Such a frustrating disappointment

Sorry, this movie sucks

Excellent but underrated film

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

I am only writing this review because of the half witted comments made about it by people who have not risked their lived climbing mountains. I have had exposure several times and nearly died on two occasions, while my wife nearly died once. My son had frostbite on nine toes on one of our trips. Mountain climbing is no joke and the professional guides who risk their lives to take spoilt rich idiots up there have my sympathy. I wonder how many of these spoilt brats have killed their guides and porters and I don't mean just on Everest. I loved the "character development" comment by one reviewer who sort of missed the point that it was a true story and that in such an action dominated drama there isn't room for any such aesthetics. The movie does what it set out to do: show that money can make even a sensible man break his own rules and kill himself. Not out of greed but because he felt an obligation towards his client above and beyond money, something that the truly rich will never appreciate.It is a fact that the most heroic actions that we know of are probably only 10% of the actual number as most act and die unseen. The movie shows the events accurately. Sure there are flaws but before you open your mouth try it yourself then see how close to the bone it cuts. Rob Hall's famous "phone call" to his wife is one of the great Everest moments and really should be classed as a great move moment. I have NOT read the book but I have climbed not a few mountains. As for the acting, it seemed realistic to me and I will tell you I didn't spend too much time looking at others unless there was trouble as you only look at the next step and the weather. I have no idea if the movie followed the book but I know that the movie followed the true story and that is all that matters. This ISN'T a movie. It is a film pseudo-documentary and any comments about plot, characters etc are totally irrelevant. At the very least it may keep some rich idiot amateurs from killing more professionals. In my opinion it achieved it aims perfectly and that is my theme above: to show the real reason that Rob Hall died anything else is superfluous. As for not following the book? Who cares? It tells the story adequately. You must remember that the author was an amateur mountaineer and one of those "rich idiots" and i have little sympathy for him although his survival was miraculous.

Having never read the book, I began watching this movie without any prior knowledge of climbing or the story of the book, however I found the movie extremely informative of Mt.Everest and climbing in general. I actually found myself researching the movie much later after I saw it- their stories were remarkably compelling; the unknown stories of most of these wonderful people are re-discovered. The movie Into Thin Air truly forces one to look on the darker side of Mt.Everest, and demands respect for nature's landmark. Recommended for a person looking for a little history, with a great, but at times saddening story. The actors are wonderful, and the scenery is fantastic!

As someone who has read Jon Krakauers novel I was really interested in this movie although I did not expect much and how right I turned out to be. The movie is extremely rushed, we are barely introduced to the expedition members and already we go up to the summit. In only a few days of course because nearly everything concerning the preparations, the partially really amusing incidents in basecamp, the acclimatisation was cut out of the movie to show us a rush, no a blitz up the summit. The other expeditions, especially those responsible for a lot of the disaster because they were completely incompetent and inexperienced from Taiwan e.g. and the Indians who perished in the storm are ignored (Indians) or have minimum appearance (Taiwanese, I hated these jerks when I read the book). And although I am not an alpinist myself I did not believe a second this movie showed us Mt. Everest but some mountain in a much lower mountain range (actually Austrian Alps). I mean they are supposed to stand on the highest summit worldwide and in the background you see at least one clearly higher summit, how cheap is that? Well it is obviously as cheap as this movie was although the actors are really trying but they cannot create sympathy for their paper-thin characters with the few lines they got from this poorly written script. But I simply cannot take (or even stand) a scene seriously where a professional mountain climber in the midst of a snowstorm in the death zone takes of his gloves, breathing mask and other protections for no reason whatsoever...only perhaps because we shall see his face's expressions in a death scene? Too inaccurate for a documentation and not good or interesting enough for a movie-drama. And that the other 7! deaths of this day were not even mentioned in the epilogue was quite tasteless. Because the movie was fairly entertaining and the actors at least tried 3 out of 10.

I believe the book of this film is a minor classic in climbing circles - the film must rank as a minor disaster.Watching this film left me with not one single shred of sympathy for any of the climbers who died in fact I was disappointed so many survived.Are we led to believe that on an expedition to climb Everest one of the climbers successfully chatted up another (female) climber and we had the absurd scene of him entering her tent with the Sherpa wisely shaking his head and remarking that "the spirits of the mountain will not be pleased"? Is it likely that ANY climber on ANY mountain whilst sheltering in a storm with wind chill temperatures of -100F would take his balaclava and gloves off as did at least 2 of the actors? Can someone explain how a man near death manages to see out the storm overnight WITHOUT gloves and WITHOUT anything on his head and wake up as if he's just been upstairs for a nap? Is it possible for a woman at 28,000 feet to start screaming hysterically whilst everyone around her is gasping for breath through oxygen deficiency? How unrealistic does a film have to be when you have the unbelievably absurd scene of a man being "patched through" to his pregnant wife and talking to her as if she's 3 blocks away? Does anyone believe that one of the climbers bought her own coffee making machine plus PC and desk !!!! If you want to see a film about mountaineering go and see "Touching the Void" - if you want to see a film about implausible, unrealistic and unbelievable people on a mountain then watch this rubbish.