The director of the new action-packed movie “Everest” stopped at nothing to make this story as thrilling as possible. The tragic true story remained realistic and intense throughout, with seamless special effects to accurately demonstrate the life-threatening journey.

The story starts with a team of mountaineers, featuring Jason Clarke portraying Rob Hall, John Hawkes as Doug Hansen, Martin Henderson as Andy “Herold” Haris, with many others preparing for a two month exhibition to the highest point in the world, Mount Everest. Throughout the movie, you get to know the backgrounds of each member and why they have the desire to get to the top. Some, like Yasuko Namba, who is played by Naoko Mori,  have been climbing for years and Mount Everest is her ultimate goal. Some of the other climber like Doug Hansen have the ambition to inspire others to pursue their dreams as well.

From the very start of the exhibition I was captivated by the dangerous conditions of Mount Everest and the determination it took for the mountaineers to persevere through the harsh climate. As the group got closer to the top, the more severe the storm became. Some of the climbers started to lose their eyesight, and multiple ran out of oxygen. With the below freezing temperatures, frostbite was also a huge factor to worry about. During the exhibition the mountaineers also faced other major conflicts with the safe rope breaking, not being able to contact the nurses and worse of all, the unexpected massive storm that hits.

The well-done special effects and amazing performance of every actor made it feel as if I were one of the climbers as well. To see the fight of every person striving to reach their goal, no matter what obstacle they faced, made me want to cheer them on until they succeeded. Though it was heartbreaking to watch some of the people die of hypothermia or loss of oxygen, it was rewarding to see some of the climbers achieve their goal and reunite with their families after the exhausting, anxiety-filled journey.

If I had to change anything about Everest, I would go even more in depth with each character, but I think they covered the personal lives overall. The intensity throughout the climb left me at the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen next. I would give this movie an A for the amazing performances and how the directors displayed the tragic story. Everest was overall inspiring and thrilling.