Product Details

• Actors: Nova
• Directors: Nova
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: WGBH Boston
• DVD Release Date: September 2, 2008
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0019KBIRE
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,485 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

As darkness fell on May 10, 1996, a fast moving storm of unimaginable ferocity trapped three climbing teams high on the slopes of Mount Everest. The climbers, exhausted from their summit climb, were soon lost in darkness, in a fierce blizzard, far from the safety of High Camp at 26,000 feet. World-renowned climber and filmmaker David Breashears, who aided the rescue efforts back in 1996, now returns to Everest to tell the fuller story of what really happened on that legendary climb. Through remarkably intimate interviews with the climbers and Sherpas many who have never spoken before on American television Breashears sheds new light on the worst climbing tragedy in Mount Everest s history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A study in hubris; sad and compelling, May 17, 2008

By	K. Swanson (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Just happened upon this last night on late night PBS and was immediately captivated by the simple presentation, the intensity of the climbers' memories and the haunted looks in their eyes. I'd never really read much about this mess and it was interesting to learn the story from the varying viewpoints of those who survived.

At first I felt for the guides who died up there while trying to babysit some of the moneyed folk ($65k each, at the time; some were funded by NBC) who didn't do enough homework and put everyone in their expeditions at risk, but uber-guide Jim Williams says, on the PBS website, that the real fault lies with the guides' letting the weak climbers go further than they should, risking others' lives so they could reach the summit.

The guides are there to make money and might downplay the risks, so it's a two-way blame street. Sandy Hill, the NBC-funded "New York socialite" who brought an espresso machine on the trip, was "short-roped" up to the summit AND down. There ought to be tests for fitness to do this trek, but enough cash is the main issue, and that blame lays with the guides. This Frontline special lacks the usual hard-hitting both-sides Frontline tone, but its charms outweigh its faults.

The PBS website has the film available for viewing, as well as many other features with the director and survivors. Very nice package, and the price--free--is right. Ain't it amazing to get something back from your tax dollars for a change?

The main flaw with this film is the occasionally weak re-enactments of the disaster, though they're probably very accurate as this doc was made by alpine expert David Breashears, who was there at the time. On the plus side, the many shots of and from Everest are incredible. All in all it's a thoroughly fascinating look at a sad event which highlights the ego/desire for transcendence/thanatos that drives people to make this climb. One climber had a seven-month pregnant wife, and he died up there. Hard to grasp the logic. I understand the lure of the climb but I think that the Disneyfication of one of the world's great places almost guarantees that the hubris will be repaid in spades at some point, as here.

And with a line of people waiting in front of you, how thrilling and rare is the whole thing, truly? Better to climb another of the endless Himalayan peaks, with no one else on them, for the pure adventure. That hardly plays as well when mountain-name-dropping, though.

I must say that lying in bed and enjoying cheddar popcorn and grape juice has rarely felt so sane. As various of the surviviors point out in their online interviews on the PBS site, this climb made them realize that their families and friends were worth a lot more than chasing the self-glorification of climbing all the highest mountains. Watching the interviews and seeing half the climbers waving their nubby, fingerless hands makes the point quite convincingly as well. I love hiking at 11-14k in the Rockies, but know full well that going over 21,000 feet without truly serious discipline and training is nuts.

Storm Over Everest is certainly worth watching; there's a lot of naked emotion here, and much to ponder.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Storm over Everest - A dramatic battle between nature and men, May 26, 2008

By	Werner Kurz (Frankfurt, Germany) - See all my reviews

I saw David Breashears documentary movie "Storm over Everest" on Frontline and I was captivated by this dramatic battle between nature and men and the professional and "breathtaking" making of this film. I knew what happened on Everest's southeast ridge during the night of May 10, 1996, because I read Krakauer's and Boukreev's books about this tragedy but it's a completely different thing to watch the story in Breashears outstanding and realistic movie and to see and listen to the live comments of people who survived this terrible storm night above 26000 feet on the highest mountain on earth.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent treatment of this difficult event, June 20, 2008

By	ILoveGadgets "Gadgets always fit" (Florence, SC) - See all my reviews

I saw this on PBS in May of 2008. I had previously seen 'Into Thin Air' several times which is the account by a writer, Jon Krakauer, who was on this fateful climb. I enjoyed this movie a great deal more since it was in the words of those caught in the storm that night. It felt more 'real' to hear their recounts of what happened and what they went through. I trust David Breashears account given the number of times he has climbed Everest and his experiences. He had to bring down the body of a climber who died during that very trip, Chen Yu-Nan. If you want to know what can happen to a climber on Everest, this is the DVD for you.