Having watched this on both the big screen (in an IMAX theater) and the little screen (my 57-inch TV), I can report that--unlike some IMAX films--Everest's transition from theater to television is relatively smooth. Amassing over $55 million at the box-office as of this writing (and still, as they say, climbing), the highest grossing IMAX film of all time re-visits the fateful spring of 1996 during which eight climbers lost their lives when a sudden storm blasted Everest's heights on May 10th (masterfully chronicled in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air). Here, expedition leader Ed Viesturs, Jamling Tenzing Norgay (son of the sherpa who first summited Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary), and Araceli Segarra (the first woman from Spain to scale the mountain) are seen preparing for the expedition from March through May. The tragedy which befell Rob Hall's group and others on May 10th would halt the IMAX team, who played a key role in getting one of the survivors, Beck Weathers, off the mountain. After much indecision, the team decided to make a summit bid on May 22nd and their successful climb makes for a stirring finale. Liam Neeson's narration offers interesting tidbits (Everest grows a quarter-inch every year), the soundtrack by Steve Wood and David May is fittingly grand, and the views from the "top of the world" are breathtakingly majestic. The only sour note occurs in the small print in the credits, when viewers discover that "some climbing scenes" were re-created and filmed in the U.S. Still, this is sure to be wildly popular--especially with the many viewers who do not live near an IMAX theater. Highly recommended. Aud: J, H, P. (R. Pitman)
Everest
(1998) 48 min. $19.99. Miramax (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. Avail. Mar. 30. Vol. 14, Issue 2
Everest
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