Meru

Are these guys nuts? Are their egos needy of self-affirmation? Or is there some higher purpose in such inexplicable endeavors? Do some people just have a genetic need to live on the edge?

A triumph of editing and narrative beyond "Are you kidding me?" visuals, Meru is a climbing story with context; biographies are woven in incrementally.

What drives these men? "Because it's there" merely scratches the surface. "Meru" may not answer the question completely - likely nothing can - but it is a thrilling, harrowing attempt.

Chin and Ozturk capture both the astonishing views from the top of the world and soul-searching moments inside a cramped tent dangling from the side of the mountain like a used tea bag.

This is one of the most outstanding documentaries of the year.

Filmed with such grandeur and intimacy that sometimes attempting to figure out how they made the incredible shots almost spoils them.

John Long, a brilliant climbing-literature author of Anker's generation, explains the addiction of extreme alpinism as going to a place where you know you're already dead.

Part awe-inspiring nature documentary, part personal reflective journey, Meru gives equal weight to both of these sides of the coin.

A film about a climb more daredevilish than Philippe Petit's tightrope walk. Brilliantly filmed by the climbers who are as good at cinema as in climbing up the face of a mountain.

Likely to appeal to the extreme sports market and leave the rest of us stranded.

As a spectacle, it offers a vertiginous, first person view of events, but it's equally immersive as candid psycho-drama of survival.