Everest (2015)

A movie that's as stunning and as majestic and as spellbinding as mount Everest itself. Even for many of us who've never been to Nepal, just the fact that Everest is the world's highest mountain requires us to respect it from afar. And I think that's what this film by director Baltasar Kormakur has accomplished, it respects the story, it respects the nature and it respects the memories of the lives lost during that tragic 1996 expedition.

Baltasar is an Icelandic filmmaker who knows how to shoot a film in such an environment where the weather can be unpredictable and it can go against you at anytime. He didn't want all of this movie to be shot entirely in a studio, this is not entirely visual effects work, they actually went to Nepal and some of the other locations include Val Senales, Italy. It's out there in the elements, outdoors locations that force even the actors themselves to leave their trailer comfort zone behind. And that is evident on screen, it really shows, because every single frame successfully makes us the audience feel like we're there, we feel the danger, as if we're there climbing the mountain, feeling the pain that comes with excruciating cold because human bodies aren't design to survive such temperature. I think the timing of the arrival of this movie could not have been more perfect. If EVEREST was made a decade or fifteen years ago, for example, when filmmaking technology and the cameras weren't as advanced, I'm not sure if it could've given us a movie-watching experience of this quality. This is not a heist thriller ala 1993's "Cliffhanger," this is an epic survival drama.

Many of us are familiar with Jon Krakauer's book, "Into Thin Air" since he himself was one of the climbers, but this movie is not an adaptation, because it's also loosely inspired by other accounts, other books about that same expedition, so in a way, what the scribes William Nicholson and also Simon Beauty and filmmaker Baltasar gave us is a reimagining but one that captures the essence and I think that's what the actors themselves aimed to do. Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Jason Clarke, all of them play these real characters that have families, some may have personal issues, and so the backstory or who's waiting for them on the other side of the world serve as an emotional anchor and a driving force. But you only get a glimpse of it, the script doesn't spend too much time in every last one of them, there are too many grounds to cover, so it provides just enough and then brings the attention back to this whole man vs. nature, this ordeal at hand, all over again, just like one of the characters says in the movie, "The last word belongs to the mountain." EVEREST movie does make me wonder why anyone would want to climb mount everest, but it's basically the same as asking ourselves why we do certain things, why we choose to attempt to conquer certain goals, whatever they may be, whether it's the need to inspire and be inspired, whether it's trying to escape our problems, whether it's the love of the climb, EVEREST goes to show that that desire could be both prideful and humbling.

Fmovies: "I want to see Everest". Could you be a bit more specific? Assuming that you're not talking about making a trip to Nepal, there are still many ways to interpret your request besides seeing the 2015 docudrama. The world's tallest mountain is the center of the story in a 1998 documentary, a 2007 TV mini-series, a 2014-2015 TV series and another film project still in development. All of these treatments are simply titled, "Everest". More to the point, 2015's "Everest" (PG-13, 2:01) re-tells the specific story from the '98 doc and a 1997 TV movie ("Into Thin Air: Death on Everest"), but tells it more vividly than ever before.

The '97, '98 and 2015 films all take us along for doomed expeditions up the tallest peak in the Himalayas in May 1996, as told in at least five books by survivors, most famously in journalist Jon Krakauer's 1997 best-seller "Into Thin Air", which is the primary basis for the screenplay of 2015's "Everest". As the film tells us early on, by the late 1980s, climbing Everest had transitioned from the domain of adventurers like George Mallory and Edmund Hillary with minimal equipment to a tourist destination for thrill-seekers with little climbing experience, but enough money to buy state-of-the-art equipment, stay in established base camps, and hire local Sherpas as guides and, in some cases, to carry the climber's gear and cook meals. But as the films about the 1996 climbs (and subsequent major avalanches) have shown, no amount of money, gear, help or even experience can insulate anyone from the dangers inherent in this climb. "The last word," as one character in the 2015 film says, "always belongs to the mountain." "Everest" follows two of the expeditions which suffered tragic losses on the mountain on May 10-11, 1996. Rival expedition leaders Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), of the company Adventure Consultants, and Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), of Mountain Madness, decide to work together due to the large number of people trying to reach the peak on May 10th. The main focus of the story is Hall's team, which includes people with a wide range of personal backgrounds. Hall is an experienced New Zealand mountaineer who has already climbed to the top of Everest four times, including once with his wife, Jan (Keira Knightley), who has stayed in New Zealand this time due to her pregnancy. Doug Hansen (John Hawkes) is a mailman who attempted Everest once before and wants to reach the summit as a way of inspiring schoolchildren back home in Washington state. Yasuko Namba is a 47-year-old Japanese woman who has already climbed the other six of the famed Seven Summits and wants to become the oldest woman to reach the top of Everest. Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) is an adventurous Texan who is also pursuing the goal of the Seven Summits, but has lied to his wife, Peach (Robin Wright), about his current trip to Everest. Jon Krakauer is a writer for "Outside" magazine, but has never been on a climb above 8000m. Several of the people portrayed in this film died on Everest and others barely escaped with their lives.

"Everest" is much more than a high-altitude adventure movie or disaster flick. Besides learning about the personal backgrounds of the characters, we follow them on their entire adventure, from beginning to end, learning a good bit about mountain climbing along the way. One of the first things we learn is that, to these people, summit is a verb. Hall lays out the

'EVEREST' - 2015

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur{2 Guns; Contraband}

Starring Jason Clarke{Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; White House Down}, Josh Brolin{The Goonies; No Country for Old Men} and Josh Hawkes{The Sessions; Winter's Bone}

Plot Overview: We follow experienced Mt Everest Climbers, Rob Hall(Jason Clarke) and Scott Fishcer(Jake Gyllenhaal{Brokeback mountain; Nightcrawler}) take a series of mountain climbers to the peak of Everest. But when an unexpected storm strikes, Hall and Fishcer must get their climbers down before it is too late.

I am a man whom is VERY fond of films that have been based on a true story. The sometimes horrifying fact that an event actually took place is haunting to me, but immensely intriguing. Thus, I went into this movie with perhaps too high of expectations. Kormakur's movie '2 Guns' ceased to impress me so I should have maybe lowered those expectations. Alas, I believe in second chances so I gave the man a chance. And I was incredibly disappointed. Everest is a dull, boring, monotonous Oscar bait film that I had the displeasure of seeing. Nothing in this film is distinctly amazing, nothing in this movie is distinctly good. But this isn't one of those average movies where you think 'Oh it wasn't too bad; I could still watch it again sometime'. This is one of those average movies that was a chore to get through, not based on quality but based on entertainment value. I didn't expect Jason Clarke to wield a bazooka and rocket jump up the mountain, but the overly long and boring dullness that this film presents, once again, ceased to impress me.

Did I like anything in this film though? Yeah. I loved the performances. Not a single actor fails in this movie and they consistently displayed the hardships they're facing and barbaric nature of the event they find themselves in. Two standouts for me are easily the two I initially billed: Jason Clarke and Josh Brolin. Clarke is an actor that I've never took issue with, but has never been blown away by. That is until this movie. Clarke delivers a gut wrenching and harrowing performance as Rob Hall and he was, perhaps unfairly, one of the only two characters I felt a genuine connection to. I think you can guess who the other was. Surprise, surprise - it was the other character in the movie who gave a stand out performance. Josh Brolin is an excellent actor and I truly loved his performance in this film. He is the other character I was even remotely interested in, and that is down to Brolin's excellent performance. Was anyone Oscar worthy? No. But I was definitely fulfilled and pleased with the performances in this film.

Another aspect of the film I was impressed by, was the visuals. The cinematography in this movie was excellent, and Kormakur definitely succeeds in enveloping the audience in his cold, calculating blanket of snow and ice. I actually got shivers at certain point from the way Kormakur utilised the camera and visual effects to manufacture a chilling, icy atmosphere of isolation. The editing was also very well done and incredibly concise. Visuals are honestly the greatest praise I can award this movie. Alas, amazing visuals are not enough.

I don't think I can call the story of this film weak without possibly offending someone. But in all honestly, I did. As insensitive as this may be to say, I don't think it was that interesting OR a story that needed to be told. Don't get me wrong: it's absolutely horrible was happened

Everest fmovies. Everest is not a bad movie, but it isn't a pretty one either, it's pretty bad! especially for anyone who has viewed mountaineering and/or survival themed movies before.

Cinematography: The cinematography is certainly good. Some panoramic scenes are breathtaking and successfully convey the awesomeness of the task that is scaling the Everest.

Music score: I can't recall now if the movie even has an original music score or any music at all. A rather odd exception for a movie that is bound to have elements of suspense and intense human drama.

Casting: There are some big names in the cast, who have been assigned small parts and the lead roles given to relative and complete unknowns. The audience has an obvious expectation of the significance of a character based on the reputation of the actor playing that part. Now, big names are sometimes used to play characters that die early and unexpectedly to put the reassured audience in a state of shock and real sense of danger about the remaining characters. However, Everest employs no such ploy. The casting is just plain nonsensical.

Character development: Rarely have I seen a movie that does a worse job of character development than Everest. There is a lot of time spent on absolutely irrelevant small-talk, boring background description, prosaic emotional dialogues and for so many characters. At the end of this we are left with one dimensional characters. There isn't a single character, including the protagonist (whoever that is?) that is even two dimensional. It is difficult to impossible to relate or care about any of the characters. One could not care less if a character went up the mountain, or down, or just round and round. It felt weird to be so enormously apathetic about any character falling in or out of peril on the slopes.

Acting: I suppose some of the bigger actors tried to do the best they could with the small parts and insipid dialogues, but the actors in the leading parts failed to deliver. The portrayal was dead-pan throughout.

Direction, Script-writer: The only thing that could compare to the everest in this movie is the colossal failure of the director and the script-writer. A mediocre school-boy writing and presenting his first essay ever in school would do about the same as these two. A directionless rambling of random excerpts from a book about the story. When you watch how some directors and script-writers can get a character under your skin in a few minutes you realize just how bad a job was done in this movie.

Movie is art ... not a tax-return form: One can understand that the director wanted to be true to the actual story to the letter, with no dramatization, with an assumption that the grandiose setting, that is the Everest, would naturally and automatically impress itself upon the mind of the audience. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the audience cannot implicitly feel the bone chilling winds, or the asphyxiating low oxygen air, or acrophobia, or fatigue sitting in their cushioned seats. They need to be shown these things visually, or through the condition of characters they have been made to care about conveyed through dialog or action. However, Everest director seems to forget these very fundamentals of movie making.

Conclusion: Go see 'Touching the void' instead of this movie and if you have already seen 'Touching the void', then go see it again and it will surely be more suspenseful, entertaining, and rewarding than watching Everest.

Everest is based on the true story of Robert Hall and Scott Fischer's expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. It's a premise that suggests an emotional character-driven story of two men braving the elements as the ascend Everest. Unfortunately, the movie never reaches the dizzying heights that its title suggests.

There are some elements of the movie that do really well; the majesty of Everest is excellently captured with beautiful aerial shots and visceral down-to-earth shots of the climbers which convey the lethality of Everest, imbuing the movie with a sense of tension throughout. However, this effect is severely diminished by the lack of characterisation that is the movie's greatest flaw.

Primarily suffering from a lack of focus, it attempts to introduce the characters of all those involved in the real life expedition, perhaps this was as a homage to them and their families but it stopped the movie having a clear protagonist. Additionally, the development that these characters get is very, very limited. It may be that the adherence source material was the downfall of this movie as there is a distinct lack of any character arcs.

As such, emotional moments are scarce. Despite the many on-screen tears, you will be hard-pressed to find yourself feeling for these climbers you barely know no matter how well-acted they are (and they are, Jason Clarke as Rob Hall stands out). Thinking on it, I can only recall the one scene which really struck a chord with me (once again, sold very well by Clarke) but, on the whole, I was apathetic to the plight of the climbers.

Do not expect this movie to blow you away with a story about people and their attempt to conquer Mount Everest, it settles for being a half-baked disaster movie that spends a lot of time building itself up only to sabotage its own potential with poor development of the cast.

The film shows a statistics that only one in four have been able to return safely after Everest's ascent. The risk involved in mountain climbing is immense, with the possibility of avalanches, altitude sickness, hypothermia, frost bite, which has been briefed in the beginning. The story en-capsules the 1996 expedition to Everest by a team of 13 mountaineers who face a devastating snow storm after ascending the Everest, which is considered one of the deadliest disasters in Everest.

The film is superb in terms of visuals. The mountains, camps, glaciers nowhere look graphical. As I've been in the mountain flight (a popular flight in Nepal where twin engined aircraft fly as close to 5 miles to the Himalayas at a high altitude to show the breath taking views of the mountains), I've experienced how the Himalayas look at a close range. The views of Everest from the base camp, Lukla Airport, and a rescue helicopter trying to land amid the high wind are superb testifying the hardship of mountain climbing. The abrupt linkages of the facts and information documents the geographical setting well. But I limit my praise for the film only up-to this as in terms of story or character development, the film falls pretty weak.

Despite showcasing an important phase of history and technically made well, the film fails to become a memorable one. It's not another Cliffhanger or Vertical Limit (caper movies on mountain climbing with villains.) As a good point, the film doesn't dramatize much of the sequences. But it's also not "Touching the void", which is one of the most tense and visceral movies I've ever watched on mountain climbing. "Everest" doesn't raise more than a documentary failing to get deep into the skin or examine the human spirit of the characters which could have made the film memorable. The film gives a certain footage on history or recreate the adventure and tragedy, but the feeling tried to be created is inadequate which doesn't fulfill the hype created.

Rating: 1.5 stars out of 4