To be released tomorrow on DVD

North Face is a straightforward, wickedly suspenseful man-versus-nature saga of the type that rarely gets made anymore. This gutsy German adventure film follows two alpine climbers as they try to scale an infamous slab of ice and rock: the north face of the Eiger in the Alps.

A fictionalized account of the 1936 attempt by Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz, North Face (or Nordwand) includes some of the most adroit and effective climbing sequences ever staged. It’s so persuasively shot — such a convincing mix of actors and doubles, location footage and refrigerated-studio work — that the movie’s lesser or mustier elements, such as a romantic subplot, fade to irrelevancy.

The men themselves are timeless: Benno Fürmann as Kurz, the man of courage and caution who considers the Eiger a death trap, and Florian Lukas as Andi, the gung-ho adrenaline junkie who climbs for glory.

Both are latrine-scrubbing members of a Bavarian Mountain Brigade when Luise (Johanna Wokalek), an old friend and Kurz’s supposed love interest, shows up on assignment for a Third Reich newspaper. Her slick Nazi editor (Ulrich Tukur) wants a piece about Aryan supermen conquering the Nordwand — nicknamed Mordwand ("murder face" or "death wall") after a fatal attempt in 1935. Luise asks Andi and Toni to give it a go.

Despite some doubts by Toni, they take on the Eiger. Director Philipp Stölzl's film summons the boldness of those early trailblazers and the terrifying beauty of the Alps (captured by Kolja Brandt’s sublime cinematography). The proximity of civilization gives North Face a tinge of the surreal: Frostbitten climbers fight for their lives only meters from a gallery window accessible by a cog train that runs through the mountain. This isn’t Everest or K2, some hypoxic outpost where planet meets sky. It’s a perfectly snug corner of Switzerland.

But that only makes the ascent more tortuous — and the story more powerful, pitting men against mountain in a harrowing tale of ambition and the will to survive. Grade B

Other new releases this week:

Celine: Through the Eyes of the World (2010) Directed by Stephane Laporte. A recording of Celine Dion’s 2008-2009 Taking Chances World Tour. Some concert movies make you feel like you have the best seat in the house; this one plants you squarely in front of the Jumbotron. It’s probably accurate in its portrayal of her general good humour. Detractors (like yours truly) might be surprised at how genuinely funny she can be. Grade: C

Daybreakers (2010) Directed by Peter and Michael Spierig. Ethan Hawke plays Edward Dalton, a researcher in the year 2019, in which an unknown plague has transformed the world’s population into vampires. As the human population nears extinction, vampires must capture and farm every remaining human, or find a blood substitute before time runs out. Possibly the least sexy vampire flick ever to crawl out of the crypt (it never occurs to anyone that biting someone’s neck is kinda intimate; the act is strictly utilitarian), but it’s unusually detailed in its imagining. A slick, bloody, fast-paced, and ultimately enjoyable B-movie. Grade: B-minus

Edge of Darkness (2010) Directed by Martin Campbell. Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) is a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Department and a single father. When his only child, 24-year-old Emma, is murdered on the steps of his home, everyone assumes that he was the target. But he soon suspects otherwise, and embarks on a mission to find out about his daughter’s secret life and her killing. There’s no room for much soul-searching uncertainty with Gibson. After a few rapidly ticked-off minutes of gloom, the mission is clear: Get the sons of bitches, and make ‘em pay. On-screen, at least, there’s little difference between this Gibson and the one we remember from earlier films like Ransom and Payback. This uneven, somewhat meandering thriller is given emotional pull by Gibson’s excellent comeback performance. The lethal weapon hasn’t lost it. Grade: C-plus

Legion (2010) Directed by Scott Stewart. When God loses faith in mankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. A cartoonishly grim supernatural thriller that could stand a lot less talk and a lot more thrills. Grade: D-plus

Play the Game (2009) Directed by Mark Fienberg. A young ladies’ man, David (Paul Campbell), teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather (Andy Griffith), and plays his best mind games to meet the woman of his dreams. Undeniably offers cheap laughs, but its most receptive audiences will likely be found in retirement-community auditoriums. If you love Viagra jokes, look no further. Otherwise, stay home and find yourself a Golden Girls marathon. Grade: C-minus