Movie Review: Everest – As Close to Being There Yourself
If you want to climb Mt. Everest, s take two hours to see the new Hollywood version of the 1996 disaster, but don’t take your spouse – you won’t be allowed to go! Everest has been hyped for several months now as “based on true story” yet not following any specific book or version of what happened. The movie is often said to follow Jon Krakauer seller ”Into Thin Air” but that is not true. In fact Krakauer recently said about the entire movie in an interview, case “It’s total bull” Watching with an Experienced Eye I was eager to see the film as I have a deep relationship with the mountain after four climbs including one summit. I know what it is like to be trapped in harsh weather, to turn around when you are so close to the summit, to be so exhausted that taking one step further seems impossible, to see conflict between teammates, guides and Sherpas. Everest has all this and more. In 2002, I made my first attempt on Mt. Everest with Adventure Consultants. Guy Cotter lead the trip and Ang Dorge Sherpa was our climbing Sidar. One of the 1996 members, John Taske, was on our team. We talked about that day, what happened from their viewpoint, but they were cautious with their comments, respectful of their lost teammates and now determined to apply lessons learned to a new generation of Mt. Everest climbers. I watched the movie primarily with an eye towards authenticity, not accuracy. By now, there have been multiple accounts of what happened on May 10, 1996. Recently, the families of the d climbers have come out to give their version. I have no idea what really happened that day, but the big picture is fairly clear: competition amongst guides, ambition by climbers, ignoring weather forecasts all conspired towards a deadly confluence of events that took eight lives that day. Cinematography at it’s Finest I was curious how the mountain itself would be portrayed. 15 years in the making, technology had come a long way with lightweight cameras, green screens, CGI and more clever techniques that often take the movie goer to far away places with never a shot taken in that location. Everest was none of that. Many of the film’s scenes were taken on Mt. Everest itself by David Breashears and others. Breashears was there in 1996 and made the award winning IMAX film that introduced millions to what happened that day and to Mt. Everest Many of the close up scenes were shot in the Dolomites in Northern Italy. And a full sound stage was used to recreate some of the camp scenes. And, yes, there were some computer generated scenes. *** This review covers the entire movie, if you don’t know the story and want to be surprised, stop here. *** Opening with Reality The movie opens in New Zealand with the Rob Hall character preparing to leave his pregnant wife on another commercial Mt. Everest expedition. He proudly mentions that he got Jon Krakauer to join his team as a reporter from Outside magazine. His main commercial competition, Mountain Madness, thought Krakauer was going to join his team; thus the competition is set for who can become the premier Mt. Everest guiding company. We quickly see the team assembled in Kathmandu. Familiar scenes of Thamel and strangers meeting for the first time are well done. The Beck Weathers character is introduced with arrogance as he taunts Doug Hansen, the “mailman” who was turned back in 1995 at the South Summit by Rob Hall. We see the team trekking to Mt. Everest Base Camp with only a few scenes of that amazing trek including the swinging bridges over the Dudh Kosi, walking the stone streets of Namche Bazaar and famous views of Mt. Everest and Ama Dablam. I particularly liked one scene where Weathers is panting for breath while walking up stone steps in Namche, as a bunch of kids running by with ease. Another scene has yaks slowly walking by, covered with snow, their bells ringing. This brought back memories for me. They nailed this experience giving me encouragement that Hollywood was under control. Creative License The movie shifts to Mt. Everest Base Camp where we meet the Adventure Consultants Base Camp Manager, Helen Wilton. In my opinion, she comes off as the glue that holds the movie together. One scene that has been criticized by viewers for lack of depth was when Krakauer asked his fellow teammates the key question of “Why”. He is quickly dissed by Weathers with the quip “because it is there” but others join in to express their views. The Doug Hansen character does a great service to all Mt. Everest climbers with his answer. He speaks of dreams, of emotions, of purpose. He talks about a school that gave him some much needed funding to make his return trip and that he wanted to summit for them, and for himself. Of all the characters, Hansen came off genuine to me. Hall and Fischer have a bit of a tiff over who will lead on the mountain and Krakauer’s involvement. Fisher is portrayed as a true climber with a hippie attitude while Hall comes off as all business. Both men are shown as ambitious, single-minded and competitive. Silly Scenes I really don’t have a lot of criticism of the movie but like the promotional trailer, the next few scenes wreaked of Hollywood and flirted with Vertical Limit style exaggeration. As the climbers are going through Khumbu Icefall, Beck Weathers is on a long ladder. A serac release near him causing him to loose his balance and nearly fall off the ladder. With a nod to another silly climbing movie, Cliff Hanger, Weathers fumbles to stay on the ladder while Hall goes out to rescue him. All in all, quite dramatic and overdone. Next up to demonstrate to the viewers that Mt. Everest is dangerous is a contrived scene on the Lhotse Face where an avalanche occurs