Everest (2015)

Everest is a 2015 British–American–Icelandic–Nepali mountain adventure film directed by Baltasar Kormákur and written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy, starring an ensemble cast which features Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, and Jake Gyllenhaal. It is adapted from Beck Weathers' memoir Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest (2000).

The film opened the 72nd Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2015, and was released theatrically on 18 September 2015.^[3] It is based on the real events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, and focuses on the survival attempts of two expedition groups, one led by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and the other by Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal). Kormákur, Universal, Walden Media, Cross Creek and Working Title dedicated the 3D film to the late British actress Natasha Richardson.

It was first released in IMAX 3D on 11 September 2015, in the UK and in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D, and 2D internationally, and exclusively in IMAX 3D, 18 September 2015, across 545 theaters in the United States and Canada, and along 36 other countries. It began a U.S. wide release on 25 September 2015, across 3,006 theaters. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $203 million worldwide.

In March 1996, several commercial expeditions arrive at Mount Everest base camp to prepare to climb the summit. Rob Hall, who first popularized guided Everest climbs, leads Adventure Consultants. Scott Fischer is the chief guide for competitor Mountain Madness. Rob's clients include Beck Weathers, an experienced climber; Doug Hansen, a former mailman pursuing his dream; and climbing veteran Yasuko Namba, who hopes to complete her final Seven Summits climb. Outside Magazine journalist Jon Krakauer also accompanies Rob's group. Helen Wilton manages Rob's base camp.

A month earlier in New Zealand, Rob says goodbye to his pregnant wife, Jan, and promises he will be home for the birth. At base camp, Rob receives a fax from her, informing him their baby will be a girl. He wants to name her Sarah, but Jan opposes it.

Worried about crowding on the mountain, Rob persuades Scott to cooperate to reduce delays. On the summit attempt, Rob's group departs Camp IV before dawn, planning to reach the top and turn around by 2 pm, the latest safe time that will allow them to return to camp before nightfall. They are delayed over an hour after discovering guide ropes are not yet installed on upper reaches of the climb. Beck has eyesight problems and stops. Rob tells him not to continue if his condition does not improve in a half-hour. Scott hurries back to camp to help another climber, but is intent on re-ascending. Rob warns him about excessive exertion.

Rob reaches the summit on time and is joined by other climbers including Yasuko, who jubilantly plants her Japan flag in the snow. Descending, Rob encounters Doug struggling just above the Hillary Step and orders him to turn back. Doug says he will not get the chance again and insists on continuing. Rob reluctantly agrees, and together they reach the summit after 4 pm. Also at the top is Scott, exhausted and increasingly ill from high-altitude pulmonary edema.

As Rob helps Doug descend, a blizzard strikes the mountain. Doug's oxygen bottle runs out, and he becomes semi-conscious. No full extra bottles are stored on the route where Rob had asked them to be placed. Rob radios Helen to send someone up with oxygen. Doug, left alone briefly by Rob, unclips himself from the guide rope in his hypoxia daze and walks unsteadily along the extremely narrow path on the mountainside. A moment later, he silently topples to his death.

Scott's condition worsens. He tells fellow climbers to continue descending without him. He lies down—soon to die. Returning climbers reach Beck, his vision still impaired. They become lost as the blizzard obliterates the trail. Three climbers go for help, leaving Beck and Yasuko behind.

Guide Andy 'Harold' Harris reaches Rob with the oxygen, which freezes shut. The two huddle together in the storm. While Rob sleeps, Andy hallucinates—as the camp doctor had warned can happen at high altitude—and begins stripping off his outer clothing. He loses his grip on the icy surface and slips out of sight, never to be found. In the morning, Rob radios Helen that Doug and Andy are gone and that his hands and feet are frozen. Helen calls Jan, hoping Rob will respond to her voice. Jan tells Rob that he must start moving. Rob tells her he is cold but comfortable and asks her to name their baby Sarah. He dies soon after.

Returning climbers tell the camp that Beck and Yasuko are stranded. The weather is too dangerous for a rescue. Helen calls Beck's wife, Peach, and informs her of the situation. In the morning Beck miraculously regains consciousness, sees that Yasuko has died, and stumbles back to camp alone, to the astonishment of everyone. He is severely frostbitten and desperately needs medical help. Peach calls the American Embassy and organizes a helicopter rescue. The flight is dangerous because of the thin air, but Nepal Army pilot Lt. Col. Madan Khatri Chhetri successfully makes the high-altitude medical evacuation. One of Scott's guides, Anatoli, finds his body.

Returning home, Helen has an emotional reunion with Jan, who later gives birth and names her daughter Sarah. Beck returns to his family, heavily bandaged. Closing titles inform the audience that he lost both hands and nose to severe frostbite and that Rob's body remains on Everest. Photographs of others who died during the expedition are shown.