An outsized, big-budget Chinese-studio crowd-pleaser from 2019, The Climbers directed by Daniel Lee, uber-dramatizes the 'true' story of underdog expeditions of mountaineers from the Peoples' Republic of China and their ascents of Mount Everest. But in a flurry of CGI-assisted adventure stunts, sentimentality, patriotic red-flag waving, and romance, alpinism on display here is more like Peking Opera. Acrobatics, kung-fu athleticism, and parkour action result when mountain-struck super-climber Fang Wuzhou (Wu Jing) and two comrades reach the summit via the North Face in 1960, only to return to lowly jobs and accusations of faking it (the team lost their camera and vital photo proof to an avalanche). With personal/national honor and his on/off relationship with pretty meteorologist Ying Xi (Zhang Ziyi) at stake, Fang leads a second attempt in the 1970s. Deadly rockfalls, monster winds, and a mountain seemingly ready to fall apart at any time add up to high-altitude, higher-kitsch widescreen-entertainment thrills (topped by a cameo from Jackie Chan at the close). Viewers accustomed to documentaries and dramas bemoaning Chinese annexation and occupation of Tibet may wonder if propagandist intent lay behind the cinematic heroism and peril. Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette. Recommended. (C. Cassady)