EVEREST : Wednesday 23rd September 2015.

EVEREST, which I saw earlier this week is based on the real life events that unfolded on Mount Everest on May 10th 1996 as two commercial climbing expeditions reach for the summit of the highest place on Earth only to be confronted by a blizzard that came out of nowhere and engulfed the climbers in both parties with such a severe snow and ice storm rarely before seen by man. This story Directed by Icelandic Balthasar Kormakur was made for US$55M and filmed in the Italian Alps, in Iceland and in Nepal at Everest Base Camp amongst other mountainous locations. At the time of writing the film has made so far US$43M and has received generally positive reviews.

As this film opens we learn that climbing this famed mountain is no longer the domain of hardened determined adventurers who first set out to conquer its peak - Mallory in the 1920's tried three times and died 800 metres from the peak in the process, and Hillary got there with Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Since then though and in more recent decades Everest has become the domain of commercial organisations seeking to satisfy the ever increasing hunger of the mountain climbing tourist wanting to cross Everest off their bucket list. As a result a whole industry has sprung up around it, and Kathmandu has become the burgeoning epicentre for those setting out on the adventure of a lifetime.

We are quickly introduced therefore to Adventure Consultants leader Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) as he flies out to take a group of climbers to the summit - each of them having paid US$65K for the privilege. He bids farewell to his wife Jan (Keira Knightly) at the airport - heavily pregnant with their first child and off he goes. saying he'll be back in time for the birth. Arriving in Kathmandu he meets up with his clients - Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), journalist John Krakauer (Michael Kelly) and Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori) and others.

The first night they attend a briefing with Hall and he informs them that 'Human beings are not designed to function at the cruising altitude of a 747. Your bodies will be literally dying'. He tells them that they are entering a formidable, dangerous place where conditions can change almost instantly and many others have perished before them, but, he will look after them, be their guide every step of the way, and if they do as he says they'll all return safe & sound.

The next day they ascend to Base Camp after making a beautiful trek through lower mountain forest, over sweeping ravines and fast flowing rivers, with the park of Everest looking down on them. At base camp their are welcomed to the Adventure Consultants 'Office' a large tent where they have equipment and supplies stored, their communications, maps, guides and the wherewithal to get up, and back. Helen Wilton (Emily Watson) meets & greets them all - she is the Office Manager, Administrator and all round Girl Friday and she is there with Doctor Caroline Mackenzie (Elizabeth Debicki). After settling in, more briefings follow. It is the end of March and Hall announces their plan is to 'summit' on 10th May - the forecast is good, but there will be a limited 'window' of opportunity on that day. In the meantime they will exercise and make various familiarisation treks to the other camps to get acclimatized, used to the frozen terrain, and what they will have to endure as they rise.

At Base Camp Hall catches up with 'The Mayor of Base Camp' Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) from Mountain Madness - another similar outfit to Halls Adventure Consultants. They laugh & joke, share drinks together but they are rivals in business, and in this particular climbing season competing with a raft of other tourist climbers wanting to make the ascent at the same time. Base Camp is overrun, and so into their preparations Hall seeks to partner with Fischer to make the climb together, to look out for each other, to provide safety in numbers and to speed their climb during the limited time they have. Fischer agrees.

As the day approaches and their preparations and training is complete, they set out climbing through Camps II, III and IV. At Camp IV Hall rallies his team at about midnight, and stepping outside their tents on a beautiful clear night they gaze up at the last leg of their journey as the peak of Mount Everest stands proud in all its glory, with only a whisper of a breeze visible at the summit from where they stand. Hall gives the order that they leave in 30 minutes and that they will need to have reached the peak by no later than 2:00pm that afternoon to ensure their return to Camp IV before nightfall.

Along the way they are delayed when they discover that guide ropes have perished and need to be replaced, or have not yet been installed, and so need to be before they can proceed. Beck experiences problems with his vision, and so sits to rest and is ordered back to Camp if things don't improve within half an hour. At the Hilary Steps they encounter a bottleneck of other climbers causing further delays. Namba reaches the top with Hall, and plants her Japanese flag. Behind them Beck still sits below on The Balcony still having vision trouble, Hansen is short of breath but determined to touch the peak having tried and failed twice before and 2:00pm has now been and gone. Hansen pleads with Hall to allow him to continue and against his better judgement Hall agrees and they climb together. By now it is past 3:00pm, and the weather is closing in, snow is falling, the wind has picked up and dark menacing clouds loom ever closer.

Fischer meanwhile is still heading towards them suffering from high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) - by now it is 3:45pm and blizzard conditions surround them all. What follows is ever worsening weather that engulfs the mountain and rips through Base Camp leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. With a lack of supplementary oxygen a number of the climbers from both expeditions perish from the harshest of conditions that disorientate them, effect their judgement, impair their vision, and hamper their descent. Rob is left on the mountain side cowering into a rock overhang seeking some shelter from the gathering storm - he falls in and out of consciousness as night falls and the blizzard takes further hold. By now Namba, Hansen, Fischer, Andy Harris (Martin Henderson) another Adventure Consultant guide and Beck have all perished. Wilton and Mackenzie meanwhile monitor the situation by satellite radio from Base Camp maintaining contact with Hall on the mountain whose health is deteriorating rapidly. Guy Cotter (Sam Worthington) is with them and tries to take a rescue party to recover Hall and the others but is beaten back by the weather and sits it out until conditions improve.

The next morning as the sun comes up and the blizzard subsides, Beck miraculously awakens from his tomb of snow & ice and is able to hobble into Camp IV where he is attended to - learning this news that he is still alive his wife Peach (Robin Wright) contacts the American Embassy in Kathmandu and orders a chopper flight to rescue him. Later we see him arrive home and we learn that severe frost bite cost him both his hands and his nose. Hall died on the mountain having said his farewell to Jan through radio and satellite phone via Base Camp.

This is a visually stunning film as you would expect given the mountain terrain that we see from the top as well as from the bottom. The characters you can relate to given that we are provided with a sufficient enough back story to understand what motivates them and what their strengths and weaknesses are, and as a result we care for them because we know this is a real story that occurred not so long ago (within the last 20 years). Then there is the harsh unforgiving environment with all its power, its energy, its beauty and its unpredictability that has cost so many climbers their lives but still keeps many coming back or wanting to cross it off their bucket list.

Certainly worth the price of a ticket and whilst I only saw this in 2D, I would think that the 3D experience will only add to the spectacle, the emotion and the power of this film.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-