I have read dozens of books about mountaineering expeditions, and several about this particular disastrous climbing season, including Jon Krakuer’s bestseller. Overall I think they did a good job depicting the events in this movie, which makes sense, as they used the expertise of Guy Cotter, a climbing and business partner of Rob Hall, one of the expedition leaders in the forefront of this tragedy. They do an adequate job of putting the grandeur of the mountain on display, while still focusing on the human interactions and personal physical challenges of the characters. The plot runs fairly true to events and the dialogue is well-written. They made changes, of course, such as details of the helicopter rescue scene, but stayed true to the important stuff. I think I agree with the above-mentioned Guy Cotter, who stated in an interview that he only wished they had depicted in more depth the motivations of climbers to risk their lives climbing up in the “Death Zone.” For some climbers of Everest, their reasons are mundane: to be able to gain respect by saying they did it, or to “inspire” others to be all they can be, or even to make money and win some measure of fame. But the true mountaineers are driven by something deeper, close to what they see as their self identity. They can’t not climb. There is exhilaration in challenging their physical limits and in appreciation of the rare beauty found at high altitudes. If it was easy they might not do so much of it, being in an odd way addicted to the pain, cold and danger. WHen they are on the mountains they dream of home; when they are home they dream of the mountains. It’s reminds me of aging boxing champions who keep on fighting when they should retire. Oh, they want the money, obviously, but even well-off champions may fight on and endure pain and suffering inside the ring for the cheers of the crowd and the additional acclaim it may bring them.

Based on true events, this rather beautifully shot film tells the story of Kiwi Rob Hall (an adequate Jason Clarke) who ran an exclusive adventure agency that took well-heeled climbers up Mount Everest. In 1996 he decided to team up with accomplished but rather enigmatic mountaineer Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal). What now ensues are a rather join-the-dot series of predicable escapades as the mountain decides that it's had enough of these messy and polluting human gadflies on it's slopes, and so it fights back - impressively and decisively. That leads us to the problem with this - the characterisations are seriously undercooked. I didn't really feel that I knew any of them, nor did I actually find - especially with Gyllenhaal - that I cared whether they survived or not. That might be a testament to their acting skills - some creating an aura of complacency and arrogance that well deserved their just desserts, but for the most part the script and the story were just all a bit flat. The cinematography is astonishing though, with actuality of the Nepalese base camps and of the rather benign looking mountain itself. It features quite a notable supporting cast, but again they offer little to beef up the sense of personality here or give us any real sense of the danger, teamwork and camaraderie that must have prevailed in real life. It is watchable for the imagery, and it also serves to remind up that mankind is pretty insignificant when the planet decides to stir itself against us, but as a piece of drama it's all just too lacklustre.