{"id":38301,"date":"2026-02-11T12:10:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=38301"},"modified":"2026-02-11T12:10:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:10:42","slug":"trango-film-review-by-gregg-w-morris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/trango-film-review-by-gregg-w-morris\/","title":{"rendered":"TRANGO Film Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TRANGO follows internationally renowned athletes on an expedition to accomplish the first ever ski descent of the formidable Great Trango Towers in Pakistan. The Karakoram Range, home of the Trango Towers, is among the most extreme terrain on the planet. On May 9, 2024, Morrison, Lusti and their team were the first to successfully climb and ski down the 20K-foot West Face of Great Trango Tower. For those t<em>he WORD<\/em> patrons not passionately into skiing and mountain climbing that&#8217;s the equivalent of <em>The Mother of All Ski Downs.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Directed by award-winning filmmaker Leo Hoorn, TRANGO documents the team\u2019s preparation and execution of the descent. Joined by Nick McNutt and Chantel Astorga, Lusti and Morrison navigate risk, grief, and the physical and psychological demands of high-altitude exposure. At over 20,000 feet, their survival hinges every second on on trust, shared resilience, and the strength of their partnership.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TRANGO is scheduled to premiere on a VOD release on Documentary+ Friday, February 13. Additional streaming releases scheduled for Roku and other major platforms \u2013 along with a PBS broadcast in select markets in spring 2<\/strong>026.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow @TheNorthFace and @TheNorthFace_Snow<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BnaDjlqNRdw?si=o-ZkgriuC5jo1Rvy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"560\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This writer-reviewer can\u2019t recall ever reviewing a sports documentary as absorbing, engrossing, captivating, gripping, riveting, enthralling and spell binding as this 40-minute short documentary that feels like a full-throttle, head-on action-adventure feature doc. I also can\u2019t recall reviewing a film as enigmatic and esoteric yet obsessively mesmerizing.<br \/>\n<strong>Note to <em>the WORD<\/em> patrons and other visitors:<\/strong> This film has a substantial melancholic flush caused by the perils TANGO characters and the production crew, the latter pretty much not seen in the course of the movie, face off against, the perils from the beginning and absolutely until the end with possible and harm always imminent. Many in an audience may feel what they feel.<\/p>\n<p>TRANGO has been awarded as well as featured prominently at multiple mountain and adventure film festivals, such as the 2025 NZ Mountain Film Festival where it was highlighted as a Grand Prize Film. A quickie-survey of past film ratings just short of 10 reportedly because viewers were in awe of the cinematography as well as riveting storytelling as this reviewer is. Breathtaking vistas of Pakistan\u2019s Great Trango Tower and the subsequent decent capturing both scale and danger in ways that go beyond typical adventure sports docs.<br \/>\nThe film isn\u2019t just about an sublime athletic achievement \u2014 it delves into risk, grief and trust among team members (and production staff not seen) giving it an emotional depth that resonates with audiences beyond just ski or mountaineering fans. Some reviews mention standout sound design and intimate moments that make viewers feel present at altitude, adding to the overall strong sensory experience. Verisimilitude, figuratively speaking, off the charts.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, TRANGO has a limitation that feels intentional but isn\u2019t. Viewers seeking conventional narrative arcs or explicit contextualization may find the film enigmatic and esoteric. But that withholding is precisely the point. Hoorn wants the audience to meet the film halfway, to read meaning in restraint.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bottom line:<\/strong> TRANGO is a rigorously composed, quietly powerful film that treats extreme terrain not as spectacle but as a testing ground for attention, humility, and resolve. It\u2019s less about conquering a place than about listening to it \u2014 and to oneself \u2014 under pressure.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38312\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38312\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38312\" src=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub2-ChristinaLusti.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub2-ChristinaLusti.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub2-ChristinaLusti-800x534.jpg 800w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub2-ChristinaLusti-260x173.jpg 260w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub2-ChristinaLusti-160x107.jpg 160w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub2-ChristinaLusti-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub2-ChristinaLusti-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38312\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christi Lusti snapshot.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_38311\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38311\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38311\" src=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub-TrangoPeaks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" srcset=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub-TrangoPeaks.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub-TrangoPeaks-800x533.jpg 800w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub-TrangoPeaks-260x173.jpg 260w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub-TrangoPeaks-160x107.jpg 160w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub-TrangoPeaks-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pub-TrangoPeaks-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38311\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trango Peaks<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_37953\" style=\"width: 110px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37953\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37953\" src=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/cropped-gwm-700x700-1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"225\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-37953\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>the WORD<\/strong><\/em> Editor, Reviewer Gregg W. Morris<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Words escape description by this film reviewer. This film is unlike many in recent memory. \u2013 Review by Gregg W. Morris<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/trango-film-review-by-gregg-w-morris\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2330,2301,31,821],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2330","category-film-news-2025-2026","category-film-tv-reviews","category-short-flms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38301"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38359,"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38301\/revisions\/38359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}