This film is an abomination to those that have actually died during the 1996 season on Everest. I feel compelled to comment as the film tarnishes the good names of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. While both Hall and Fischer made errors (remember, they are human and prone to the same feelings, desires, etc. that we have) the film failed to take into consideration the totality of the circumstances. The film failed to mention the Taiwanese and South African Expeditions. If those two teams had not been there to cause the traffic jam at the Hilary Step, I am willing to believe that Rob Hall and Scott Fischer would be with us today.

As an added note, I am deeply disturbed by the portrayal of Fischer as an incompetent guide. A reminder should go out to the director that Fischer was the consumate expert; having attained a professional certification from the National Outdoor Leadership School. This school is internationally renouned for its quality. The director skewed Fischer's comment, "I like to give my clients free reign." This did equate "unsupervised" as the director would have one believe. This simply goes along with the established NOLS practice of occasionally allowing brief student-lead teams. Even then Fischer only allowed the clients freer reign where terrain and conditions were acceptable.

Finally, while Rob Hall and Scott Fischer were competitors, they were above all, friends. The director makes them out to be butting heads, when they really cooperated with each other. As John Krakhauer notes in his book, Into Thin Air, Fischer looked up to Hall.

Anyone who wants to know what REALLY happened in 1996 should read the following books. After all, these words are from the people who experienced it, not by a poor director's interpretation.

Into Thin Air by John Krakhauer The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev

The reading mentioned above will show you that errors in judgement were compounded by the totality of the situation: not just a small group of leaders.

This is an excellent book that was translated into a poorly written, poorly acted movie. I was really looking forward to watching this when I saw it on the cable guide. Imagine my disappointment as I watched the undeveloped characters morph into Hollywood cariactures and the story line turn into a study of glibness. The director seemed to be rushing from one scene to the next, pausing just long enough to allow someone to spout some clichéd line. I just didn't care about the people and wasn't too interested in their quest. It's almost as if this movie was a homework assignment that someone had to get out of the way before he could move on to what he really wanted to do.The book was educational and compelling. Jon Krakauer deserved better.

"Into Thin Air: Death On Everest" is a wonderful film and a good start into understanding -- if that is possible -- the need some people have to climb mountains. The film covers the main events of Krakauer's experience and condenses characters to fit the needs of a 90 minute TV film. While the basics are here, the story has been greatly slimmed down and the amount of time involved, truncated. For instance, I would have liked to have seen the daring helicopter rescue by a very brave Nepalese army pilot. To mark a landing spot, those on the mountain made a large X in the snow with a red sports drink.

Since the film was produced directly from Krakauer's book, it does not reference other accounts. Krakauer later admitted that some of the details he wrote were incorrect because he was as addled as everyone else, mistaking one climber for another. Krakauer's book is only one of several accounts of the tragic climb that took a fifteen lives in all. This movie could have used an extra half hours to cover more details, but it is fair to say that this is not meant to be a documentary. It comes down to a study of human hubris when faced with the drive to challenge the highest peak on Earth.

For those who want to understand the complexity of the real drama, it is necessary to study the other points of view, some of which contradict Krakauer. A good second film to watch is the IMAX film "Everest" which was filmed during the same climb. Anatoli Boukreev wrote a reply to Krakauer in his book "The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest." Scott Fisher's lead Sherpa, Lopsang, also responded to Krakauer's criticisms in writing. Tragically, both Boukreev and Lopsang died in separate climbing accidents not long after the fatal Everest events (Lopsang in September 1996 and Boukreev in December 1997).

For those who wonder about what it would be like to climb Everest, it is much safer to watch the film. It is about all the experience most of us will ever need.