Great Film overall

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A documentary that deals with a theme that is certainly sad and delicate but also very interesting that can provide many food for thought that can open endless narrative ways but it is as if for the whole time the film tries to chase a goal unknown to it, to follow one of these roads but never succeed in deciding which: in which key I want to tell these stories, with what spirit, intention and to get to what end. Questions that the director continually sets up without ever knowing how to respond, so for an hour and a half he runs empty and in a very impersonal and lazy way lets the film be created by the people interviewed and by the victims themselves taking them back into the act of suicide without moving a finger. This not only indicates a certain lack of preparation (the subject is not enough to make a documentary) but also an annoying, irritating and unjust sense of instrumentalization of feelings, emotions, pain, all things that the same direction seem to lack, with his coldly way of dealing with everything. There is not even the attempt to feel compassion or understanding towards the victims, it never comes to conclude anything that can be called "purpose". Instead of creating a powerful and strong (not thanks to videos of the act, as instead made the film with zero compared to only those used to try to capture the viewer), and introspective, thoughtful documentary that tries to find an answer, to try to understand what can push a person to make such a gesture or if you can avoid in some way or a documentary about the people who saved or at least try to who was going to end his life or why that place attracts them; instead of all this they have made a documentary that only interests attention and does not want to make sense of the story that is not simply to let it be told by other people who should instead be helped and supported. In short, an abused subject that deserved to be treated differently from an inconclusive and irritating documentary that lacks heart and substance.

As someone who suffers from fairly major depression and anxiety, I'm always pleased to see a movie that treats mental illness with the right mind and respect. Some may think filming these people before and while they jump off the Golden Gate Bridge is disrespectful, but I don't- they jumped from the bridge for many reasons, one of them, certainly not the least of which, is to be noticed. This film helps preserve their life.I found the candid and openly honest answers from the family and friends of those who are the focus of the film refreshing. Most people are closed off, they want to think this doesn't exist, it didn't happen, just forget about it. These families, their friends, they all understood their loved ones' illnesses (as well as they could anyways), and they understood the pain associated with severe depression, schizophrenia (et cetera); it is a monumental pain, something only those who experience it/those around them can truly understand. It affects everyone and everything within arms reach. It is devastating. On the other hand, it's also terribly upsetting to know the families understood yet were helpless to truly do anything for their loved ones; like the torture of the damned. It's amazing everyone who shared their stories were willing to do so.This is a brave piece of filmmaking. It also serves a purpose. Though the filmmakers, nor anyone else features, make the case, there really needs to be some sort of barrier protecting those who cannot protect themselves from the depths of mental illness and utter despair. To think, so many people jump from the bridge every year, year after year, and yet the government hasn't done anything. I know a lot of Americans I'm sure would complain about tax dollars being wasted on people who are clearly determined to end their own lives, but where does our humanity end? I think by showing these people, before and while they jump, is very effective. It's going to cause people to reevaluate what suicide is, what it means, how desperate people who take their lives must be, and the remarkable amount of determination suicide requires on the part of those who feel it constantly creeping in their minds. I applaud the filmmakers.It took a long time for me to watch this. I was worried it would hit me very hard, as I've had many bad experiences over the years relating to my own mental illness. I'm happy I finally watched it. I have a friend who committed suicide almost 4 years ago now, and I understand how it is to lose someone- just like I understand how it feels to want to take my own life. This film opened even my eyes to certain things. I hope, someday, the Golden Gate Bridge will be retrofitted with some sort of In closing, the finale of the film really did a number on me. Having watched Gene Sprague and heard people talk about him throughout the whole film, it was shocking to see his incredibly dramatic leap from over the bridge's railing. My jaw actually dropped. As the camera followed him, I couldn't believe it. I sat wide-eyed through the credits until the film went right to the very end. Incredibly gripping piece of work. An absolute 10 out of 10. We need more documentary filmmaking like this to help expand the minds and opinions of the general public on the uneasy subject of mental illness in general. Highly recommended.

A film about suicide... sounds enthralling? Its actually depressing. Bleak. Colourless. Tasteless. But interesting.As a South African I know the bridge purely as the bridge in San Fran so above anything else this film told a grim story that is never told. Some may find the lack of intervention a problem but in terms of wildlife filmmaking we are to believe that we are merely there to film, not get involved. Should they have gotten involved? It would have changed the documentary from a showcase of the dreary side of a magnificent structure to that of human beings lending a helping hand to other humans. However, personally I agree with not getting involved. Suicide is not as easy as lending a helping hand. When a person does not want to live, they don't want to live and no matter what you do they will continue to entertain the idea of taking their own life. Psychology will tell us that its actually a survival technique - which is none the clearer than from the one survivor - where the brain convinces that all the wrong the person is doing is a result of the body. Therefore the brain wants to cut itself off from what it deems as the problem. After my fiancé committed suicide I was plagued with ideas of how i could have helped, of what i did wrong and how I was a terrible person to not see how bad things were. But after getting out of bed and talking to friends I found out that this was the eight attempt over the last ten years. There were no other attempts when I was around (I came along in the last two) except for the one at the end, so how was I to know? And I felt this documentary showcased that incredibly, the helplessness felt from the friends and family left behind along with the acceptance of "they were going to do what they were going to do."Its dark, heavy, sad, shocking but interesting... and not once did it pull at my tear ducts (not so difficult to do considering the subject matter) and i appreciated that fact which allowed me to think more about suicide rather than just feel it.

The Golden Gate Bridge was on camera for one year to capture the frequent jumpers who commit suicide on a regular basis. Eric Steel interviewed friends and relatives of many of them without mentioning that he has them on film. On average, someone jumped every fifteen days. The first guy was jogging, talking on a cell phone and laughing, when he leaped to his death. The film crew rescued several of the intending to end their lives. One survivor, Kevin Hines, changed his mind on his way down towards the water, and pointed his legs vertical, and lived, but suffered spinal injuries. He claims to have been brought to the surface by a seal, and attributes this to divine intervention, and he has become a religious fanatic.Twenty three suicides were filmed during the course of the movie, and the follow up stories are sad and interesting. The Bridge is worth watching.