Released Year: 2015
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur
Casted by:
Jason Clarke as Rob Hall
Josh Brolin as Beck Weathers
Jake Gyllenhaal as Scott Fischer
Naoko Mori as Yasuko Namba
John Hawkes as Doug Hansen
Emily Watson as Helen Wilton
Sam Worthington as Guy Cotter
Robin Wright as Peach
Keira Knightley as Jan Arnold
Story:
In May 1996, two expeditions, Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness, meet at base camp and prepare to summit Mount Everest, NEPAL in the following days. Rob Hall is one of three guides for Adventure Consultants, whose eight clients include Beck Weathers, who had been climbing for ten years, Doug Hansen, who was climbing to prove an ordinary man can pursue an extraordinary dream, and Yasuko Namba, who had previously climbed six of the Seven Summits and was attempting to become the oldest woman to summit Mt. Everest, NEPAL. Scott Fischer was the guide for Mountain Madness.
A month earlier on the day he leaves New Zealand for NEPAL, Rob says goodbye to his pregnant wife, Jan, and promises her he'll be back in time for the birth. While he is at base camp, she sends him a fax to inform him that the baby will be a girl, and he suggests they name her Sarah, which Jan isn't too keen on. The two expeditions are introduced to Helen Wilton, the base camp manager, who keeps in contact with all of them via walkie-talkies while they climb. On May 7, Expedition members climb from base camp to Camp II, which includes walking across a fixed ladder over a deep crevasse. Suddenly, large chunks of ice break away under the strain of too many climbers crossing one after the other and the ladder almost detaches. Worried, Rob tries to persuade the opposite group to ascend at a later date but they refuse. Both expeditions keep climbing and reach Camp IV on May 9, starting to use supplemental oxygen when needed.
Climbers reach the high altitude "death zone" and set off in the early hours of May 10 from the South Col, planning to reach the top and turn around by 2:00pm, the last safe time that will allow them to reach base camp before nightfall. Smaller expeditions sponsored by the governments of Taiwan and India also ascend on the same morning but from the North Face. Expedition climbers quickly encounter delays. Upon reaching a bottleneck at the Hillary Step, they discover that no fixed line has been put in place and are forced to wait an hour while the guides install one, pushing back their time plan. Three climbers decide to turn back. Meanwhile, Beck has trouble with his vision and sits down. He informs Rob that he had an operation the year before, but believes he will be fine after he rests for a while. Rob allows him half an hour, but tells him he must turn back if he can't see better by then.
Gradually, climbers reach the top of Everest one by one. Anatoli Boukreev is the first 1:07pm, with Rob following soon after, but many others don't reach the summit by 2:00pm as planned due to several more stops along the way. Yasuko also reaches the top and plants her flag of Japan in the snow, thanking God and celebrating with Rob, who tells her how proud of her he is. Boukreev notices that the weather does not look good and at 3:00pm, snow starts to fall and the light diminishes. On his way back down, Rob encounters Doug struggling just above the Hillary Step and orders him to turn back since it's too late to keep going. Doug insists that he won't get the chance to do this again and says he must go on. Knowing how important the climb is to him, Rob agrees and accompanies him up to the summit. Scott Fischer does not summit until around 3:45pm, exhausted and increasingly ill from high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), which began even before he started his ascent; he had not told anyone. He tells the two climbers descending with him to continue on their own.
The weather worsens, particularly the blizzard on the south side of the mountain, causing much difficulty for descending members. Supplemental oxygen is also running out and there are no full emergency tanks stored where Rob had asked. Doug becomes semi-conscious from lack of oxygen, so Rob radios Helen at base camp to send somebody up with oxygen tanks and water, knowing they are in trouble. Doug, left alone briefly by Rob, unbuckles his carabiner from the guide rope in his oxygen-starved daze and takes a few steps along the extremely narrow path in the mountainside. Moments later in the heavy wind, he topples silently off the ridge to his death.
Several descending climbers approach Beck, who is still sitting on the Balcony. Nearly blinded by the effects of high altitude and overexposure to ultraviolet radiation, he tells them he cannot see, and they try to help him descend. He trips and knocks several climbers down the mountain some 20m from a drop off over the Kangshung Face. They later become lost after the blizzard obliterates the trail back to Camp IV and wander past midnight. When the blizzard clears, three of them set off to find help, leaving Beck and Yasuko behind.
Andy Harris, one of the other guides for Adventure Consultants, makes his way back up the mountain with oxygen for Rob and Doug, only to be told by Rob that Doug is "gone". Unable to move due to the blizzard, Rob and Andy are forced to wait on the side of the mountain. Soon, Andy suffers from hypoxia and hallucinates that he's overheating. He strips off his outerwear and dies with Rob lying next to him. In the early hours of May 11, Rob radios base camp, telling them he is still at the top of Hillary Step but Doug and Andy are gone. Helen and others break down in tears. They tell Rob he needs to start making his way down now before his condition worsens, but he tells them his hands and feet are frozen and his oxygen regulator is blocked by ice. Helen believes that if anyone can get Rob down the mountain, his wife Jan can. She calls her and puts the phone near the walkie-talkie so they can hear each other. Jan tells Rob he's got to get moving and he tries, but doesn't get far. Shortly after, knowing Rob doesn't have much time left, Helen again calls Jan, who speaks with her husband. He tells her he is cold but comfortable, asks her to name their daughter Sarah, and finally says, "Sleep well, my sweetheart. Please don't worry too much."
Scott, now alone, knows he cannot make it back and lies down in the snow as his life ebbs away. Boukreev later finds Scott and shrouds his face with his backpack. His body remains on the mountain to this day. Many climbers reach base camp with news that Beck and Yasuko have not descended and need help, but weather conditions remain too dangerous for anyone to try to reach them. Helen calls Beck's wife, Peach, to tell her the situation. Later in the day Beck miraculously regains consiciousness, but Yasuko is dead. Beck stumbles back to camp alone, to the great astonishment of everyone there. He is severely frostbitten and desperately in need of medical help. The group gives him first aid in the tent, believing he won't survive the night. Meanwhile, his wife, having been told he is still alive, calls the American Embassy and organises a helicopter rescue. The flight is risky because the air is thin for a helicopter. The pilots fly over the Western Cwm, the only feasible route, and successfully make one of the highest altitude helicopter medical evacuations.
The closing scenes show everyone departing for home. Helen and several other climbers meet Jan at the airport and embrace. Beck returns home to his family, heavily bandaged. Closing on-screen titles inform the audience that he lost both hands and nose to severe frostbite. Jan later gives birth to a daughter and names her Sarah.
L² Scored: 10/10
L² Comment:
Oh man, i gotta give this movie a 10/10 or else i will be shooting myself to death or swallow some shits in me dude~ This movie is really awesome... Me myself has climb the Malaysia's Mt Kinabalu and i am already half dead after it, i cant imagine how those ppl manage to climb all the way up to Everest. SALUTE
This is based on a real story which ends very sadly, i cried when the Japanese lady Yatsuko reach the peak with tears and keep on saying "arigatou"... too bad in the real life, the real Yatsuko didnt manage to come down alive during the incident, but i salute her... she's a proud asian lady, and she will always be remember by her fellow frens~ may all those ppl RIP.~
