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Because it's there >> Imax makes it to the summit of Everest by MICHEL THIBODEAU
In a typically cinematic fashion, high profile climbers were selected for the team, including Ed Viesturs--considered one of the best high-altitude climbers in the world--who was attempting the summit for the fifth time without supplementary oxygen. Also on the team was Araceli Seggara, who was attempting to become the first Spanish woman ever to climb Everest. Finally, there was Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the seventh member of his family to make the climb and son of Tenzing Norgay who, in 1953, accompanied Edmund Hillary to the peak, thus becoming the first men to do so. Add to this 35 Sherpas, 90 yaks and three tons of equipment, and the summit expedition was in the offing. Narrated by Liam Neeson, Everest is a feast for the eyes, full of Imax moments: point-of-view shots of avalanches, crampon-wearing cameramen traversing aluminium ladders and bridging deep crevasses, helicopters flying low over verdant terraces and lifting injured climbers out of camp. The fact that movie was ever completed is testimony to the climbers themselves. On May 10, while the team was lower on the mountain, a savage storm hit the summit, trapping three commercial expeditions near the top. The Imax team suspended all operations and lent most of their equipment to save as many lives as possible. In all, eight climbers lost their lives on that day, including Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, both good friends of Brashears and Viesturs. The footage that follows, where Seggara and Norgay talk about the events of that day and contemplate giving up the attempt, is heartbreaking. The Imax climb continued, but at this point the film seems to lose its cinéma vérité feel. The camera is focused on the climbers themselves, without placing them in the context of the mountain. You start to suspect that additional filming was done in another easier location, with the three main climbers pushing through a snow-covered hill. The hardest sections of the climb were not included, and there is a serious lack of attention to the Sherpas themselves, who made this film possible. On a final note, the summit footage is inspiring, showing perhaps the most spectacular shot of all, from the summit, spanning a view that seems limitless. Everest, now playing at Imax Old Port with The Magic of Flight. See repertory listings for showtimes
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At over 29,000 feet, it's the highest peak in the world. In May of 1996, acclaimed director of photography David Brashears (Red Flag Over Tibet, Cliffhanger), and directors Greg MacGillivray and Stephen Judson, assembled an experienced team of climbers to produce one the most ambitious films ever presented by Imax, documenting an expedition's assault on Mount Everest. The logistics were daunting: a typical Imax camera weighs more than 36 kg, with each roll of film (good for 90 seconds) weighing 2 kg. Before the climb began, a lighter model of camera was modified to weigh only 21 kg.