Following in the footsteps of Seven Years in Tibet and Kundun, the latest offering for Himalayan buffs is none other than Everest, the movie. This film, however, is one Himalayan narrative that is unlikely to be available at the local video shop, shot as it was for special eight-storey-high Imax and Omnimax screens.
Narrated by Hollywood actor Liam Neeson, the documentary follows a climbing team comprised of Ed Viesturs (USA), Araceli Segarra (Spain), Sumiyo Tsuzuki (Japan) and Jamling Norgay (India), the last being the son of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (who, along with Edmund Hillary, was the first summiteer of Everest back in 1953).
Director David Breashears and producer Greg MacGillivray created a special 35-lb (16 kg) camera that could be operated in extreme temperatures and be carried up the mountain more easily than the standard Imax camera that weighs 80 lbs (36 kg).
Everest is now the top-grossing Imax film of all time, with over USD 58 million until November 1998 in box office revenues in the US alone. In May 1998, it even managed to join the list of top-10 grossing films, a 44-min documentary competing with regular film hits.