''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 or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, from

MacGillivray Freeman Films MacGillivray Freeman Films is an American film studio based in Laguna Beach, California and founded in the mid-1960s by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman. It produces documentaries, feature films, and IMAX films. History MacGillivray Freeman F ...

, about the struggles involved in climbing

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

, 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-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

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 several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

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 slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

s, blizzards, and oxygen deprivation. The film centers on a team led by

Ed Viesturs Edmund Viesturs (born June 22, 1959) is a high-altitude mountaineer, corporate speaker, and well known author in the mountain climbing community. He is the only American to have climbed all 14 of the world's eight-thousander mountain peaks, and ...

and ''Everest'' director

David Breashears David Finlay Breashears (born December 20, 1955) is an American mountaineer, filmmaker, author, and motivational speaker. In 1985, he reached the summit of Mount Everest a second time, becoming the first American to reach the summit of Mount Evere ...

; among their number are Spanish climber

Araceli Segarra Araceli Segarra (born March 1970 in Lleida, Spain) is the first Spanish woman to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. She has also climbed Broad Peak (Attempt, 1991), Kanchenjunga (Attempts, 2001 and 2005), Shishapangma (Summit, 1992), and K2 ...

, and

Jamling Tenzing Norgay Jamling Tenzing Norgay (born 23 April 1965) is an Indian-Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer. 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 third w ...

, son of the pioneering

Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...

mountaineer

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; perhaps 29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to reach the sum ...

. ''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 it ...

, 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 Seaborn Beck Weathers (born December 16, 1946) is an American pathologist from Texas. He survived the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, which was covered in Jon Krakauer's book ''Into Thin Air'' (1997), its film adaptation '' Into Thin Air: Death on Ev ...

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 non-fiction books—'' Into the Wild''; ''Into Thin Air''; ''Under the Banner of Heaven''; and '' Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat ...

'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 several ...

'' (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 The Museum of Science (MoS) is a science museum and indoor zoo in Boston, Massachusetts, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live presentat ...

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'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', 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 The London Trocadero was an entertainment complex on Coventry Street, with a rear entrance in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. It was originally built in 1896 as a restaurant, which closed in 1965. In 1984, the complex reopened as an exhibition and en ...

, 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, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

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 and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

, 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 & Stewart Copeland in 1997, based in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, United States. 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 The Northwest Sinfonia is a session symphonic orchestra based in Seattle, mostly renowned for recording soundtracks to motion pictures and computer games. It was founded in 1995 and is credited with over 100 recordings. It draws its members mostl ...

, with May credited as conductor. The Harrison songs include "

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

", "

Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released as the opening track of his 1973 album ''Living in the Material World''. It was also issued as the album's lead single, in May that year, and beca ...

", "

Here Comes the Sun "Here Comes the Sun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album ''Abbey Road''. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. Harrison wrote the song in early 1969 at the country house o ...

", " 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) *

as Himself *

, son of famed

, as Himself *

as Herself *

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 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