I’m just going to say it.  I love Mike Call’s product.  What happens when dreadlock era Chris Sharma sees Frequent Flyers?  He wants to go crush New Zealand like Boone and company did, but when the area is closed, he goes to Hueco and out comes Best of the West as a result.  Then the land of Kiwis opens again and Sharma drags his homies down under, resulting in another feature length film, Big Game.

New Zealand stone is gorgeous to look at – grey blobs dotting a grassy landscape. I feel like anyone walking through there would be in awe of the beauty, climber or not. Features and proper holds are sparse – much of the climbing is physical, open handed hugging, or pulling on the only shallow pocket within reach.  The climbing is bold and aesthetic, the falls are big, and the pads are few, at least in comparison to the gym-floor style that’s in vogue now.  With a fairly gender balanced crew, the ladies get a much more equitable share of screen time than most bouldering flicks (not nearly equal, but better than average).

This film has a limited amount of interview and voice over, but what is there adds meaningfully. The naturefeeling of highballs, the meta of bouldering styles, the responsibility a climber has to their spotter, and how the camaraderie is what you remember from trips. The soundtrack is appropriate and unobtrusive.  Grades don’t appear anywhere, and for many problems, names are unknown or unassigned, really focusing the attention on the climbing itself.

Do you know what my favorite part of this film is? Biggie. I love Nate Gold as a climber – he’s built like a tank, and when he speaks he doesn’t complicate things.  You know when he’s stoked, you know when he’s bummed, and in this film, you know when he’s scared.  We all have that friend that pulls through the hardest crux sequences, gets up the the lip, gets halfway over and then straight panics. Just, locks up, starts calling for a spot, and then just oozes backwards off the lip to the deck. We have all been that friend. Being able to see someone relatable that way in a major climbing production is a welcome change.

Verdict: Buy It – OK, I know people don’t “buy” things anymore, but this is one that’s worth watching every now and then and loaning to friends for those rainy days.

The Who: 
Melissa Lecasse
Lauren Lee
Cynthia Levinthal
Chris Sharma
Boone Speed (bleach blonde era!)
Nate Gold
Chris Tartaglia
Kim-Lee Truxhorn
Bevan Hadler
Stephan Brown
Derek Thatcher

The WhereWhat (please forgive if I got the location wrong on some of these!):

Flock Hill:
Trifecta Left (FA)
Sunset Arete
Limestone Orgasm
Captain Sassypants
Sassypants Direct (FA)
Trifecta Right (FA)
Blue Balls (FA)
Trifecta Middle (FA)

Spittle Hill:
Joker

Castle Hill Basin:
Phoenix
Snake Eyes
Ode to Joy
Energy Follows Thought
Thrust
Beautiful Edges
John Rambo (FA?)
Purple Haze
Camp America
“Desperado”

Dry Valley