THE CLIMB is a hilarious—and oftentimes awkward—examination of the toxic lifelong friendship of Mike and Kyle. While Kyle is kind and a bit of a pushover, Mike is a train wreck, who, despite his affection for Kyle, always seems to sabotage Kyle’s relationships. Told through a series of vignettes, Kyle struggles to deal with the fact that his best friend might just be the worst person for him.
For in-depth thoughts on The Climb, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
The Climb comes to DVD with a 480p transfer that is unspectacular for the format. This DVD offers up a passable amount of detail in the production design and clothing. Compression artifacts are present without being too overwhelming. Black levels are not very strong with a fair amount of blocking in the darker scenes. Colors are nice and fairly vibrant, especially in the bright daytime scenes that serve as the primary setting for the film. The cinematography of the film is quite stunning, but it is not represented to the best of its ability in this lesser format. Skin tones look natural, and there are some decent facial details present when our protagonists are in close-ups. This presentation is good enough for DVD, but those who care about video quality will want to go for the Blu-Ray that was not made available for review. This movie has a gorgeous aesthetic that would be worth checking out on that format.
Audio Quality
The DVD comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio track that sounds pretty great. The film is mostly dialogue driven, but there is a surprising amount of environmental sounds that give the track some life. Dialogue is mixed well and comes through crystal clear without ever being stepped on by any music or any sound effects. Directionality is rendered accurately so that sounds originate from all the natural spots. Environmental sounds such as background chatter or various car sounds add a dynamic touch to the proceedings. There are moments where cars drive by and the sound pans across the room in a really immersive way. Although there is not constant activity in the track, it presents the movie exactly as it was intended and that is really all you can ask. The disc also includes optional English SDH and various other subtitles.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Director/actor Michael Angelo Covino and co-star Kyle Marvin provide a very fun commentary track in which they discuss developing the movie from a short film, weather issues that cropped up, injuries sustained during filming, misunderstandings with law enforcement and more. You really get to feel the friendship between these two which brings additional enjoyment to the track.
- Premiere Intro and Q&A at Sundance: A twenty-minute featurette filmed at Sundance 2020 in which director/actor Michael Angelo Covino and co-star Kyle Marvin introduce the film in a really amusing way. The two are joined by co-stars Gayle Rankin and Judith Godrèche for a Q&A in which they discuss filming scenes in one take, the origins of the story, executing certain stunts and more. These participants are a lot of fun together and offer a lot of interesting insights into the film that should please fans.
- Original Short Film: An eight-minute short film that is basically the first scene from the theatrical film in a slightly different form. This is really great on its own, and I am glad they included it.
- Deleted & Alternate Scenes: Four additional scenes totaling seven minutes are included here including an alternate opening to the film, more time at the hospital after the confrontation, a longer stripping scene and the unseen confrontation at the coffee shop.
- On Set: Nearly seven-minutes of footage from the set including multiple looks at setting up the opening scenes, mayhem in the graveyard, shots of skiing, and a longer look at the realtor struggling to put the sign up.
- Theatrical Trailer: A two-minute trailer that gives you a nice sense of the tone of the film.
- Previews: There are trailers provided for Nine Days, I Carry You With Me, The Last Shift and Yellow Rose. As someone who saw Nine Days at Sundance, I say that is the movie to look out for this year. It was the best thing I saw in 2020.
Final Thoughts
The Climb is a film that sneaks up on you with how truly hilarious it is at points. The uneasy relationship between the two best friends feels incredibly natural in a way that really helps sell the movie. The movie is not something that is truly groundbreaking, but at the same time it is the type of film we rarely get these days. It is just a cringeworthy delight in all of the best ways. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has provided a DVD with a lackluster video presentation but enjoyable audio presentation. The disc also includes some great supplemental features that are not to be missed. This film is pretty wonderful, so do yourself a favor and buy the Blu-Ray instead if you are going to make the investment. That disc is Recommended
The Climb is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the DVD.
Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
