On the morning of May 10, 1996, climbers from two commercial expeditions start their final ascent toward the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. With little warning, a violent storm strikes the mountain, engulfing the adventurers in one of the fiercest blizzards ever encountered by man. Challenged by the harshest conditions imaginable, the teams must endure blistering winds and freezing temperatures in an epic battle to survive against nearly impossible odds.

Plot Synopsis:
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The opening text reads that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first two people to successfully climb Mount Everest. Since then, only hundreds of professionals have attempted to do the same, with one in four dying.

Set in the year 1996, Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) gathered his team, Adventure Consultants, to go ahead and climb Everest themselves. Rob meets with his team, including experienced climber Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), and co-guide Andy "Harold" Harris (Martin Henderson). Together, they plan to embark on what they hope will be a successful and adventurous expedition.

Six weeks before the initial climb, Rob and his team are in New Zealand ready to depart from the airport. He's with the manager of the base camp, Helen Wilton (Emily Watson), and his friend/co-worker Guy Cotter (Sam Worthington). Rob informs his friends that he booked journalist Jon Krakauer (Michael Kelly) to do an article on them, which he was going to do for another expedition team, Mountain Madness. Rob later explains to his team the dangerous altitudes and temperatures of the Death Zone on Everest, which they hope to get past quick enough before things get really dodgy.

Before boarding the plane, Rob says goodbye to his pregnant wife Jan (Keira Knightley). Rob promises to return home for the birth. Jan later sends him a message to let him know that they'll be having a girl.

The expeditions make it to the bottom of the mountain before heading on up toward the base camp. There, Rob runs into Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), the leader of Mountain Madness. He's a bit peeved at Rob for getting Jon to move to their expedition, but is still on fine terms. Later, Rob introduces the team to the camp's doctor Caroline McKenzie (Elizabeth Debicki). She and Rob remind the climbers of the lack of oxygen at the top of Everest, as well as the dangers of hypothermia and hypoxia. We see clips of climbers succumbing to the cold and dying.

Beck calls his wife Peach (Robin Wright) from the base camp after he forgot to send her a message for their anniversary. She doesn't like him climbing mountains and has stated that she'd divorce him if he ever climbed another mountain. He didn't listen.

Adventure Consultants and other expeditions move from Base Camp to Camp II. They walk across a fixed ladder acting as a bridge bridge hanging over a crevasse. Huge ice chunks break off and slide down under the weight of all the climbers, causing the ladder to shake, making Beck nearly fall over. He hangs on for dear life and is guided by Rob the rest of the way over.

Facing some concerns, Rob suggests to Scott that they join their expeditions together to get the to the top safely, and to ascend at a later date. Scott is hesitant, saying that he and Rob have different styles, but he ultimately agrees to the union. The two meet with their teams later to state that they plan on having eight oxygen tanks at the top. Scott's guide, Anatoli Boukreev (Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson), says he won't use oxygen. Rob urges the rest of his team to use oxygen.

The AC team gathers in a tent at night to discuss why they're climbing. Doug says that he wants to prove that an ordinary person can do the impossible. Yasuko wants to be the oldest woman to climb Everest.

The teams encounter problems on their summit, such as several climbers beginning to fall ill (like Doug and Scott), Beck having trouble seeing due to a surgery he had a year before, and no fixed ropes over the south summit, forcing some climbers to turn back. Beck stays behind on the southeast ridge. Guy, who is scaling the mountain next to Everest, observes Rob and company from his POV and contacts them to make sure they're okay.

Finally, some of the climbers start to make it to the very top and mark their spots on Everest. Anatoli is the first to touch the top, and Yasuko puts a Japanese flag on there. Rob contacts Helen back at base camp to inform her and the team that they made it to the top. She and the rest of the camp cheer the team on.

Doug is still climbing, despite his health rapidly deteriorating and his oxygen levels dropping. Rob runs into him on the way down and he insists to Doug that it's over and that he gave it a good run, but Doug is not yet satisfied and decides he wants to keep climbing. Moved by his determination, Rob guides Doug to the top.

A huge blizzard starts moving toward Everest, spelling trouble for the descending climbers. Rob and Doug get hit as the storm hits the mountain, forcing them to take cover. As they get lower, Rob notices there aren't any oxygen tanks where he requested, so he radios Helen to send some up. He and Doug keep walking as the winds intensify. Doug, barely conscious, unbuckles himself from Rob's guide rope. His dizziness, combined with the heavy wind, causes him to fall over the edge to his death.

Beck's vision worsens, while Scott starts suffering from hypothermia, forcing them to stay behind from their respective groups. The other climbers go get help, leaving Beck behind with Yasuko. Andy goes up to Rob, wherein Rob tells Andy that Doug is gone. Rob and Andy wait on the side of the mountain until it's safe to keep going. Unfortunately, Andy begins to feel the hypoxia, making him believe he's overheating, and he removes his clothes, leading to his death.

Helen, sitting in the tent with Caroline and Guy (who has come to join the camp), radios Rob and urges him to keep moving downward. He tells her that his hands and feet are frozen, and also that Doug and Andy are dead, bringing everyone in the tent to tears. Helen calls Jan and gets her to talk to Rob by putting the phone next to the walkie-talkie. Jan encourages her husband to get down safe, reminding him that he has to return for the birth of their baby.

Rob is told by Helen that the people meant to bring him the oxygen tanks aren't coming because of the terrible conditions. He tries to keep moving on his own, but even he knows he can't make it in his condition. He falls over and calls Helen again. She calls Jan again so that she can speak to him one last time. He tells her he is comfortable, and asks how Sarah (the baby) is doing. Jan tearfully agrees to call her Sarah. Rob's last words to her are "Sleep well, my sweetheart. Please don't worry too much."

Rob passes away under the snow and ice. Scott succumbs to the cold and lies in the snow to die. Yasuko has also died next to Beck's side. Helen calls Peach to tell her that Beck never returned to camp, which she must in turn tell her kids.

Beck, however, despite being frostbitten, partially blind, and almost totally frozen, starts to get up and slowly head on back to camp. Jon spots him and radios Helen to let her know that Beck is alive. She in turn calls Peach to tell her the news. Together, they get a helicopter to fly up and bring Beck back. The helicopter is almost brought down by the winds and extra weight, but they succeed in bringing him down where he gets heated up.

Helen and the other climbers return home. They are seen meeting Jan at the airport and tearfully hugging her. Beck also returns home and hugs Peach.

The last shot is of Rob's body, frozen and almost completely covered in snow. The final text states that Rob's body is still up on Everest alongside the others that perished. We see photos of the real Rob Hall, Doug Hansen, Andy Harris, Yasuko Namba, and Scott Fischer. Beck Weathers lost his nose and both hands due to frostbite. Jan Arnold gave birth to a girl, whom she named Sarah. We then see a brief video clip of the real Sarah Arnold-Hall.

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thegreatape from Poland
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I always find my viewing experience of the retelling of historical events ruined when I come across scenes which I know have been added for dramatic effect or when someone is played as a bad guy just to let us know who to root for.

The King's Speech was particularly guilty of the former, the portrayal of other teams in Glory Road had the latter, and The Imitation Game was shamelessly guilty of both. I'm not saying this made them bad films, but it certainly made me feel like the experience had strayed away from a retelling of the facts as known.

Everest is everything that is good in such a film. There is no needless good v evil addition and no leading the viewer to conclusions. It tells the story and I have since spent three or four days thinking about the hows, whys and wherefores... whilst knowing I will never find an answer.

The other touch that really elevates this film is that there are no added action sequences that have been added to make Everest more of an action move. The film makers have been intelligent enough to realise that climbing Everest does not need any exaggeration, the characters involved were three dimensional people, and the story was interesting enough not to need embellishment.

I expected an action film but left pleasantly surprised by a biopic with a light touch.

The one mark deduction is for the totally unnecessary 3D. The film absolutely didn't need me wearing dumb glasses to be three dimensional.

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Jack Gradis from United States
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Got the chance to see Everest early in IMAX 3D. I'll start off by saying this, if you get the chance, definitely see this movie in IMAX. It adds to the experience and you feel like your on the mountain. That aside, let's dive into one of my most anticipated films of the year.

Everest is chalk full of star power. Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Jake Gyllenhaal, the list goes on. Everyone is believable in this hostile environment, going from optimistic and adventurous to mortified and forced to fight for their lives. Each character is given a back story, some more drawn out and centered than others, and you get attached to most but not all of them. When the emotional blows hit, they hit hard for some, but not as much for others.

The visuals are, as you might have guessed, stunning. The shots they get of climbers and the way the camera gives you an an idea of how dangerous this is are breath taking. The cinematography is definitely award worthy. IMAX only added to it, putting you in this environment and taking you along for the ride.

This film really did it for me because I have always been fascinated by Everest and the journey it is to make it up to the top and back. If there is a Netflix documentary about Everest, I've watched it. I even watched the one about the story told in this movie. What this film does so well is it immerses you into the environment as well as gives you characters to care about. It's all tied in well together.

At times, the pace is a bit slower than expected and the tones shifts from serious to light hearted are a bit messy. But that stuff doesn't bother you in the moment, your just wrapped up in the intensity of the story.

Overall, Everest gave me exactly what I wanted. It was intense, emotionally powerful, and the visuals were beautiful. It's not perfectly structured, but it sure is engaging. As someone who has studied the mountain, this offers a brutal look into how much time and energy is out into a trip to Everest, and how quickly things can go wrong. Definitely worth a trip to the theatre.

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fffuuuuu from New Zealand
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I think the main problem with this movie is a loose focus. It seems like they tried to make a disaster, drama and documentary stories at the same time but failed to develop any of that properly. But the good things first: stunning scenery, overall tension and a few really great scenes make this movie worth watching without a doubt. It is just somehow not working as a single piece. With a fast start you expect some eventful action to follow but there's nothing like that. The characters developing is limited to a couple of sentences excluding Rob Hall and Beck Weathers what makes others a little more than forgettable 'guys who die first'. For some reason, Scott Fisher, being a smart capable mountaineer is shown as a careless hippie-like person, Anatoli Boukreev as a cliché tough Russian playing garmon in a tent, Beck Weathers as a hardly-realistic guy from Texas. But it doesn't matter anyways as when the masks put on it's really hard to follow who is who and and their position on the mountain, especially on descending. The whole day of May 11 is clumsy and hardly could be learned from the movie, on the summit the story switches to Rob completely and gets distractingly touchy-feely then slowly turning into the aftermath. The drama feels a bit out of place when other participants dying with little or no attention. I was disappointed. The most vivid scene of the movie turned out to be shown in the trailer (crevasse ladder). Another Beck Weathers scene was really powerful too, but otherwise I didn't feel the pressure of surviving, the height itself (the stormy clouds could be seen from 2000 as well), an incredible effort to even try to step on that track.

Andre Bredenkamp writes about Everest climb: "You get completely disorientated. I had to keep reminding myself I was climbing a mountain. Every step of the way I had to try to motivate myself. At that altitude I took at least 10 to 15 breaths each time I moved one foot."

So if you really want to feel the height I would rather recommend to read the books about that night as this movie failed to show it properly.

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www.ramascreen.com from United States
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A movie that's as stunning and as majestic and as spellbinding as mount Everest itself. Even for many of us who've never been to Nepal, just the fact that Everest is the world's highest mountain requires us to respect it from afar. And I think that's what this film by director Baltasar Kormakur has accomplished, it respects the story, it respects the nature and it respects the memories of the lives lost during that tragic 1996 expedition.

Baltasar is an Icelandic filmmaker who knows how to shoot a film in such an environment where the weather can be unpredictable and it can go against you at anytime. He didn't want all of this movie to be shot entirely in a studio, this is not entirely visual effects work, they actually went to Nepal and some of the other locations include Val Senales, Italy. It's out there in the elements, outdoors locations that force even the actors themselves to leave their trailer comfort zone behind. And that is evident on screen, it really shows, because every single frame successfully makes us the audience feel like we're there, we feel the danger, as if we're there climbing the mountain, feeling the pain that comes with excruciating cold because human bodies aren't design to survive such temperature. I think the timing of the arrival of this movie could not have been more perfect. If EVEREST was made a decade or fifteen years ago, for example, when filmmaking technology and the cameras weren't as advanced, I'm not sure if it could've given us a movie-watching experience of this quality. This is not a heist thriller ala 1993's "Cliffhanger," this is an epic survival drama.

Many of us are familiar with Jon Krakauer's book, "Into Thin Air" since he himself was one of the climbers, but this movie is not an adaptation, because it's also loosely inspired by other accounts, other books about that same expedition, so in a way, what the scribes William Nicholson and also Simon Beauty and filmmaker Baltasar gave us is a reimagining but one that captures the essence and I think that's what the actors themselves aimed to do. Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Jason Clarke, all of them play these real characters that have families, some may have personal issues, and so the backstory or who's waiting for them on the other side of the world serve as an emotional anchor and a driving force. But you only get a glimpse of it, the script doesn't spend too much time in every last one of them, there are too many grounds to cover, so it provides just enough and then brings the attention back to this whole man vs. nature, this ordeal at hand, all over again, just like one of the characters says in the movie, "The last word belongs to the mountain." EVEREST movie does make me wonder why anyone would want to climb mount everest, but it's basically the same as asking ourselves why we do certain things, why we choose to attempt to conquer certain goals, whatever they may be, whether it's the need to inspire and be inspired, whether it's trying to escape our problems, whether it's the love of the climb, EVEREST goes to show that that desire could be both prideful and humbling.

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CleveMan66 from United States
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"I want to see Everest". Could you be a bit more specific? Assuming that you're not talking about making a trip to Nepal, there are still many ways to interpret your request besides seeing the 2015 docudrama. The world's tallest mountain is the center of the story in a 1998 documentary, a 2007 TV mini-series, a 2014-2015 TV series and another film project still in development. All of these treatments are simply titled, "Everest". More to the point, 2015's "Everest" (PG-13, 2:01) re-tells the specific story from the '98 doc and a 1997 TV movie ("Into Thin Air: Death on Everest"), but tells it more vividly than ever before.

The '97, '98 and 2015 films all take us along for doomed expeditions up the tallest peak in the Himalayas in May 1996, as told in at least five books by survivors, most famously in journalist Jon Krakauer's 1997 best-seller "Into Thin Air", which is the primary basis for the screenplay of 2015's "Everest". As the film tells us early on, by the late 1980s, climbing Everest had transitioned from the domain of adventurers like George Mallory and Edmund Hillary with minimal equipment to a tourist destination for thrill-seekers with little climbing experience, but enough money to buy state-of-the-art equipment, stay in established base camps, and hire local Sherpas as guides and, in some cases, to carry the climber's gear and cook meals. But as the films about the 1996 climbs (and subsequent major avalanches) have shown, no amount of money, gear, help or even experience can insulate anyone from the dangers inherent in this climb. "The last word," as one character in the 2015 film says, "always belongs to the mountain." "Everest" follows two of the expeditions which suffered tragic losses on the mountain on May 10-11, 1996. Rival expedition leaders Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), of the company Adventure Consultants, and Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), of Mountain Madness, decide to work together due to the large number of people trying to reach the peak on May 10th. The main focus of the story is Hall's team, which includes people with a wide range of personal backgrounds. Hall is an experienced New Zealand mountaineer who has already climbed to the top of Everest four times, including once with his wife, Jan (Keira Knightley), who has stayed in New Zealand this time due to her pregnancy. Doug Hansen (John Hawkes) is a mailman who attempted Everest once before and wants to reach the summit as a way of inspiring schoolchildren back home in Washington state. Yasuko Namba is a 47-year-old Japanese woman who has already climbed the other six of the famed Seven Summits and wants to become the oldest woman to reach the top of Everest. Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) is an adventurous Texan who is also pursuing the goal of the Seven Summits, but has lied to his wife, Peach (Robin Wright), about his current trip to Everest. Jon Krakauer is a writer for "Outside" magazine, but has never been on a climb above 8000m. Several of the people portrayed in this film died on Everest and others barely escaped with their lives.

"Everest" is much more than a high-altitude adventure movie or disaster flick. Besides learning about the personal backgrounds of the characters, we follow them on their entire adventure, from beginning to end, learning a good bit about mountain climbing along the way. One of the first things we learn is that, to these people, summit is a verb. Hall lays out the dangers of summiting Everest in his briefing to his team before they even set foot on the mountain. "Human beings are not designed to function at the cruising altitude of a 747. Your bodies will be literally dying," he says. This group understands all that, but they've put their trust in the honest, personable and level-headed Hall. And they've paid him a lot of money ($65,000 each) to get them to the top of Everest – and safely back down. At base camp, Hall and his friend and colleague, Helen Wilton (Emily Watson), and their fellow Adventure Consultants employees, teach, coach and take care of their customers, including Hall taking them on some practice climbs. In spite of the danger and discomfort that everyone experiences even going only partially up the mountain, they're all looking forward to the real thing. They know they'll be cold, exhausted and scared, while having trouble breathing and facing the unpredictability of the mountain, but they didn't come this far to quit. Their experiences turn out much worse than anything any of them could have imagined.

"Everest" is a fascinating and gripping adventure. Like other movies about mountain climbing, this one fails to give a satisfactory reason for why these people risk their lives for little more than a great view and bragging rights, but it's clear that there are a variety of justifications within the group. The script depicts this climb as an extremely risky venture, but allows us to marvel at the courage, determination and, in some cases, self-sacrifice of these people. The character development (thanks to a great script and a terrific cast) is outstanding and the cinematography is as impressive as you'd expect (especially in IMAX 3-D). The suffering of the climbers (even when things are going according to plan), the thrilling moments (when circumstances throw the plan into chaos), the heartbreak and the small victories along the way all make us feel like we're right there on that mountain. The hardships and the tragedies of this expedition are sometimes shot and edited oddly, but are never exploitive. Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur brings us an engaging, eye-opening and beautiful film that most are likely to appreciate. "A-"

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valleyjohn from United Kingdom
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This is the true story of two different expeditions in 1996 who attempt to scale Everest but encounter massive storms on the descent down the mountain. Everest is a stunning looking film that you come away from , feeling totally exhausted. Because it is so realistic you do feel you are with the climbers at times. Sure , it's a stock disaster movie but because of the nature of the true story behind it , you feel more connected. The special affects are amazing and the performances from Jason Clarke and Keira Knightley are great too. I watched this in 3D but ended up taking the glasses off because it was so annoyingly dark so i recommend watching it in 2D instead. It's a staggering statistic that 1 in 4 people who attempt to get get to the summit of Everest , dies. Why do people do it? that question is asked in this film but apart from the stock answer of " Because it's there" it is never really answered . Perhaps there isn't one?

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Incendid from Australia
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Everest is a film that tells the story of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, in which a climbing expedition is devastated by a severe storm. The film was directed by 2 Guns director Baltasar Kormakur and written by William Nicholson (Gladiator, Les Miserables) and Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours), starring Jason Clarke, John Hawkes and Josh Brolin. To start the film is beautiful; the director of photography Salvatore Totino presented the size and scale of the environment beautifully with multiple aerial shots. Totino has a clear and linear style, which is refreshing after the summer, which with the exception of a couple of films, has been dominated by shaky-cam and extremely quick cuts.

The dialogue in the film stands out, however the plot does not. The characters were underdeveloped, partially due to the lack of introduction that is given to our main characters; this combined with the slow pace of the first act causes the film to drag. However it should be noted that the film makes a point of showing the process of preparing to climb Everest. The second act is fine, not great though and is intense especially during the storm and finally the film just finishes, which really throws you out of the film.

Although none of the performances in the film were award-worthy they still were acceptable and in some cases quite good. Jason Clarke and Josh Brolin had the meatiest roles, and they both provided good performances. However out of the two, Jason Clarke provided the best performance. The side characters were forgettable, with the exception of Doug (John Hawkes) and Yasuko (Naoko Mori), with Doug being a postman and Yasuko finally completing the seven summits, two things which helped to distinguish them. Everyone in the film was 'care-beared', thankfully, and they had to be otherwise it would impossible to tell who you were looking at.

One part of production that deserves praise in this film is the lighting department who did a superb job on presenting a clear environment; especially during the storm. A quick side note- the score of the film was forgettable.

Ultimately, Everest is an intense drama thriller that has its problems, however is still beautiful to watch, I wouldn't purchase it on 3D Blu-ray, as after watching it in 3D I didn't find anything spectacular or noteworthy, however I would consider buying it on Blu-ray. Overall, I am going to give Everest a C+ or 6/10.

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LemonLadyR from United States
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Is anything in this movie a spoiler? haha. I will try not to put spoilers, just as in any review I write, but I wanted to be safe, for those born after '96 and who missed it on the news, etc.

I can't even count how many ways this was a horrid movie. Even the photography seemed very claustrophobic much of the time (most probably those were the studio scenes depicting the mountain). That style may have been intended to give some intimacy to the huge IMAX format but it just made it worse. To be fair, the real mtn shots were wonderful, but not near as good as David Breashears' IMAX footage during this same tragedy (but Breashears is a multi-decade mountaineering filmmaker), and shown in *his* movie about 1996 (and his others). I have seen 5-6 movies/docs about this, read 3 books, and have seen tons of media about this, so was this movie really necessary, considering ALL the stuff that is out there for people to source? At least one reviewer was right, that it was just another attempt to make money from this tragedy. What about the 2015 tragedy due to the earthquake? 19 people died this year on Everest, which is *more* than in 1996. I would have rather watched a movie about that.

At first, I thought this was Rob Hall's version of the story, or at least cobbled together from his teammates and clients. And I was very interested in that, at first, but it was vapid and at a the cost of barely any information or character development of the other major players. SO much was left out as to make this more fiction or "based on", rather than a real docudrama. It is a such recent history that "based on" isn't appropriate yet. Things like Sandy Hill Pitman's need to be carried up and down the mountain by Sherpas who had other vital jobs was omitted. Many priorities got mixed up on that tragic day, and this film omits many. I guess this is the jolly IMAX version rather than an honest accounting and tribute to the deceased. Beck Weathers never has sounded like an "Ugly Texan", so his lines and bravado about Texas were silly and offensive, esp as I was born in Texas. His character here, besides being largely a generalization, is an outdated one and any truth that is in it has largely passed into history by now. Weathers has always come across as a quiet, considered guy. The mtn may have sobered up his "Himalayan Mtn High", but he was hardly a brash young man, even then. His incredible story is almost completely fiction here, yet it became solid history within a couple months after the event. David Breashears was hardly anywhere to be found, the director of the IMAX film that was shooting during this expedition, which he stopped in the middle of, on peak filming days, to help with the rescue. This resulted in a financial loss and a truncated movie for him (but far better than this one), but he did the right thing. There are many interesting and suspenseful side stories, all of which came together to cause the tragedy, like the oxygen canister mix-up, but where were they.

All in all, even the TV movie, based on Jon Krakauer's wonderful book, "Into Thin Air", was much better than this, and they didn't climb up Everest to film it, you can be sure! Krakauer's and Breashears' (who has summited 5 times now)great mtn films and books just made this look silly. I have not read Anatoli Boukreev's book, who was also pivotal in the rescue, and no doubt has a different outlook than the Americans, but he also was basically ignored here, except for a couple nebulous mentions. Even the love story of Rob Hall and his wife was mostly left on the cutting room floor. What about Scott Fischer? All of these guys, besides Rob Hall, were barely mentioned. And the Sherpas got no credit, which is a crime, as without them, no white man (or any other color) would have likely summited Everest to this day (one co-summited the first summit), and they held the records for most summits until Breashears matched it with his 5th summit, last time I checked. Yes, I am irritated, as the build-up was so big, although I wasn't sure what more could be told. I should have taken my suspicions more to heart! My advice, if not completely obvious by now, is to watch and read the other material about this story and skip this awful movie. And if you liked it, all the more reason to delve into those.

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villard from United States
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Having read John Krakauer's account of the doomed Everest climb in his book "Into Thin Air" I was anticipating a much more dramatic film with a gripping script. The wonderful ensemble of actors didn't have much to work with. The film is monotone with no edge-of-seat moments -- given the life-or-death extreme setting. And not much of a dramatic soundtrack either. The film has no cadence at all and just comes off as a flat docudrama. The only highly emotional moment is when a dying Rob Hall makes a final call to his wife in New Zealand.

I am especially disappointed that a compelling part of Krakauer's narrative is almost completely left out. If there is one pivotal anti-hero in this story it is the NY socialite Sandy Pittman Hill. She's accused of causing many of the crucial delays to the other clients' ascent. Without these delays the climbers likely would have likely gotten back to base camp before the storm came. The film shows one of these critical delays in the absence of rope lines being fixed to the summit. But the film never bothers to explain why this happened. In reality Pittman's distraction of the Sherpa responsible for installing rope lines is to blame – at least according to Krakauer.

This would have made for high drama, but the filmmakers inexplicably show her character in just a few brief shots. One wonders if they were threatened with a libel suit by Pittman, or simply co-opted by her when, I assume, they interviewed her for background.

The blend of special effect and cinematography is excellent, and it's not to be missed in 3D. But the story suffers from lack of oxygen.

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bob-the-movie-man from United Kingdom
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Having just this week returned from climbing all 19,341 feet of Kilimanjaro, I find myself intimately capable of reviewing "Everest", the new thriller from Icelandic director Baltamar Kormákur.

Based on a true story from 1996, Jason Clarke and Jake Gyllenhaal play Rob Hall and Scott Fischer respectively, rival organisers of commercial climbing ventures whose businesses involve training well-paying clients at Everest Base Camp and then taking them to the summit to experience the 'ultimate high'. When the climbing season of 1996 becomes hugely crowded, including a rather obnoxious team from South Africa, the two rivals decide it is in the interests of their clients to combine forces and attack the mountain together.

We are introduced to some of the clients including Texan Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), second-attempt postman Doug Hanson (John Hawkes) and Japanese mountaineer Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori) chasing her seventh and final major mountain summit. Supporting the teams is hen-mother from base camp Helen Wilton (Emily Watson), medical helper Caroline Mackenzie (Elizabeth Debicki from "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.") and hard-man Anatoni Boukreev (Ingvar Eggert Sigurđsson) who eschews the use of such luxuries as oxygen. To add dramatic tension to the situation, Rob Hall's wife (Keira Knightley) is heavily pregnant with their first daughter.

In an extremely hostile environment, as a storm passes through, the film neatly characterises how a single impetuous decision can have devastating consequences.

The action scenes in the film are well-executed with a number of vertiguous shots and heart-in-the-mouth moments, neatly escalated by Dario Marianelli's effective score. At its heart this is (without remembering the details of the original news story) a "will they, won't they" survival story of the ilk of "The Towering Inferno" and other classic disaster movies.

However, despite the long running-time and relatively leisurely built-up, I found there to be a curious lack of connection between the viewer and most of the key players. Perhaps this stems from the fact that you know they were all fully aware of the potential dangers? Or perhaps that the mountain seems a bigger character that any of the humans involved? Whatever the reason, it's only the future parental responsibilities of Hall that really resonate and make you root for him as opposed to any of the other characters.

Some of the hardest special effects to pull off are those that depict the natural world (as opposed to Krypton, Asgard etc), and in this regard the team led by Jonathan Bullock (from the Harry Potter series) does a great job. Whilst the "top of Everest" was in reality a set in the Pinewood 007 stage, you'll well believe a man can freeze there.

As such, this is a decent and entertaining telling of a true-life tragedy that will definitely work better on the big screen than the small.

(If you found this review useful please see the graphical version at bob-the-movie-man.com and enter your email address to receive future reviews. Thanks).

On April 18, 2014, an avalanche on Everest killed 16 people, more than the 1996 disaster on which this movie is based. Most of the dead were Sherpas preparing for the upcoming climbing season. Filming had to be postponed.
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When the entire team, led by Robb Hall is being asked about why they are climbing Everest; everybody answers "because it's there". This is a famous quote by George Mallory, who in 1924 when interviewed about why he would risk his life in the pursuit of being the first to ascend the summit of Everest. Mallory later disappeared on a summit attempt in June 1924... his body was found 75 years later, in May 1999, a mere 245m from the summit.
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Christian Bale was attached to play the role of Rob Hall, but left to appear in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) instead. Director Baltasar Kormákur subsequently decided to transform the film to an ensemble version of the story.
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Mount Everest was named by Andrew Waugh, British Surveyor General, in 1865. Sir George Everest, its namesake, identified it in the 1820s as the highest point in the world above sea level. The original Tibetan name, Chomolungma, means "Goddess Mother of the World". It's 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) high.
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This story and some stylized scenes were borrowed from the IMAX film Everest (1998).
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Anatoli Boukreev, a guide on the Mountain Madness expedition, died the following Christmas, on December 25th 1997, ascending the Nepalese mountain of Annapurna.
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Jason Clarke replaced Christian Bale in both this film and Terminator: Genisys (2015).
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The helicopter pilot Vijay Lama of the movie is one of the most experienced pilots in Nepal.
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Into Thin Air author Jon Krakauer came out against the film, particularly slamming a scene where his character (Michael Kelly) is asked by Anatoli Boukreev (Ingvar Eggert Sigurđsson) to help with the rescue and refuses. "I never had that conversation. Anatoli came to several tents, and not even sherpas could go out ... no one came to my tent and asked," Krakauer told the Los Angeles Times. Director Baltasar Kormákur defended the film in a response, stating the scene "was to illustrate how helpless people were and why they might not have been able to go out and rescue people."
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Survivor Lou Kasischke, a consultant on the movie, published his account of the Everest tragedy in his book, "After the Wind."
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Pemba Sherpa, who plays Lopsang, was a part of the Adventure Consultants Guided Expedition on this fateful climb as a Base Camp Sherpa. Rob Hall led this expedition.
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Interestingly the year of the film's release (2015) also saw the first year since 1974 where nobody successfully reached the summit.
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Tenzing-Hillary Airport (named Lukla Airport in the film) appears briefly. Many consider it the world's most dangerous airport due to its steeply inclined runways and treacherous surrounding terrain.
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The dispute following Jon Krakauers accusations against Anatoli Boukreev for leaving his clients on the mountain, soon turned to a public dispute between their lawyers. The disagreement were never settled before Boukreev's early death in '97.
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At a point during the movie, it's mentioned Everest as part of a group called "the 8,000". It refers fourteen mountains which rise above 8,000 meters high: Everest - Located in Nepal, 8,848 m (29,029 ft)

K2 - Located between Pakistan and China, 8,611 m (28,251 ft)

Kangchenjunga - Located in Nepal, 8,586 m (28,169 ft)

Lhotse - Located in Nepal, 8,516 m (27,940 ft)

Makalu - Located in Nepal, 8,485 m (27,838 ft)

Cho Oyu - Located in Nepal, 8,201 m (26,906 ft)

Dhaulagiri I - Located in Nepal, 8,167 m (26,795 ft)

Manaslu - Located in Nepal, 8,163 m (26,781 ft)

Nanga Parbat - Located in Pakistan, 8,126 m (26,660 ft)

Annapurna I - Located in Nepal, 8,091 m (26,545 ft)

Gasherbrum I - Located in Pakistan, 8,080 m (26,444 ft)

Broad Peak - Located in Pakistan, 8,051 m (26,414 ft)

Gasherbrum II - Located in Pakistan, 8,035 m (26,362 ft)

Shishapangma - Located in Nepal, 8,027 m (26,335 ft)


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The film cast includes five Oscar nominees: Jake Gyllenhaal, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson and Josh Brolin.
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Keira Knightley shot all her scenes in six days.
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Baltasar Kormákurs 13-year-old son played Beck's son, Bub.
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On June 4, 2015, the first trailer for the film was released online, with an appeal for relief for the April 2015 Nepal earthquake through Oxfam America in the coda.
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The film takes place from March to May 1996.
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Jason Clarke and Sam Worthington have both starred in a Terminator film. Sam Worthington starred in Terminator Salvation (2009) and Jason Clarke starred in Terminator: Genisys (2015).
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Robin Wright and Michael Kelly are co-stars in the Netflix series House of Cards (2013).
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When all climbers are in a bus from Nepal heading towards Everest, the song played in background "Yeh Ladka Haye Allah" is from the Bollywood movie "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" from 2001 starring King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan while this movie is set in 1996.
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The fourth movie starring Keira Knightley, with a soundtrack composed by Dario Marianelli. Previous movies were Stolthet & fordom (2005), Forsoning (2007) and Anna Karenina (2012).
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Walden Media's first film with Universal Pictures. It's also the company's second film to receive a PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America.
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Robin wright and Michael kelly both star in house of cards together. While they share no scenes in Everest they also share almost no scenes together in house of cards.
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John Hawkes and Josh Brolin also appear in American Gangster (2007).
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On January 30, 2014, Universal set a release date of February 27, 2015. On March 21, it was moved to September 18, 2015.
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Jason Clarke and Elizabeth Debicki previously starred together in Den store Gatsby (2013).
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Jason Clarke also plays John Connor in _Terminator Genisys (2015)_. In the Terminator saga, John Connor's mother is Sarah Connor. In Everest (2015), Rob Hall want to name his unborn daughter Sarah.
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The bodies of Andy 'Harold' Harris and Doug Hansen have never been recovered. Another expedition found the body of Rob Hall almost two weeks after his death; his widow Jan requested that it remain there, as his last wish was most likely to stay on the mountain. As depicted in the movie, Scott Fischer's body was found by his friend Anatoli Boukreev. He moved it away from the climbing trail; it also remains on the mountain. Boukreev found the body of Yasuko Namba almost a year later. He built a primitive tomb from stones to protect it from scavengers. When her widower found out, he financed an expedition that recovered her body later that year.
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Rob Hall was the first non-Sherpa to climb Everest 5 times. His widow Jan became the second New Zealand woman to summit Everest; Lydia Bradey was first.
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Rob Hall's body was discovered on 23 May by mountaineers making the IMAX documentary Everest (1998). This film was also released on IMAX.
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During the '96 disaster, an IMAX film crew were present, shooting a documentary. When disaster struck production was halted, and members of the crew joined the search and rescue operation, which saved Beck Weathers, and later located the body of Rob Hall.
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The film is based on various books about the 1996 Mount Everest disaster as well as audio recordings from that day. In a September 2015 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Director Baltasar Kormákur confirmed that his film was initially based on the book "Left for Dead", by Beck Weathers, one of the climbers who survived the disaster. He went on to say that Jon Krakauer 's book, Into Thin Air, was not used as source material.
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In his book following the events, Jon Krakauer points out that some lives could have been saved, if only Anatoli Boukreev had been using bottled oxygen in his job as a guide. Boukreev believed that bottled oxygen was not needed if you were only strong enough.
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Guy Cotter now runs Adventure Consultants in Rob Hall's place, and was a consultant on the film.
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mount everest|blizzard|mountain|snow|survival|freeze to death|falling from height|corpse|oxygen|mountain climbing|ladder|falling to death|man versus nature|bittersweet|hope|monk|monastery|rescue|vomit|mailman|southern accent|russian|danish|australian|new zealander|reporter|campfire|frozen body|death|mountaineer|mountaineering|himalayas|harness|oxygen mask|oxygen tank|sherpa|wilderness|one word title|blurred vision|blurred image|journalist|year 1996|mountain climber|husband wife relationship|male bonding|friendship between men|bare chested male|radio|camp|based on true events|frostbite|woman crying|crying woman|pregnant wife|death of husband|3 dimensional|death of friend|based on true story|title spoken by character|surprise ending|storm|expedition|summit|moral dilemma|box office flop|south african|widow|female reporter|man with glasses|beard|suspense|self sacrifice|buddhist monk|push ups|camaraderie|japanese flag|evacuation|stranded|rope|avalanche|rivalry|character says i love you|flask|tension|texas|guide|campsite|rope bridge|aerial shot|bus|female journalist|magazine writer|bravery|courage|fear|memorial|montage|escape|helicopter pilot|helicopter|pregnancy|village|fax machine|letter|race against time|spitting blood|injection|hypodermic needle|character's point of view camera shot|subjective camera|bandaged hand|blindness|hallucination|japanese|map|female doctor|doctor|sunglasses|radio operator|tent|american abroad|telephone|husband wife estrangement|1990s|nepal|christchurch new zealand|disaster|training|nonlinear timeline|airport|ice|walkie talkie|snowstorm|lightning|weather|near death experience|tragedy|death of protagonist|yak|no opening credits|what happened to epilogue|film starts with text|carpenter|

AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Argentina:13 (with warning) / Australia:M / Canada:PG (British Columbia) / Chile:TE+7 / Germany:12 / Ireland:12A / Japan:G / Netherlands:12 / Norway:9 / Philippines:PG-13 / Portugal:M/12 / Russia:12+ / Singapore:PG / South Korea:12 / Sweden:11 / Switzerland:12 / UK:12A / USA:PG-13 (certificate #49598)