A terrible watch. A Cheaply produced, egotistical, personality-less production which is really just there to blow his own trumpet. The achievement of a 70 year old climbing Everest is impressive of course but the shine is somewhat taken off when you realise it's with the full support of a team geared into getting you (and you only) to the top that only the money of a very wealthy person can afford - it's hardly a mountaineering epic.
Half way through, Bill starts reading from some sort of budget auto-queue instead of a natural interview which immediately takes away any feeling of genuineness that the film did have. The interviews, despite being fairly dull, at least were slightly less monotone than the autoqueue reading and felt a bit more real.
The production also makes light work of the severity of situations that happened in 2012 - an avalanche and one of the deadliest seasons on the mountain in general - it also all but dismisses the death of one of Bill's "teammates" who just so happened to be trying to Summit everest from the other side of the mountain that Bill finds himself on - I question Why a "teammate" was left separated from the remaining, main, summit party and wonder what support network he was left with. Also, the fact that one guide pulled his whole team off the mountain should have raised eyebrows. Instead Bill just pops around to the other side of the mountain to try an attempt from the north side as the Sherpa are being "too slow" at putting the ropes up on the South side. In the end, Bill finally decides to turn back from his summit push - a respectable decision and the high point of the production as finally sense is applied. Everest always divides opinion and this film arguably adds to the controversy around commercial expeditions.
I feel that if the story was truly noteworthy then some professional organisation would have picked it up and produced a slick, well made film about it. Wouldn't waste your time watching it.
Half way through, Bill starts reading from some sort of budget auto-queue instead of a natural interview which immediately takes away any feeling of genuineness that the film did have. The interviews, despite being fairly dull, at least were slightly less monotone than the autoqueue reading and felt a bit more real.
The production also makes light work of the severity of situations that happened in 2012 - an avalanche and one of the deadliest seasons on the mountain in general - it also all but dismisses the death of one of Bill's "teammates" who just so happened to be trying to Summit everest from the other side of the mountain that Bill finds himself on - I question Why a "teammate" was left separated from the remaining, main, summit party and wonder what support network he was left with. Also, the fact that one guide pulled his whole team off the mountain should have raised eyebrows. Instead Bill just pops around to the other side of the mountain to try an attempt from the north side as the Sherpa are being "too slow" at putting the ropes up on the South side. In the end, Bill finally decides to turn back from his summit push - a respectable decision and the high point of the production as finally sense is applied. Everest always divides opinion and this film arguably adds to the controversy around commercial expeditions.
I feel that if the story was truly noteworthy then some professional organisation would have picked it up and produced a slick, well made film about it. Wouldn't waste your time watching it.
