Watch: Alex Honnold from 'Free Solo' Analyzes Climbing in the Movies

"It seems like a bit of a stretch…" Well, now. This is a rare example of an Oscar campaign actually resulting in something remarkably interesting that will last beyond just the awards season. GQ profiled rock climber Alex Honnold, the subject of the Oscar-nominated (and incredibly tense) documentary Free Solo (watch the trailer). As part of their coverage, they asked Honnold to analyze and break down various iconic rock climbing scenes from Hollywood movies. You know where this is going - it's all so fake and exaggerated. Of course! But nothing everything. Honnold critiques scenes in movies like Point Break, Star Trek V, Failure to Launch, The Dark Knight Rises, Vertical Limit, and Cliffhanger. That last one is known as the epitome of Hollywood fakeness ever since it debuted in 1993, but it's still a fun movie. All these movies are fun anyway.

Via GQ's YouTube. Short description: "Professional rock climber and free-solo ascent master Alex Honnold breaks down rock climbing clips from both real life and film, including Mission Impossible, Point Break, Star Trek V, Failure to Launch, Dark Knight Rises, Vertical Limit and Cliffhanger." Alex Honnold is the subject of the documentary Free Solo, one of the world's most talented rock climbers known for climbing without any ropes - known as "free climbing". The documentary profiles Honnold's never-before-done free climb ascent up Yosemite's El Capitan in 2017. Free Solo is directed by filmmakers E. Chai Vasarhelyi & fellow climber Jimmy Chin, both of the doc Meru previously. The doc film first opened in theaters last fall in the US, and is nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards this year. Watch the trailer here.

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