''Everest'' is a

70mm 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...

American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, from MacGillivray Freeman Films, about the struggles involved in climbing

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

, the highest mountain peak on Earth, located in the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. It was released to

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

theaters in March 1998 and became the highest-grossing film made in the IMAX format.

Production

The 45-minute documentary is narrated by Irish actor

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

and was filmed entirely in IMAX. It includes a description of the training required in order to climb the 29,029 feet to the summit of Mount Everest and the challenges faced during the ascent, such as

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

s, blizzards, and oxygen deprivation. The film centers on a team led by Ed Viesturs and ''Everest'' director David Breashears; among their number are Spanish climber Araceli Segarra, and

Jamling Tenzing Norgay Jamling Tenzing Norgay (born 23 April 1965) is an Indian Sherpa mountaineer from Darjeeling. Biography Norgay is the son of mountaineer and guide Tenzing Norgay (who first climbed Mount Everest in 1953 with Sir Edmund Hillary) and Daku, his ...

, son of the pioneering

Sherpa SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organisation originally set up in 2002 to run and manage the SHERPA Project. History SHERPA began as an endeavour to support the establishment of a number of open ...

mountaineer

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to ...

. ''Everest'' was in production at the mountain during the

1996 Mount Everest disaster The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making i ...

, in which another group of climbers became trapped by a blizzard near the summit. The film includes footage of these events, as the IMAX team assist Beck Weathers and other survivors. Producer and co-director

Greg MacGillivray Greg MacGillivray (born 1945) is an American film director and cinematographer. Career MacGillivray was first nominated for an Academy Award in 1995 for directing ''The Living Sea'' (Best Documentary Short Subject), and was nominated in the same c ...

later said that while editing the documentary for release, he and Breashears decided to focus more on the tragedy, due to the popularity of

Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954) is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling nonfiction books—'' Into the Wild''; '' Into Thin Air''; '' Under the Banner of Heaven''; and '' Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pa ...

's book about the 1996 disaster, ''

Into Thin Air ''Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster'' is a 1997 bestselling nonfiction book written by Jon Krakauer. It details Krakauer's experience in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, in which eight climbers were killed and seve ...

'' (1997). MacGillivray said "Ten million people have read that book, so we had to address the issue. And I think it strengthened the film."

Reception

''Everest'' premiered at Boston's Museum of Science on March 4, 1998 before going on general release in IMAX cinemas across the United States two days later. According to an article published late that month in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', it attracted mainly favorable reviews. The film subsequently opened in Australia on March 19 and Switzerland on March 20, with other European premieres, including at the London Trocadero, following during April and May. ''Everest'' grossed $128 million worldwide during its theatrical run – a figure that remains the highest gross for an IMAX documentary. With domestic takings of $87,178,599, it is the second highest-grossing film (documentary or otherwise) to never reach the top ten in the weekly North American box office charts, and also the second highest-grossing film never to have made the weekly top five.

DVD and soundtrack album

The DVD was released by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

on December 12, 1999. It includes a "Making of" featurette, an extended interview with Beck Weathers, deleted scenes, climber video journals, and a 3D map of Mount Everest. The soundtrack features songs by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

, which composers Steve Wood and Daniel May reinterpreted in the Tibetan folk style as part of their film score. The ''Everest'' soundtrack album was released by

Ark 21 Records Ark 21 Records was a record label established by Miles Copeland III and Stewart Copeland in 1997. It was based in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Artists * Kathem Al-Saher * Ragheb Alamah * Aswad *The Badlees * The Beautiful South * John Berry * ...

, on March 10, 1998. The music was performed by the Northwest Sinfonia, with May credited as conductor. The Harrison songs include "

All Things Must Pass ''All Things Must Pass'' is the third studio album by George Harrison. Released as a triple album in November 1970, it was Harrison's first solo work after Break-up of the Beatles, the break-up of the Beatles in April that year. It includes th ...

", " Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", " Here Comes the Sun", " This Is Love" and " Life Itself". Harrison agreed to their use in the film on the understanding that his name would not be used for publicity. According to author Elliot Huntley, MacGillivray chose Harrison's music for its "spiritual quality" and "his ties to eastern religion".

Quotes

Cast

as narrator (voice) * Beck Weathers as himself *

, son of famed

, as himself * Araceli Segarra as herself * Ed Viesturs as himself * Paula Viesturs as herself * Sumiyo Tsuzuki as herself

References

External links

* * * {{Greg MacGillivray 1998 films American sports documentary films Documentary films about climbing Short films directed by Greg MacGillivray IMAX short films Films about Mount Everest Climbing and mountaineering films 1998 documentary films Films set in Nepal MacGillivray Freeman Films films IMAX documentary films Avalanches in film Documentary films about Nepal 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language documentary films