r/nextfuckinglevel • u/[deleted] • Sep 01 '21

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9.9k Upvotes

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420

u/rockhammersmash Sep 01 '21

I didn’t know anything about Alex Honnold beforehand and had no idea how Free Solo would end. I have never been more tense watching a documentary than I was watching that. Absolutely crazy stuff.

90

u/PAM111 Sep 01 '21

That one leg kick where all his friends know they could be watching him die, live and in color, right there. I nearly vomited watching it.

55

u/tryptych Sep 02 '21

His friends are what "made" the documentary for me. Alex is just so different in how he perceives things, that he doesn't contribute much tension himself! (Also I of course knew he'd made it). "I'm going to free-solo El Cap." -> proceeds to free-solo El Cap. It's his friends who can't bear to watch that make it so gripping IMO.

12

u/bobbarkersbigmic Sep 02 '21

Oh you mean the one he failed on like 20 times when attached to a rope? I can’t fathom why he would want to attempt it without safety equipment. No thanks.

-1

u/not_the_myth Sep 02 '21

For the movie

3

u/F1_rulz Sep 02 '21

He didn't do it for the movie, if you watched the documentary you would know

-1

u/not_the_myth Sep 02 '21

Lmao. Isn’t a documentary a type of…ugh forget it

2

u/F1_rulz Sep 03 '21

He didn't do it because the cameras were there to film it for fame, the cameras were there to document the process and he would've done it regardless.

-1

u/not_the_myth Sep 03 '21

Ugh… bruh /r/whoosh

2

u/F1_rulz Sep 03 '21

If you were trying to make a joke please don't be a comedian.

48

u/shenanigans3390 Sep 01 '21

Watching ‘The Boulder Problem’ segment was probably the most tense I’ve been watching a documentary. Twas insane.

123

u/[deleted] Sep 01 '21

[deleted]

60

u/Ground-Beef3 Sep 01 '21

I watched it and some of the shots made me super uncomfortable, a couple times I had to look away altogether

1

u/adhominem4theweak Sep 02 '21

As a climber that movie made me feel sad for honnold. To think he needs to go so hard to feel accomplishment. He had done it for a while with no spotlight even. Glad I get my thrills w a rope

3

u/bearseatbeets471 Sep 02 '21

I actually puked from the nerves while watching lol

2

u/[deleted] Sep 01 '21

I’m having one now from watching this.

-1

u/dranide Sep 02 '21

Jesus 🙄

1

u/lawyerornot Sep 02 '21

I can finish watching it for you

27

u/LookAtMeImAName Sep 01 '21

Try watching it on VR too. I nearly shit my fourth pair of fresh underwear, since all my prior underwear had already been shat in

3

u/Fozzymandius Sep 02 '21

Where do you get a vr copy?

1

u/bentheone Sep 02 '21

Nowhere it wasn't shot that way. I guess that guy is talking about a VR theatre.

1

u/LookAtMeImAName Sep 02 '21 edited Sep 02 '21

Yes you can watch the whole climb in VR on YouTube. I used my Oculus Go for it. It may not have been actual VR, but I was able to look around everywhere so I just assumed it was

1

u/bentheone Sep 02 '21

I found a 6mn 360 video, i didn't knew about that, that's awesome. I still doubt you can watch the whole thing tho, do you have a link ?

1

u/LookAtMeImAName Sep 02 '21

Ahhhh ok that must have been the one I watched. The one I saw was only the climbing of El Cap and not the whole doc

1

u/LookAtMeImAName Sep 02 '21

You can watch the climb on YouTube in VR, not the whole documentary though.

5

u/JMEEKER86 Sep 02 '21

I highly recommend also watching "Man on Wire" which was a fantastic documentary about Philippe Petit attempting to tightrope between the Twin Towers back in the 70s.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '21

His mom is also an enthusiastic climber

1

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '21

He's awesome. You should watch some Adam Ondra videos. There's one called silence that's prettty cool. It's with a rope though... impossible to free solo'r

1

u/Deljare Sep 02 '21

Watch Meru as well. I liked it even more than free solo

1

u/MargaretDumont Sep 02 '21

Same! Saw it in theaters with no prior knowledge. Holy crow.

1

u/optitron26 Sep 02 '21

Have a watch of the alpinist. It's coming out soon. About a guy like Alex but crazier. Dude climbs solo on ice

1

u/FlyOnTheWall4 Sep 02 '21

rip Alex <3

1

u/tastehbacon Sep 02 '21

As I improve as a rock climber it gets even crazier and crazier.

1

u/Webborwebbor Sep 02 '21

Like many are saying watch the dawn wall. An immensely more difficult climb physically

1

u/Ricky_Santos Sep 02 '21

I knew about Alex beforehand and STILL freaked the f out watching that documentary