Cold Mountain (North Carolina) settlement on the real-life mountain. The peak is accessible only by hiking a spur of the strenuous Art Loeb Trail. A major motion picture based on the novel was distributed by Miramax Films in 2003. The movie was actually filmed in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. A Miramax Films spokesperson cited higher production costs however director Anthony Minghella had said that the lack of old-growth forests and period buildings as well as the lack of dependable snowfall were the primary reasons he chose not to film in Western North Carolina. A 2015 opera production followed. "Cold Mountain Hunter" a 2004
Cold Mountain (film) critics, 87% among top critics, with the consensus "The well-crafted Cold Mountain has an epic sweep and captures the horror and brutal hardship of war". On Metacritic, the film received a grade of 73 out of 100 points possible based on 41 generally favorable reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, noting that "It evokes a backwater of the Civil War with rare beauty, and lights up with an assortment of colorful supporting characters." Richard Corliss, film critic for "Time", went even further, giving the film 100 points out of 100 possible; he called it "A