Dramatic, not truthful

Rating: 3/10 (11 September 2015)

****WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*****
Out of respect for the sterling cast of actors, they did a tremendous job bringing the cast of Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness to life. We all know the plot, so the only thing this movie could really do was bring the infamous disaster to life using up-to-date technology. It's really just a reenactment.
Unfortunately, the movie lacks the weight of truth. Rob Hall had known all along that the storm was coming. During weather meetings at Everest Base Camp, Rob Hall (alongside Scott Fischer) discussed highly accurate weather forecasts that were provided by the UK Met Office and the Danish Meteorological Institute. These forecasts predicted rising wind speeds beginning the 8th May 1997, reaching full intensity on the 11th. David Breashears and Ed Viesturs from the IMAX expedition knew too: Breashears himself had coordinated the weather forecasts from the UK Met Office in London even BEFORE leaving for Nepal. Rob Hall's unilateral decision making meant he kept his clients and guide Mike Groom out of the picture concerning the reality of an approaching storm. It's a miscarriage of justice that with such a bug budget, the movie fails to deliver the real punch and chooses instead to stick to the established narration we all know from Into Thin Air. Guess we'll never learn huh?
Do yourself a favour: spend the movie money and get a copy of A Day to Die For by Graham Ratcliffe. If you want the truth, start there, not the cinema.