The Wildest Dream

I'd love to give this a high rating, to tell everyone how beautifully it is made and how the story is truly gripping and awe inspiring.

Whilst all that is true I gave up on it before I was a quarter of the way through because Liam Neeson was many times inaudible over the horrendously loud "background" sounds and music.

For reference, I still have good hearing, but this is in that class of film/documentary where the idiot producer just kept screaming at the sound engineers "LOUDER LOUDER LOUDER LOUDER" and ended up ruining the whole experience.

If you enjoy watching everything with the subtitles turned on, go ahead.

Stories of mountaineering and of Everest have always fascinated me. So often, facts make better stories than fiction, and this is another example. I first remember hearing about the discovery of George Mallory's body on what turned out to be a PBS/NOVA special "Lost on Everest" made shortly after the discovery of his body by Conrad Anker, which shows the actual footage of the discovery.

The story of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine is overshadowed by the story of Sir Edmond Hillary, who is the first person to officially summit Everest. Mallory and Irvine's story and efforts are no less dramatic considering they attempted the summit 30 earlier, along a more difficult route. Even if they did not succeed in reaching the summit, the fact that they were 800 feet within the summit is in itself astounding.

Using up to date technology and filming techniques, along with rarely seen archival footage, this documentary complements the story and narration, and the repeat attempt along the same route replicating similar conditions back then are equally dramatic. Along with "Touching the Void", "The Beckoning Silence" and the current Nova special "Chasing Shackleton" captures the adventurous spirit of the Golden Age of Exploration.

I am a complete sucker for any story about mountains, and this is a true story of an attempt to understand what happened to George Mallory and Andrew Irvine when they tried to summit Everest in 1924. Mallory's body was found near the summit, leading to speculation that the men may have succeeded in reaching the summit and died on the way down. Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding recreate the historic climb which started in Tibet and required difficult rock climbing in the final stretch. (The modern route, pioneered by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953, required approval from the government of Nepal which Mallory did not obtain.) I won't spoil it for you by revealing what Anker and Houlding learned. It is amazing to see the primitive type of clothing, shoes, and equipment that Mallory and Irvine used! The mountain vistas are thrilling. I usually don't like "The Making of---" movies, but in this instance, I would very much like to know more about how The Wildest Dream was filmed.

Modern documentary retracing George Mallory's 1924 Mt Everest attempt, which ended in his and his companion's disappearance. His frozen body, with compound fracture, was found in 1999.

1924 was near the end of the glory years of the old explorers. Both poles, darkest Africa, perfumed Asia, tropical South America, all have been trekked. Only that peak remained to be claimed.

Two modern climbers retraced Mallory's path, wearing layered clothing, fur hats, hobnail boots, goggles.

The ladder, placed near the top in the 70s (and used since by countless handicapped, overweight, blind wannabee mountaineers) was removed.

Film swings back and forth between Mallory, his letters, the 20s and the difficulties the modern duo encounter.

Cold is ever present, and caused one viewer in the room to move closer to the fire.

I find it hard to agree with one of the other reviewers here who was left unmoved and disconnected by this brilliant attempt to capture the first attempt by the West to conquer Everest.

The level of research, the history connection through the letters, the original film that was shot in the 1920s, the memories of relatives, and the extensive recreation by two professional climbers, all coupled with simply stunning photography, and voice-overs by Liam Nilson and a cast of the best of British voice-over really makes for an exceptional and honestly involving climbing documentary.

For anyone interested in adventure, exploration, or climbing you could do far far worse. National Geographic have put the highest production values on this, and for my buck, it more than works.