Berge in Flammen DVD Review by Blaine Taylor

Touted as, "The most unique Berg film of them all: a First World War mountain film on skis!" this latest spectacular battle DVD from International Historic Films is all that and more.

Its star is the famed mountain film actor Luis Trenker in the rugged Austrian Tyrol and Italian Dolomites. A German-French joint production, this 1931 epic was filmed by the legendary cameraman Sepp Allgeier, and is a rousing battle saga of Austrian Alpenkorps/Alpine Corp troopers fighting equally skilled and courageous Italian Alpini.

A film made two years before the Nazis took office in Germany, this film was produced during the republican Weimar Republic era, and reflects a rather tolerant view of the Italians, considering that the latter switched from neutrality to the Allies in 1915.

The central plot underlying this outstanding combined war and mountain film is the race for the Austrians atop a rugged peak to escape death at the hands of their foes, who are tunneling beneath their positions to plant explosives that will kill them all. Who will win this macabre dance of death is the question posed to the audience in this riveting drama.

Bonus features are slideshows on the historical background and original, period promotional materials that include interactive facsimile English translations.