The Eiger Sanction got me very interested in roped rock climbing, the start of a wonderful and rewarding experience. In 1978 I had a Sony Betamax VCR and taped the movie; over the next few months I think I watched it every few days. Clint Eastwood is known for doing some very risky stunts himself (think jumping onto the roof of a bus from an overpass in Dirty Harry). But what he does in the Eiger Sanction is some of the best, truest representation of rock and mountain climbing. Let's put it this way: it's not Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger. What a joke. Near the end of Eiger Sanction when George Kennedy tells Clint: "cut the rope above you Jonathan." Which is what Clint does and takes a free fall into space until caught by another rope. I'll bet they didn't practice that scene...
And then there is the Eiger itself, what a rock face with such a history. In 2008 I went to Kleine Scheidegg to see the Eiger and so glad I did. Sadly my camera, which wasn't bad in 2008, didn't capture what I saw. Most conspicuous was the pale blue glacier to the right of the Eiger which is mostly washed out in all pictures. I've thought of going back and hiking the trail that traverses its base.
While I'm thinking about it, maybe I should go watch my special edition Blu-ray copy released in Nov. 2020. :)