Rating: 
Summary: I Love this DVD
Review: Stunning cinematography, incredible acts of human courage, beautiful landscapes, sacrifice and hardship, pain and sufferingEverest I wanted to take a second to address one reviewer's thoughts: Reviewer: William from Texas January 16, 2000 If you've read "Into Thin Air", you'll be disappointed in the film's inability to capture the human drama and hardships of the climbers. It is interesting, however, to see the scenery that you read about in the book. The film is only 45 minutes long - not a real good price-performer. The additional material is very good though - the interview with Beck Weathers is by far the most impactful piece of this disk. * * * And if you read "Into Thin Air" you will also notice that it was written by Jon Krakauer who was not even a member of Ed Viesturs team. "Everest" is an account of Ed Viesturs' team and *their* experience climbing to the top of Mount Everest. Of of the 4 teams that got stranded on top of Everest on that fateful night, there were people that had "no business being there". I cannot remember whether it was Ed Viesturs or Aracelli but that's a direct quote from one of Viesturs team members. "Many teams lacked a critical amount of experience" was another quote from Viesturs. Ed Viesturs' team was the "dream team" of mountain climbers. They assembled a great cast of leaders, a great support team, they planned the entire trip from the start, and as luck would have it, the "Gods" were on their side as well. They also made the right decisions at the right time which certainly helped to avoid a lot of the hardships other teams had to face. Jamling Norgay (having been born in Tibet) and his team of "sherpas" had lived in the Himalayas all their lives. If anyone knew about survival tricks and tactics living in the Himalayas it would be Jamling Norgay. Of course he was able to pass along his wisdom and insights to the rest of the team. It is not discussed in detail in the movie, but Viesturs team was probably very well financed. This results in better clothing, equipment, better food and/or more food. After all, Imax (as well as some Geological survey team) was sponsoring this event from the start. It's hard to do a film when you don't have the tools you need to do your job right. They had to haul a 40 pound camera all the way to the summit. Think that's easy? Jon Krakauer didn't have 30 pound rolls of film strapped to his back. Somebody had to carry that camera, all those rolls of film, tripod, and so forth up the summit (and back down). So in one sense Viesturs' team had to endure a lot more than the other teams did. And just to give you an idea of how important weight was, the climbers were cutting their toothbrushes in half just to save some weight! Yes, you heard me right, they were shaving off every little once just to make it *THAT* much easier to pull themselves up the ice! That 40 lb camera probably felt more like 100 lbs at the summit. Yes, the movie is only 45 minutes long, but you have to look at this in the context of what you are seeing. You are climbing Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. You can't compare this to say, the beautiful beaches of Hawaii where anyone can go and shoot a scene. You can't compare this to the Sierra Nevada because that area is easily accessible. There's only 1/3 the oxygen level up there so there's nothing for the rotors of a helicopter to bite onto. It's not like you can just fly up there with a camera and shoot because you might get killed. Everest is a place where neither man nor machine is welcome and that makes this video VERY special. Off to the side, this DVD is chock filled with extra features. In addition to the Beck Weathers interview, there's "The Making of Everest" which was about 45 minutes in length. I found this to be very informative and enjoyed it as much as the movie. There's a "3D Map" which gives an computer generated image overview of Everest. Within this "3D Map" there's "Camp Information" (info on Base Camp, Middle Camp and High Camp) as well as the "Climber's Perspective" (a short description of that part of the mountain). There's a set of "Climber's Video Journals" which is an up close video of 3 of the climbers. Lastly, there's "Deleted Scenes" which are all the scenes that did not make the final cut. So actually you do get quite of bit of "bang" for your "buck". Well over 2 1/2 hours worth of film I would guess. As for one reviewer below who was complaining that they could have made this longer and more into a "feature" film: This isn't supposed to be a full length feature film. All of IMAX's films are around 45 minutes. It's more of a documentary, and this film has absolutely stunning cinematography for a documentary. I've seen several IMAX movies before since I was a small child. The first time being at Mariott's Great America about 15 years ago where (at the time) it was only one of two IMAX movie screens in the entire world. This is the best IMAX movie I've ever seen. From the reviews I've read on IMAX's other films being sold on Amazon dot Com "Everest" gets the highest ratings by far. And even though you probably won't be able to see this on an IMAX screen, a big screen TV will still provide you with plenty of beautiful stills that will make you want to watch this over and over. If you have a DVD player, definitely add this one to your collection!
Rating:
Summary: I'll never climb Everest. This film was the next best thing.
Review: Through the story of three climbers, this is an astounding film of the daunting challenges and sheer perseverance to reach the top of highest mountain in the world. The cinematography is breathtaking. It put me right on the mountain and there I was, gasping for air with the climbers, putting one booted foot after another on a rickety aluminum ladder suspended over a deep crevasse, pounding spikes into ice in spite of exhaustion, and feeling the cold and the wind and the fear of ice falls and avalanches. All that in 44 minutes. Wow! The human stories were all there too. Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa climber, whose Buddhist faith and example of his father who was one of the first men to reach Everest in 1953 made this climb a religious experience for him; Ed Viesturs, an experienced American mountain climber on his honeymoon; and Araceli Segarra, an award-winning mountain climber in her native Spain, striving to be the first Spanish woman to reach the summit. This team didn't expect it, but they were plunged into the drama of five deaths and extreme courage of the subjects of the book "Into Thin Air". They assisted with the rescue and then made a decision to continue. I must say I held my breath as the camera traveled with them all the way up to the summit. I know I will never climb Everest, but yet the film made me feel I had the experience. That's a big order from a film and it certainly delivered successfully. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Fatal Attraction
Review: The images in this film are absolutely stunning--crisp, colorful, and so real that they barely seem one-dimensional. The deadly beauty of Everest comes through loud and clear: sheer ice falls; huge chasms that must be crossed by way of precarious stepladders flung across them; avalanches; blizzards; subzero degree temperatures; sheer drops on either side of narrow, narrow trails. One can feels frozen and short of breath watching this film. But the beauty notwithstanding, what especially intrigues me about the film is the obsession that the mountaineers have to scale Everest. Part of the story of the film details the multiple deaths in a party trapped in a storm on Everest's slope. The leader of the party had a seven-month pregnant wife; all the other slain climbers had loved ones they left behind; the survivors placed rescuers--helicopter pilots and other mountaineers--in jeopardy. Is so much death and threat of death worthwhile? Isn't there a certain point where responsibility for others trumps a desire to stand on the "top of the world"? The film doesn't explore these questions, nor the issue of why so many people have such a compulsion to scale Everest. I wish it had, because I found myself both captivated by the mountain's beauty and angered by the wanton disregard for life displayed by the climbers.
Rating:
Summary: This film explores the depths of the human soul...
Review: I am professional outdoor/aerial photographer from Alaska who has seen grandeur of mother nature which would make most people cry in utter awe. This movie reminds me of spending quality time at Denali (Mt. McKinley) climber's basecamp at 7,300 feet. With 14,000 to 20,320 foot peaks and the constant rumbling of avalanches all around you, you get a sense of "total sensory overload" just as you did when you saw this movie in an IMAX theatre. This DVD is as real as big mountains get when placed onto the big silver screen or your home TV. The "extra" parts to the DVD make it even more worth buying!
This movie is also a godsend for the tourism in Nepal and Himalayan Region. The sheer maginitude of the Himalayas is shown here on this movie is as deep as the human spirt and as tall as the sky. However, to see this visuals from the elevation these climbers see it, you risk AMS, HAPE, HACE, snow blindness, avalanches and/or most certainly death for any small mistake in judgement. David Breashers deserves a medal of international honour for making such a masterpiece of a documentary. In addition, I wish pay a great tribute to the late George Harrison for making such awe-inspiring and chilling music scores for the backdrop of this movie. If you moved this movie on DVD, you owe it to yourself to buy the audio CD soundtrack as well. Every you go where Mother Nature shows off her wonders, take the CD with you and get inspired. When you listen to the audio CD, you can visualize the raw beauty of the Everest region and seens from the DVD in your mind. May the climbers from the 1996 Everest Disaster rest in peace. Also to all potential Everest climbers, you need to learn from these climbers fatal mistakes before you become a statistic yourself. As Ed Viesturs says regarding risk and climbing, "Getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory". My last words for this review are, "Always respect the power of Mother Nature"....
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: After watching this on my tiny TV, I'm kicking myself for having missed the Imax screening of this program. The visuals are simple stunning. Fantastic, sweeping landscape shots. Wonderful interviews on the mountain. Great narration from Liam. I was thinking that they would have covered more of the tragic ascent that season, but they do touch upon it and include an interview with one of the survivors. Nonetheless, if you've read "Into thin air" or "The Climb" this DVD is a must to help visualize what these people face. The last shots of the climbers literally having to pull their feet out of the snow and force out another step helps demonstrate why the climbing of Everest is dangerous and practically impossible. The subjects are very likeable and each has their reason for going on the expedetion. There's some really nice pre-everest training shots as well in Utah and in Spain that are really stunning.
Rating:
Summary: A Total Adventure Thrill!
Review: This movie deserves the highest ratings. The feature is short, but most IMAX movies are. This doesn't take away from the thrill though. This DVD contains "Making Of Everest" which makes the time a lot longer. It also has deleted scenes, extra climber journals, and a really cool 3D Everest map. Everest puts you on site of the tallest mountain in the world. David Breashears shows the training and tribulation of the mountain that everyone goes through. The movie was filmed during the 1996 climbing dissaster. The expedition was halted to help rescue these climbers. The making of Everest documents this disaster. The Making Of Everest also has tons of information on the IMAX film and the hiking team. The team was composed of many climbers including a rock climber from Mexico and a Sherpa, whose father was with the first ever to climb Everest. The IMAX film is 10 times sharper and can be shown clearly on screens up to 7 stories high. One reel weighs 10 pounds and only get 90 seconds of video. A DVD doesn't do justice to what the IMAX theater does. I would totally recommend you see this in theater or on a big screen TV. This is a superior IMAX movie.
Rating: 
Summary: More than anything else, a just tribute to the Sherpas
Review: Having seen a few Everest videos, this one is at the top. Wheareas the IMAX format affords a clear and crisp panorama of the climb and the descent, it is really the bonus cuts which make the DVD worth a viewing, in particular: the computer-generated 3D climbing route and vista from the summit, the interviews with the 3 featured climbers, and the thoughtful and methodical introspection of a climber rescued after a near-death experience, Dr. Beck Weathers! The video could have given the viewer a better background on the mountain itself. Its 3D graphics, though clear, reminded me of the graphics from my son's video games of a few years ago. To the moviemakers' credit, they justly call the Sherpas who toted their equipment and supplies (some of it all the way to the summit), "the real heroes of the expedition." Among world-class climbers, such acknowledgement and attribution are rare. Finally, of special note are the comments of Jamling Norgay, the son of Tensing Norgay, the first climber, along with Edmund Hillary, of Everest in the 1950s. If you get a chance to get your hands on this DVD, please see it.
Rating:
Summary: A Collector's Item
Review: I have 7 Everest DVD's and this is definitely at the top end of the collection. All the extras on the DVD also make very interesting viewing and you cannot help but feel total admiration for anyone who attempts the Everest challenge, whether it is being a cook at Base camp or oen of the elite that actually manages to reach the summit. I recommend this to anyone old enough to understand it. Great stuff!!
Rating:
Summary: An incredible film!
Review: This movie is about the 1996 Mt. Everest climbing season and it's a visually stunning, beautiful film which has held up marvelously since its release. I originally saw it in the IMAX format on the big screen, but the DVD transfer is stunning. Very little quality has been lost, either visually or in the audio segments. This is a high quality production from beginning to end, and you will not want this film to end! Though only 44 minutes in length, you can watch it repeatedly and always take something new from the experience. What I most enjoy about this movie is that you get to know the climbers that are profiled. You get to see them training for the gruelling Everest experience months in advance in their home countries. Various climbers are shown bicycling through the Arizona desert or rock climbing in Spain. They are interviewed and you're allowed a little window into their soul, so when they struggle on the mountain, you have empathy and understanding of their plight. The characterizations of the climbers are like getting to know people in novels, it's unusual in a documentary, but very compelling. The movie is magical in its visual beauty. The vistas are crisp, clear and sharp. The narration by Liam Neesom is understated, elegant and never intrusive. The ending credits play a stunning live version of the Beatles classic 1969 hit, "Here Comes the Sun" sung by George Harrison, recorded in Japan. All in all, this is a film of mastery. I urge everyone to see it and enjoy the stunning spectacle.
Rating:
Summary: MUST SEE DVD
Review: Again Ed Viesturs turns out in another astonishing film. This DVD filmed in the IMAX format, enhances the dificulties found in such task in a very dramatic way. I think that the best job was for the crew members to set the camera at different levels of altitude without messing anything !!! BRAVO for them. For David Brashears, Jamling Norgay and Araceli Cegarra, another big BRAVO for the effort displayed. What a must sorry matter that this film was being held while the 1996 tragedy took the lives of several climbers. In order to that, hope that this film reminds everyone that while you are attempting to climb a mountain, getting to the summit is optional, getting down safely is MANDATORY !!!!.
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