Customer Ratings & Reviews

"The last word always belongs to the mountain". It's interesting that Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur has taken the helm for the 3D mountain-climbing spectacle, Everest. Just a few years ago he tackled another man vs. Mother Nature survival tale, The Deep, depicting a true triumph of the human spirit over the elements. Things aren't quite so rosy in Everest, though; a film of literally high adventure, superhuman exploits, and devastating loss. In depicting the sheer danger of the moment, the awe-inspiring majesty of the mountain itself, the film is beyond reproach, but its characterization of the men and women who risked all is slippery as Everest's icy face. Based on the tragic true events depicted in author Jon Krakauer's book, Into Thin Air (although other material was used as well), the film centers on multiple 1996 expeditions to scale Everest's summit. Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) is the man who helped turn such expeditions into a profitable business, and those corporate concerns clash mightily with the brutal reality of Mother Nature when she's all worked up. Through brisk introductory setup we meet Rob's pregnant wife (Keira Knightley), left behind to worry while he takes on one more climb. There's also 100% Texan Beck Weathers (played by 100% Californian Josh Brolin); everyman Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), who has tried to reach the summit twice and failed; Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), a woman who has reached 6 of the world's 7 summits; and Krakauer himself (Michael Kelly), documenting the journey. There are also a trio of ladies, played by the incredibly talented Emily Watson, Robin Wright, and Elizabeth Debicki, who are left behind to man the fort or just to worry. They don't get a lot to do but are essential for drawing an emotional connection, because there aren't many opportunities for that once the expedition actually begins. The mountain is, obviously, treacherous in just about every respect. The weather conditions are unpredictable, every movement or errant sound could trigger a landslide, and there are any number of ways a person can die attempting something like this. "Human beings simply aren’t built to function at the cruising altitude of a 747", Rob informs the already-experienced team, all customers who paid a hefty sum to reach the peak. But the real conflict, at least initially, isn't with the mountain, it's with rival climbers leading similar expeditions. Long-haired hippie Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) is leading one, while other groups make for a crowded field. Tension mounts as climbers are forced to wait in sub-zero temperatures while others go ahead of them, creating a potentially lethal scenario. Not everyone has the experience, the concern, or the temperament Rob has, either. If there's an undertone explored by screenwriters Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and William Nicholson (Unbroken) it's that Everest has been shamelessly exploited as just another commercial product. In a way, it undercuts the "Because it's there" gung-ho mentality of those who dare climb the mountain. You can now buy an expedition to the top of Mt. Everest like you buy a trip to Hawaii. Conversely, those in charge feel obligated to get you to the summit because you are a paying customer who could give them bad press. There's danger in that kind of compromise, one that Everest should have dug into further. But that would take away from the IMAX 3D escapade at hand, and this is a film that the format was designed for. It's literally breath-taking to follow the aerial ascent, reaching heights up to 29000 feet where every gasp for air could be the last. It's true that the mountain itself gets a far better treatment than the human characters as Kormakur and DP Salvatore Totino impressively capture every jagged foot. However, through all the thick fog and snow the human drama gets buried, exacerbated by the inability to tell who is who underneath all that massive gear. Basically, most of the climbers make the summit, but a severe storm strikes soon after, rendering the journey home nearly impossible. Everybody isn't going to make it back, and the deaths start piling up quickly...perhaps too quickly. In an effort to be as authentic as possible, the tragedy is shown with as little theatrics as possible. It may be honest, it may be how things actually went down, but it makes for a low-key, downbeat survival thriller when all is said and done. There's also a great deal of confusion about the specifics of what actually doomed the climbers, so much so that it may be wise to check the Wikipedia entry, or Krakauer's book, to figure out what really happened. That's not to say the performance during these scenes were bad, though. While this all-star cast don't get enough to build fully formed characters around, individually Clarke, Gyllenhaal, Brolin, Hawkes, and Kelly are great. It's just disappointing to not get more of a sense into who these people were, especially Namba as the one woman in the group attempting a record-breaking feat. Ultimately, Everest succeeds in capturing the experience, putting you right there thousands of feet in the air where no man was meant to go. But like the air at that incredible height, the film is pretty thin and never strives to be about anything in particular. There's no triumph of the human spirit here, just endless tragedy.

Everest is very intense and full of suspense. It keeps you interested from start to finish. It's based on a true story, and that adds a lot of impact as well. Technically, this HDR 4K movie is quite rich in color, at least in the early parts of the movie away from the snow. I'm a bit new to the HDR thing, and I'm finding the HDR movies to be very dark and hard to bring them up to a picture that I'm used to. This one needed some tweaking, but I was able to get it up to a nice picture. Sound quality was great. I use 7.1, but not Atmos ready, yet, so it plays in Dolby True Audio, and I have found the 4K movies to have a better sound to them than regular bluray.

Everest is the dramatic story of the May, 1996 disaster atop Mt. Everest, when 2 guided mountaineering expeditions met a sudden storm near the summit with tragic consequences. The movie does a great job at recreating the tension and drama of the event. It questions the wisdom of guided expeditions, the pressure to get the clients to the top, the role of Sherpas in this enterprise, and all of the resulting poor decisions and bad judgment resulting from conflicting objectives. The photography is amazing. With a few exceptions, character development is rather light. But overall, a worthwhile movie. Although the movie does not give credit, it is based on the popular book Into Thin Air.

this movie is about actual events that took place on mt. Everest in 1996. it is a remake of the movie into thin air based on the book into thin air by jon krakauer. this movie Everest was done much better than the original it is much more realistic. I personally have been on Everest and the movie gives you a good feel of what it's like to be on that mountain

Everest is the highest place to climb on the planet. Anyone wishing to climb it needs preparation to conquer it. A top notch crew of adventurers with enough experience in climbing and the elements, gets reminded that any day is not just another day climbing Everest. What I found lacking in the film, was an attempt to accentuate the drama and tragedy properly. Although this was drawn from an actual event back in the '90's, it reminds you that nature is an uncontrollable force.

The story line and the quality of the film was great for the first half of the feature. However, I quickly became quite bored with the story line when they started coming down from Everest. The producers, in my opinion, spent way to much time in whiteout conditions developing every little scenario.

The producers have toned down the dramatics of this movie and have stayed true to real events. Nonetheless, the 4K presentation is very enjoyable; the contrast between the white snow background and the climbers outfits as well as skin tones are very clear and realistic.

This movie gives you a nice insight on the dangerous drive of the elite who want to make that "life statement" by scaling Mt Everest with their guides. People try to reach the top and people die... it happens every year. Worth a watch and not too bad, but I still prefer "Vertical Limit" over this one.

Great price for a 3D combo pack. I knew nothing about this title prior to purchasing. I liked the cast and that it was in 3D. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to what I know will be good in 3D. Everest did not disappoint. Real locations mixed with highly believable visual effects. This based on actual events film will place you high upon the earth on Everest, the highest mountain on our planet.

Adding 3D to this movie saves an okay movie, and makes it an exciting watch. The scenes with the ladders across the crevasse are visually outstanding.I watched with headphones as well as the glasses, and found myself lost on the mountain with the Jake, Josh, and Jason!! Such Fun. JC

I bought this because I'd recently bought a 4K TV and wanted something to show off on it. This movie made for pretty good demo material, plus I was surprised to discover that the movie itself was actually very good. It's based on a true story and from what I've read it stays pretty faithful to what actually happened I'd never heard the story and found it quite moving. Reccommended

I saw this movie in 3D in the theater and was impressed with the cinematography filmed in this movie. The clarity, the 3D and audio quality on this blu ray disc is also very good. The movie storyline is based on a true story of an expedition team during a commercial guide to climb the mountain top of Everest which turned out a disaster. Overall, it is a good movie and has great videos.

Purchased this movie on a blind buy, since I am a sucker for survival stories. Given that it was based on a true story, it was interesting to see what the people involved had to go through due to their bad luck and decision making. It was a good movie, but was a bit too traditional Hollywood for my taste. The disc itself is great, as are most modern movies. The 3D was not too distracting either.

This film captures the magesty and awsume beauty of Mt,Everest and the Himalayas. The radically changing weather patterns and life challenging routes to the summit are breath taking and cannot be explained by words alone - you must see this movie to truly appreciate how big this challenge really is - wow!

This one is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand it's a harrowing story beautifully shot and well acted. On the other it watches like the cliffs notes version of the Everest event. After reading "into thin air" and watching the movie version it becomes apparent that this movie skims by large portions of the story. That being said, this should be great for the uninitiated.

My only real disappointment is that I felt, given the excellence of the 4K format, there should have been more panoramic views of the scenery. Yes, the story was important and highly charged emotionally, but for my personal taste the balance of the film should have included more of what actually inspired the events that were so well presented.

Great to see in 3D and maintains your attention throughout with imagery, however, the story line didn't grab me. But I could be wrong about the storyline, because I just wasn't grabbed by it. With the number of people who attempt Everest each year at this time, the 3D version of this movie will definitely give a glimpse into the danger they face

This is another excellent movie with great cast but limited audience attendance. The story started out not too slow in introducing most of the main characters. As soon as they reached the mountain, it kept you on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately, without the box office numbers for support, studios are rarely to make these type of movies.

While Everest certainly works better on a big screen, the Blu-ray retains a lot of the power and majesty of the film. Beautifully shot, with a riveting story and some amazing performances, it's well worth seeing. The special features include an informative director's commentary that will fill in some of the gaps of information for you.

Movie worked well. Really nice scenery, a nice film. Entertaining and compels one to imagine what it would be like to be in this very dangerous environment. But, if you're looking for a blockbuster movie, this probably isn't it. However, it was probably worth the price.