Review of "Everest" (movie)

"Everest" is a movie based on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster which happened between 10 and 11 May 1996 where eight people were caught in a blizzard while trying to scale and descend the summit. However, the film focused mainly on the happenings at the South Summit which involved mainly two commercial expeditions led by Rob Hall of Adventure Consultants and Scott Fischer of Mountain Madness and resulted in the deaths of 5 members in total from both teams including Hall and Fischer themselves.

For the first part of the movie, it features how Hall prepared his team for the climb to Everest including the trek to reach base camp and multiple climbs to acclimatise. It is worth noting that right from the start, it was made very clear to the climbers that even though the ultimate aim was to scale the summit, if the circumstances did not allow for it or the climber's condition was deemed not suitable to continue, the climbers should give up on this goal. No doubt that the climbers paid for the expedition companies to guide them up the mountain, it was also the duty of the companies' staff to ensure that the clients make their way down safely. Needless to say, this advice fell on deaf ears for some people because the desire to reach the top mattered the most at the end of the day.

The second part of the movie described how both teams had to work together in order to overcome the odds of ever-changing weather conditions and overcrowding due to a high number of climbers aspiring to reach the summit during the same period. However, unexpected complications such as ropes which were not repaired on the way to the summit and some team members who were seemingly not physically suitable to make the arduous climb also contributed to the difficulty of the ascent. This in turn caused delays along the way up and down as the sudden blizzard hit the climbers and resulted in some of them losing their lives.

As I left the cinema, there were a few questions I pondered over. Of course, on hindsight, it is easy to pin blame on a single or multiple causes for the disaster, be it due to natural or human causes. Besides, the movie's way of telling the story may not be 100% accurate so we can't really blame one person for another's fate. As such, there is no intention on my part to say who was right or wrong but rather, the following points are the what-ifs that I popped up in my mind after watching the film.

First of all, there's always this saying that the outcome is not the most important thing but the process matters most. However, in this situation, I wonder if that also holds true for the climbers. Being able to scale the summit is important but being able to make your way down safely should also be the same. Does it mean anything if you manage to scale the summit but end up losing your life after that? It's especially regrettable that some of these climbers did go to the top and end up not coming back. I wondered about the decision of Doug Hansen's to keep going even though it was way past the 2pm turnaround deadline when he was still making his way up and there was a lot of time needed to head back amid the rough weather conditions. I can understand why he insisted on proceeding because the summit was within reach and he had already tried multiple times in the past. Physically and financially, there was no way he could do this one more time. The feeling of failure again would have been a crushing blow. Then again, I also wonder if Hall had been insistent enough to stop Hansen from scaling the summit, would things have turned out differently for the both of them? Granted that Hall was in such a dilemma because he understood Hansen's reason for insisting so well, you can't blame him for doing what he did. It certainly isn't a pleasant situation to be caught in when a split second decision can decide your fate and both options are equally painful decisions to make. I just feel sorry for these two men because one didn't live to savour his success while the other didn't manage to save himself and reunite with his family.

Secondly, the idea of allowing commercial expeditions scale Everest presents another dilemma. On one hand, the clients are the ones paying for their trips and should have the ultimate say in deciding whether to proceed with the climb. On the other hand, the professionals in the expeditions make judgments as to whether someone is fit enough to proceed or if conditions are favourable to proceed but can they persuade or even force their clients to turn back if need be? Will the clients even listen to them or will they insist that they have the final say just because they paid for the expeditions? Should there was a minimum requirement before anyone attempted this massive task, would it have helped in reducing the number of people who attempted the climb despite their personal limitations?

Last but not least, this movie reiterates the point that the forces of Nature should not be taken lightly. Granted that the weather changes were swift and beyond the control of the climbers, there was no way they could have fought against that. Even if they had all made their descent before the 2pm deadline, would it have helped? Of course, we won't have the answer to that now but it just drives home the point that when Nature is concerned, there is no harm with being more careful and aware of the dangers which come along with each situation.

On the whole, I think this movie is great in terms of showing the beauty of Everest and how people are so enamoured with climbing it that they would even put their lives at stake. Despite the fact that I may not be fully convinced about giving up your life for this purpose, I could see how strong the desires of the climbers were in pushing themselves forward with each step upwards. On the other hand, as this is a factual story, the plot did lack a bit of dramatic appeal thus it can appear a tad bland to some viewers. This also affected the character development as there was hardly any time left to explain why certain people did the things they did. One thing I was rather puzzled over was Beck Weathers' family situation. It appeared initially as if he was estranged from his family as seen from the family portraits which excluded him and his wife Peach's lukewarm attitude towards him. Then again, when she heard about her husband's survival and needed immediate medical attention, her earnest efforts in sending a helicopter to pick him up from the mountain showed that she still loved him. It got me wondering if Beck's expeditions to climb the Seven Summits was the cause of his seemingly cool relations with his family and constant absence at home but the movie did not actually talk much about this so I thought it was a pity that our understanding of the characters seemed to be rather superficial.

In conclusion, this is a pretty decent film so do check it out if you are keen.