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ASIN : B00001U0E2
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Does an IMAX film play well on video? The large screen IMAX movie experience always sheds light on subjects we thought we knew before and adds a you-are-there immediacy. But once you shrink the image down to TV size, is the film still as effective? One certainly misses the impact of the huge IMAX screen, but for those who missed Everest in IMAX theaters, the video is well worth watching. The film is not letterboxed because the aspect ratio of IMAX films is very similar to that of a television. Only a few shots are "squished" to show the entire image (a shrine, a mountainscape), which gives them a bowed effect. However, the clarity of an IMAX film is so good to begin with that it makes an excellent video transfer. For anyone who read Jon Krakauer's bestseller Into Thin Air, Everest is vital to putting the images with Krakauer's prose, without following the excruciating blow-by-blow story again. --Doug Thomas
Amazon.com Essential Video
Filmed in the IMAX format, this film had the luck (or lack thereof) to be shot during the same fateful and fatal climb of Mount Everest chronicled in Jon Krakauer's book, Into Thin Air, in which a group of rich hobby climbers found themselves trapped by a blizzard near the summit. The IMAX film contains footage of those people, but focuses on its own group, as they make their assault on the top of the world's highest peak. Some startling footage of the mountain and the approaches--and, as in Krakauer's book, the depiction of what is involved in this kind of adventure (particularly the pain and suffering)--makes you wonder exactly where the fun is. But documentary film is about showing you something you're not likely to see otherwise, and this movie certainly fills the bill. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
3.5 Stars - Some priceless images, but the narrative is lacking (2008-06-08)  Some priceless images of Everest and its surrounding, Ironically, the lower visual quality supplemental material (especially how they -- the Sherpas -- lugged that 40+lb camera up the mountain and how the camera was operated 90 seconds -- 10lbs of film -- at a time) is actually more interesting, story-wise.Worthwhile, overall, but not a must-have.
How do they....DO that? (2004-07-01)  Since reading "Into Thin Air", I have become a virtual Everest '96 hound, and this is my first quarry. The IMAX team's goal on Everest was to film David Breashear's expedition in that fateful year, focusing primarily on Ed Viesturs, a seasoned climber from the States, and Araceli Segarra, in her quest to be the first Spanish woman to reach the summit. A lot of attention, deservedly so, is paid as well to Jangbu Sherpa, son of Tenzing Sherpa who accompanied Sir Edmund Hilary in his premier trip to the summit. And watching these climbers was riveting--ascending sheer sheets of ice, yards high, that look as though they are leaning in towards the climber; crossing bottomless chasms by placing an aluminum work ladder from one side to the other, and using it as a bridge; and feeling (in part through the excellent cinematography) the pull the mountain exerts on them to continue on. But I was floored, completely, by the thought of the cinematic team following along, all the way to the top, regardless of the weight and awkwardness of the equipment. For example, in the aforementioned aluminum ladder scene, shots seem to be taken from each side of the chasm. Had they carried that heavy equipment accross that ladder? And, once they came down from such a difficult and draining climb, they still managed to piece together a marvelous film. The cinematography, once again, is gorgeous. Shots of the mountain convey not only its beauty, but its terrifying danger, as ice and whirling snow tower over the climbers, as a rescue helicopter wavers, uncertainly, as Liam Nelson explains the scientific impossibility of a helicopter to work in such thin air (it does). Seeing the Icefall alone, I think, was worth the price I paid for the video. Warning: If you get this movie expecting it to be a documentary covering the Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness Expeditions, chronicled in "Into Thin Air", you will be disappointed. The IMAX expedition was unrelated to the others, and of course the crew could not predict that those expeditions might yield more interesting, if tragic, results. But the teams do interact with each other when it becomes clear that members are facing unexpected danger. I enjoyed "meeting" many of the folks I had read about. Finally, "Everest", the film, stands on its own. With a terrific story in Araceli Segarra, wonderful images from Utah and Spain as well as Nepal, and a score assisted by George Harrison melodies, it provides a great armchair journey to the top of the world.
Excellent (2004-06-17) For those who have not seen this DVD it has allot of footage of climbing Everest. The extra features on the DVD are also very well done. My only complaint is that there isn't very much footage of the Hillary Step and summit.
This film explores the depths of the human soul... (2004-04-07) 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". 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 were 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"....and when out in nature "leave no trace"..
Fatal Attraction (2004-03-01) 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.
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