armchair/movie theater traveling to the "rooftop of the world".
The scenery and the background-story (destruction of the antelopes) makes this movie worth seeing.
Yet, as I watched this movie, I found myself thinking: if this movie was about Mountain Goats in the Sierra Nevada (i.e. something less exotic than Tibet), Chicago reviewers would be more critical. The characters are flat ; the plot is somewhat thin. The mountain patrol are "searchers", but the movie doesn't have that edge of the John Ford western. The movie seemed formulaic for the first hour, but happily breaks out of that rut.
A similar "high altitude" movie which I enjoyed more was "Himalaya." I recommend both "Mountain Patrol" and "Himalaya", especially for those interested in armchair/movie theater traveling to the "rooftop of the world".