Everest (Large Format)

Rating:
Summary: AN EMOTIONAL AND HUMBLING EXPERIENCE
Review: I just watched EVEREST on VHS (probably for the 10th time). I also saw it at an IMAX theater when it was 1st released. I've also read "INTO THIN AIR" and "THE CLIMB" several times and I own EVEREST - THE DEATH ZONE so I think I have as good an understanding of the situations depicted in this movie as a non-climber can have. This film never fails to move me. From the incredible photography; the stirring score; to the sight of Ed Viesters literally crawling up the side of the mountain in the Death Zone, this film is a wonderful achievement and should be seen (to paraphrase its dedication) BY HEROES EVERYWHERE.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: This is a very inspiring movie. It shows the courage and determination required to climb Mt. Everest. The cinematography was spectacular! I really felt involved in this expedition. I recommend this movie to everyone, it really represents the triumphs of the human spirit!

Rating:
Summary: Big Mountain, Big Format, Small Film
Review: Imax is a stunning film format, and climbing Everest is an awe-inspiring subject - so how come this film leaves you so cold and conveys so little of the human struggle. The script has all the depth of an exercise bike commercial, and while the climbers rise to 28000ft their insights never rise above the "I love to climb, thats why I do it" level. The huge irony was that the film was made the year of the biggest tradgedy in the mountains history and you still ended up thinking that you could easily get up to the top on a nice sunday afternoon stroll and be down for supper.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning, but don't be inspired!
Review: As a mountain climber myself, this was an amazing video. Not only have I seen it 6 times in my local IMAX theatre, I own the video. Personally I have only summitted a 15,000 ft. mountain (1/2 the size of Everest) and would like to share with everyone that if this movie gives you some crazy pipe dream that you might actually be able to make the summit of the worlds highest mountain, think again!! If you read Krakauer's book, you'll realize what the movie and the book should be used for...to enjoy Everest from afar and leave the summit to the lucky few in the world that have the ability and stamina to make it. The message that should be sent is that Everest is becoming such a popular commercialized sporting event, that we need to re-evaluate what all the empty canisters of oxygen and crowded tents at base camp are doing to the ecosystem of our planets most intimidating and beautiful area. For all others, simply sit back and enjoy what Mother Earth provides for our viewing pleasure!!

Rating:
Summary: The Harsh realities of Everest
Review: This quote from: [e-mail] from Champaign, IL "totally portrays Everest as your basic summer vacation". A viewer from Santa Barbara, CA. , May 21, 1999 called Everest a "Fantasy flick" IMAX has only extended the far-fetched dream of Everest to the masses of unexperienced people who might be led to think that climbing Everest is not an exceptional feat. I read these reviews before watching the movie and I can honestly say: The only fantasy in the film is the life the viewer from Santa Barbara is living in. Oh my god, where do I begin? This flick is filled with nothing but harsh atrocities and unbelievable camera angles. Camera crews managed to capture portions of the worst disaster in the history of Mt. Everest. This includes the last conversation between Rob Hall and his wife (7 months pregnant) as they named their unborn baby before Hall's untimely death. If that didn't pull at your heart then you don't have a pulse. The team was forced to cross icy crevices over 25 feet in length over a makeshift aluminum ladder pulled together with some blue rope. Beck (part of Hall's party), nearly lost his life. Instead he wound up losing both hands to frostbite, half of his nose, and two of his toes. And they even had the gruesome before and after closeup photos to punctuate. The loss of life of half of Hall's party. The use of oxygen canisters due to the lack of oxygen. The grueling bike training over the desert. You call this your "basic summer vacation"?!? I'd like to know what do during your summer vacations mkirkland! Then again, maybe not. This film is harsh, period. Anyone who says otherwise like the boneheads above are full of it. I really do not appreciate irresponsible reviews. I, like many others, actually read these reviews and use them to judge whether or not to see a flick.

Rating:
Summary: Okay
Review: I thought that the pictures were great. To me the most unnerving footage was of the climb over the crevasses on the ladder and early in the movie where they showed training by riding bikes in Utah (?). I actually thought the biking seemed scarier! The movie did not convey to me just how difficult the climb was, nor did I get the feeling that I was there climbing Mount Everest.

Rating:
Summary: A viewer from ILLINOIS
Review: ok

Rating:
Summary: The Heroes of Everest 1996!
Review: I loved this movie, but I wish it would have been much longer. I would have liked to have seen more about that '96 season on Everest, although I do understand the constraints of cost, size of the camera, etc. I find it interesting that there wasn't more shown about the incredible heroism of the IMAX team in the whole disaster. I guess they couldn't film and rescue at the same time! David Breshears' cinematography alone is well worth the price of the video, and Ed Viesturs' climbing without Os is absolutely inspirational--especially in the face of the disaster that had happened two weeks prior to their summit bid. If you liked "Into Thin Air," this is an interesting movie to watch.

Rating:
Summary: It's not even good enough to be a commercial for the real...
Review: Pretty pictures... but not even enough of those can cover up my displeasure of the portrayal of Everest. For one, this film is inaccurate in a few instances (like when Beck is taken by helicopter), and totally portrays Everest as your basic summer vacation. This is what lyes farthest from the truth, and the portrayal of the actual dangers and accomplishments there of are very very very thin. I would give this at most 1/2 stars, but the system doesn't let me. I'm very disapponted.

Rating:
Summary: Some good shots of the valley leading to base camp
Review: If you want to get a sense of what it is like to climb Everest, listen to (or read) Into Thin Air. If you want to see what Everest looks like, check out the web sites with photos. Even the third grade class site. The shots over the crevasses are clearly thought to be the money shots, but I wasn't taken by them. The areas I wanted to get a better sense of (the balcony, the rocky steps, the Hillary Step. the summit even), I didn't. Most of these shots were movies without much movement, and I didn't get an understanding of where they fit on the mountain. The voice over was vaguely trite, with nothing memorable. The helicopter shots up the approaching valley however, I have not seen anywhere else. I also saw this in an IMAX theatre a year ago, but it did not get my interest in Everest as Into Thin Air has.