Everest

I have to disagree, I found this amazing to watch, I mean come on! All you have to do is See Mount Everest and I get all googly-eyed.

I thought the photography was incredible, and the information on how they get there and why they are helping the geologist is fascinating to a "civilian" like me, which is who the movie is for.

If you are a true climber then sure I can imagine it might disappoint, but I'm not sure why.

This isn't supposed to be the final word on what Everest is like, it's a picture of the ascent of one team, and what it takes to get there.

After seeing this gorgeous film I want to try for Everest myself in a few years. Rarely do movies inspire me, but this one did.

Go Imax!

Typical IMAX movie: impressive mountains, impressive views, impressive falls... very impressive. However, I didn't care about the "story", or any of the people in there... In fact, the true heroes in my opinion are the people who went all the way up the Everest *carrying* the IMAX camera... However, you hardly hear about them...

This superb documentary contains beautiful shots of Mt. Everest and its surroundings, as well as discerning cinematography to make us aware of the challenges involved in scaling it. Great on IMAX, without a doubt! "Everest" insists on making us know how much oxygen is an issue as well as weather and temperature. There are, of course, other challenges. As to the tragic parties: "Everest" does a good job in presenting the logistical problems they faced as their fates were being sealed. Up and down the mountain, at different stations and spots. Though the climbers are obviously brave, their recklessness limits the sympathy we feel for them. But perhaps the most noteworthy thing to take from this film is that it is simply crazy to want to climb Mt. Everest, at least for me. What a great risk of death or permanent bodily harm! More than just a high climb straining your legs!

I saw this recently at the Space Museum in Hong Kong, and thought it was stunning. The photography was superb, making full use of the whole FOV image possible with IMAX equipment. The documentary was emotive and compelling and the scenes breathtaking. Those scared of heights should probably skip this one!!

Some of the camera work in this IMAX feature is absolutely stunning. And the mere fact that the crew was able to lug a bulky, heavy IMAX camera and film to the summit of Everest is a testament to sheer guts and determination. Unfortunately, the end result is somewhat of a mixed bag. There are moments of great emotional intensity (most notably, the miraculous Beck Weathers rescue), but, like a few others here, I got the feeling that much of the potential of the IMAX format simply went to waste. IMAX is, after all, an overwhelmingly visual medium, so why waste so much time on trying to create a Hollywood style `story' out of it? I mean, if I had gone to all the effort of getting that camera to the top, I'd have damned well given the audience some spectacular panoramic shots of the view from the summit instead of wasting valuable footage on two climbers hugging each other (a scene that would have worked just fine if shot on plain old videotape). In summation, this film has some truly amazing moments, but as a whole, it seems the creators failed to use the IMAX format to the maximum potential.

PS: The DVD version contains lots of good supplementary material, in fact, the `making of the film'