Fire On The Mountain

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Film: B-

 

 

When I first read about Fire On The Mountain (1995), I was immediately intrigued by the idea of the U.S. government automatically establishing a mountain-able military unit being especially formed to go after the Axis forces in World War II, but that is exactly what happened.  It also turns out to be one of the greatest untold stories of the entire war.

 

Now before you expect skiing sequences between Allied & Axis forces ala James Bond films like On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) or For Your Eyes Only (1981), remember that this IS a documentary.  With that said, it is amazing the amount of archival film footage that we are treated to throughout the solid-but-too-short 72 minutes of the film.

 

Actor Steve Kanaly, best known for his long-running supporting role on the popular nighttime TV soaper Dallas, well narrates the work that still holds up incredibly well eight years later.  What essentially happens is three military units are combined together to form the 10^th Mountain Division, all with various talents in rock climbing, skiing, and other extraordinary outdoor abilities.

 

With the German Nazi and Italian Fascist forces solidly holding their ground in Italy’s great mountain ranges, the 10^th is intensely trained, then sent in to conquer them at any cost.  They land up being the first people with military-purposed inventions like the snowmobile, Ski-Doo/Polaris type machines, mechanical plows and other such machinery that we now take for granted as recreational equipment!

 

After their victory as a unit and the allied victory over the Axis powers, the members of this elite unit go on to be some of the most innovative persons in the postwar era.  These items include designs of the first ski resorts, the import of the sport of jogging, environmental preservation (including one of the Sierra Club’s first officers), saving endangered species like eagles from being electrocuted, and the invention of an advanced running shoe that became the basis for the Nike Corporation.  I was just surprised they missed the story of how the shoe’s creator, a 10^th division veteran, was the coach for the legendary Steve Prefontaine.  Two decent dramatic films exist on that subject (Prefontaine and Without Limits), so you should see them as well.

 

The full-screen image has great color footage from the past, but also tends to cast its black & white footage in a sort of sepia tone throughout, but that is not much of a problem.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is not bad either, as the source was well recorded for its time.  The newer sound in the very short supplements, which includes a brief director’s interview with Beth Gage (the writer of the piece) & Steve Gage and “The 10^th Mountain Division Of The 21^st Century” has simple stereo, but runs only just over 4 minutes.  There is also a photo gallery and a few trailers from three other First Run DVD releases.

 

There is such a seemingly endless amount of materials on World War II, but Fire On The Mountain stands out by showing one of the longest lasting victories of the war sixty years and counting that helped make this country and the world great.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo