Everest

Movie Review Written By: Adolph Vega

3D

Everest is a required viewing in 3D and looks wonderful with the extra dimension. Everest is the best 3D experience in the theatre released this year. The 3D is not gimmicky but used intelligently to help give the viewer more immersive experience. Several times the 3D is used to give a wonderful sense of place and perspective and adds to the wonderful cinematography. You can see a clear focus on certain areas of the foreground and background and everything in between. The 3D gives you a great sense of vertigo with wonderful depth and use of layers. Snow will often fly near the viewer, in between many layers of 3D and will occasionally pop out of the screen giving the viewer a real sense of being on the mountain with the climbers. Several camera shots are done with 3D in mind and use interesting perspective to look better in 3D. The visuals are sharp and vivid in 3D, are made to be viewed in 3D and add to the enjoyment of this movie. Every once in a while, a movie is released where the 3D is such a great addition; I wouldn't recommend watching this in 2D. Everest is a wonderful example of 3D done right, and truly enhances the movie going experience, while showcasing the ideal of 3D filmmaking. I enjoyed the 3D so much in this movie that I will award it the first ever 3Dor2d.com's Editors Choice Award for 3D.

Final Verdict:

Great 3D, Editors Choice Award for 3D

Movie

I have never climbed a mountain, and I have no desire to do so. I can’t understand the appeal of risking your life to reach a summit. Even without any mountain climbing experience, I fully enjoyed watching this movie. The movie is focused on a small group of climbers and an organization that helps tourists climb the Mountain Everest. This story is based on true events that happened in the 1990’s with a select group of tourists. The movie slowly introduces you to its large cast of characters and takes a grounded realistic tone. The movie does have one funny scene toward the end that works well and is a treat. This sense of pacing is wonderful, and I was never bored watching this movie. Sadly, tragedy strikes and not all the cast survive the trek up and down Everest. I won’t mention which characters perish, but the deaths that do happen are impactful. The movie isn’t perfect and has some minor issues. The first issue I have with the movie is that it tosses you into the plot with little backstory and only a few lines of text on screen. Everest is a slow burn and more about tension building suspense than intense action scenes. The performance in this movie is great, and you believe that these actors are real people and they are memorable and likeable. I only wish that some of the characters were given more backstory, but they are given enough screen time for you to actually like and care about them. One character in particular is someone you just love to hate and is a charming jerk. At times the movie can have a few cliché moments, but the vast majority of the movie seems fresh and different. The cinematography of this movie is almost an extra character, which really gives you the sense that you are trekking up the mountain. The special effect visuals look fantastic, and the movie looks gorgeous with many interesting camera shots and angles. I watched this movie on a larger IMAX screen, and I highly recommend that you do the same. The larger screen format is perfect for this type of movie and really enhances the experience. Because the scope of Everest is so vast, having a giant screen really compliments this movie perfectly. Overall I really enjoyed my time with this movie. It has an enjoyable cast, great acting, fantastic setting and wonderful cinematography. I highly recommend your taking this trek to the movie theater to watch Everest. 

Final Verdict: 8/10

© 2015 Universal Studios. Walden Media; Cross Creek; Working Title