The Blu-Ray version of CORE, the latest video effort from Chuck Fryberger (Specimen, Pure), arrived in the mail recently and it was with eager anticipation that I sat down and watched it the other night. As the first climbing movie to be released on Blu-Ray I had high expectations for how it would look on my big screen TV, and if anything my expectations were exceeded. Core simply looks amazing. Fryberger did a great job capturing and conveying the beauty of the climbing areas and the movement of the climbers, both of which really shine through on the Blu-Ray.
As in his previous movies, Fryberger draws on an eclectic cast of climbers to weave a story around. Traveling around the world from Hueco Tanks to Finland to South Africa’s Rocklands, each segment has a nice mix of climbing and lifestyle footage that help to make Core more than just a mindless “climbing porn”. A lot of climbing movies stumble when they stray from simply showing climbing, however that’s not the case in Core. The so-called lifestyle footage in Core only serves to enhance the climbing footage in my opinion. While I still don’t “get” how a Ferrari and a Lamborghini related to the story being told I very much liked how the movie progressed in general.
Overall Core makes for a very enjoyable viewing experience. The combination of stunning visuals, interesting characters and hard rock climbs (most notably Nalle Hukkataival’s send of Livin’ Large (V15)) make this a worthy addition to any climber’s movie collection.
In addition to looking great, the Blu-Ray version of Core comes with the added bonus of an hour-long interview with climbing legend Fred Nicole, something that will not be included with the DVD release of Core. A wide range of topics are covered including Nicole’s thoughts on how he got started in the sport, dealing with injury and the line between highball bouldering and free soloing. There’s also an interesting discussion on whether or not he regrets drawing so much popularity and attention to the areas he helped develop. The only real complaint I have about the interview is that I wish I could have heard more of the questions being asked instead of just hearing Nicole’s answers.
At $39.95 you are paying a pretty steep premium for the Blu-Ray version of Core compared to $29.95 for the DVD version and $19.95 for the HD Download, but if you’ve already spent the money on a big TV and a Blu-Ray player you are probably used to paying extra for things like this. Besides the superior visual quality, the addition of the hour-long Fred Nicole interview is a nice incentive to spring for the Blu-Ray if you’re so inclined.
Currently CORE is only available on Blu-Ray, but that all changes this weekend when the DVD and HD Download become available on May 1st. Check this link for details on where to get a copy of the movie or the soundtrack (which is also quite good).
In the interest of full disclosure: I received a free copy of CORE for the purposes of this review.
Thanks for the mini review.
I’m definitely interested in seeing this in one format or another.
Does you have any details on exactly what format/resolution the HD download will be?
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Thanks for the write-up Narc. I’m glad you received the disc and we’re happy to hear that you enjoyed the footage.
@ Oliver – The HD download is 1600 x 800 which is about 1/3 larger than 720p HD. From what I’ve heard so far, the quality of the download rocks. It’s not exacty a blu-ray, but it’s pretty awesome. It’s an H.264 Quicktime file that will play back with any recent version of Quicktime.
Cheers,
Chuck
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I’m really looking forward to this DVD. I ordered it two days ago, and supposedly it has shipped and will likely be to me by May 1st at the latest, which is exciting (I figured it’d ship on May 1st). I expect to watch it a few times in the next week.
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Just saw this last night too, and overall I was thoroughly impressed. My one gripe is that Fred’s new problem/route was short changed a bit. Its supposedly the hardest thing he’s climbed and we don’t get to see any of the struggle, just Fred climbing effortlessly as usual. Would have been nice to see him fall once or twice.
Two thumbs up from me though.
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I purchased the Blu-Ray version and must say, it looks AWESOME. I look forward to other videos being available in the format in the future.
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I bought this on Blu-Ray and I was impressed, but not satisfied.
The Good: The climbing in Toscany and of BJ Tilden in Wild Iris is amazing and is worth the price of the video alone. Italian climbers/climbing is long overdue for a video spotlight. The slow motion/speed up effects is very cool and original. Super crisp video that is unmatched even by Big-Up. A huge improvement over Specimen. It’s also good to see some lesser known climbers instead of the usual Players (see Players by BS Productions if you need an explanation). Trad is rad and Matt Wilder delivers. The video really does an excellent job of capturing the pure difficulty of the routes/problems in the video.
The Bad: If you condensed the ACTUAL climbing/sending then you would maybe have 10 mins of video(this is approximated). There is a LOT of filler in this video and the beginning is way too long of the kid riding his bike and discovering the facility with the machine that sets the theme for the movie with every toy he pulls out. Killian gets 1 problem, Matt gets 2 problems, Nalle gets 2 problems, Jamie gets 1 problem, Fred Nicole gets 1 problem. Rocklands video footage is starting to become a dime a dozen. There are probably more attempts in the video than actual sends. There is an entire section of Nalle attempting Project Real Big to no success until the end of the video. The video ends with for most of us our climbing hero Fred Nicole and he gets one freaking problem! On top of that the video of Fred sending is poor quality compared to the rest of the video. Then there is the Day in the Life section of Photographer Andy Mann and Matt Wilder with his Rubix Cube. Honestly, save that for Climbing, or Rock-N-Ice magazine which would have been far more interesting on paper instead of video. When it comes down to it when I re-watched this video I fast forwarded it past all the filler to watch only a few segments of climbing. If you don’t agree with me, then the 2nd/3rd time you watch the video see if you don’t end up fast forwarding past any of the parts that I mentioned. I just can’t imagine someone watching these segments over and over.
My overall impression is that I would recommend this video and it a huge progression from Specimen. However I would like to see more climbing less filler, new areas (even revamping of old areas), and if you’re going to put big names such as Fred and Nalle in a video at least show them climbing more than one, or two problems.
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If anyone is interested in a longer review, please visit my site:
http://www.mountainsandwater.com/2010/04/core-by-chuck-fryberger-full-review.html
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That’s a little weird.
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CORE is the single greatest movie of all time!!!
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We totally agree with you that the Blu-Ray was an excellent touch. Also, the Fred Nicole interview was truly inspiring.
We like your reviews. Keep em coming.
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Just finished watching Core last night. It was OK.
To be honest the amount of climbing was very disappointing. There was way too much filler. I don’t need to see 5 minutes of slow motion skateboarding, cars, or toy machines between each climbing segment.
Also almost all the climbing was slow motion. Slow motion is great once in awhile, but not for every shot. You couldn’t really tell if any of the climbers were trying hard while doing a problem because everything inbetween the moves was cut out and all the moves were slowed down.
The visuals were amazing and the quality of the video was great, but this doesn’t make up for the fact that the movie was only a fraction of climbing you would see in a movie such as Progression, Sharp End, or even Pure.
I think the movie was still definitely worth the cost of a download. But you may want to save your money and avoid paying $40 for the blue-ray version.
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