Filmmaking and ski jumping are both death-defying professions. In 1972 and 1977 Steiner was the world ski-flying champion and an Olympic Gold winner. Steiner is the quintessential Herzogian, an obsessed, super-confident hero, but he is someone who knows his limits.

Daredevil Werner Herzog creates high drama from ski-jumping in this soaring psychological study of Walter Steiner, a like-minded thrill-seeker chasing a world record. A perfect meeting of the minds, The Great Ecstasy… is now considered by the director as one of his most important and enduring films.