EVEREST
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1999 Christopher Null
filmcritic.com
Nothing would suffice in making a movie about the tallest mountain on earth than by showing it in the largest format on earth, as well.
This 70mm IMAX film, which I saw on the country's largest movie screen at the new San Francisco Sony Metreon (80 feet tall, 100 feet wide), is nothing short of jaw-dropping spectacular.
While the tale of Ed Viesturs climbing Mount Everest (for the fifth time) is a good one, the story of the eight people from another party who got stuck on the summit during a fierce storm – and died – almost brings you to tears. EVEREST is indeed larger than life.
Of course, this is IMAX, and you go to see the spectacle of the photography. But remember, there's a guy carrying that enormous camera up that mountain. And a guy with a microphone. And a tripod. And film. And batteries. The making of Everest is as phenomenal as the end product.
But in the end, of course, nothing can be bigger than the real thing.
RATING: ****1/2
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: David Breashears, Stephen Judson, Greg MacGillivray Producer: Stephen Judson, Alec Lorimore Writer: Tim Cahill, Stephen Judson Starring: Liam Neeson, Jamling Tenzing Norgay, Araceli Segarra, Ed Viesturs, Paula Viesturs
http://everestfilm.com/
Christopher Null - null@filmcritic.com - http://www.filmcritic.com Author - Network Administrator's Reference, 1999, ISBN 0-07-882588-1 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0078825881/filmcriticcom
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