Everest (IMAX) (1996)

Chicago Sun-Times
"...What makes Everest such a stunning picture is that it transports the audience to another world where the athletes don't just want to reach the top of the mountain. They are compelled to..." 05/08/1998 p.35

Apollo Leisure Guide 8 of 10
There is something essentially anti-social about mountain climbing. It shares this quality with other individual pastimes, but very few of them include as many risks. Interestingly, many serious mountain climbers dismiss Everest, the world's tallest peak, not only because it is less challenging than other smaller mountains, but also because it has become the playground of some rich and not-so-capable climbers trying to impress their socialite friends in London, New York or Tokyo. Regardless, Everest's mystique remains. In 1996, IMAX sent a film crew, along with a team of three climbers led by Everest veteran Ed Viesturs, to capture the magnificence of Chomo Lunga (goddess-mother). It seems fitting that the greatest mountain is captured on 70-millimetre film and displayed on a five story-high screen. The IMAX experience was made for Everest, as the cinematography and sound are sensational... [There] are two cogently engaging aspects in this story of Everest. One is the journey of Jamling Tenzing Norgay. Jamling wants to follow in the footsteps of his famous father, who accompanied Hillary to the top in 1953. His story is told elegantly with a few well-chosen words and some beauteous imagery. The second is the story of the single worst disaster in Everest history. On May 10,1996 five climbers died during a freak storm at the top of the mountain. The filmmakers made a tasteful decision not to film any of the victims, alluding quietly to their grief at this great loss. For those who want your IMAX Everest experience to be an emotionally profound experience, Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, which provides a first hand account of this climb, is compulsory reading or viewing. However, even without this guide, IMAX's Everest is a trip well worth taking. - Dan Jardine
 
Boxoffice Magazine 9 of 10
Intrigued by the challenge of filming in large-scale IMAX format a team of climbers' ascent up the tallest peak in the world, Emmy award-winning filmmaker David Breashears (Red Flag Over Tibet) got more than he bargained for. In the process of filming this historic event in May 1996, his crew unexpectedly witnessed the worst tragedy ever to take place on Mt. Everest: On May 10, 1996, while the climbers and crew patiently waited at Camp II for storm conditions to clear, 23 other climbers were caught in a terrifying white-out that took eight lives, including those of two experienced leaders, Scott Fischer and Rob Hall. In its exclusive footage, Everest depicts the events that followed, including their own dramatic rescue of survivor Beck Weathers, who stumbled into their camp suffering from severe frostbite on his hands and face. Everest shows in its dramatically-scored, beautifully-filmed footage the extreme conditions that prevail on the peak known as the highest point in the world. Likewise, it shows just how strong the human spirit can be in the face of adversity. Its stars are expedition members Ed and Paula Viesturs, Jamling Tenzing Norgay, Sumiyo Tsuzuki, and Araceli Segarra, who wagered their lives to make this film. Shown struggling up icy precipices and above yawning chasms hundreds of feet deep, they reveal their thoughts and feelings about life, death and the task they have before them. In the end, three of the climbers made it to the 29,028' summit (as well as director Breashears, who previously set a world record as the first American to scale the peak twice). As each climber is shown standing on the very top of the mountain, gazing out over the horizon above the clouds, we, the spectators, are also privileged to share the victory and exhilaration of their climb. - Pat Kramer