Into Thin Air: Death on Everest 1997

Reviews (12)

1. E

   EudoraFletcher 8 月 23, 2026

   THe journalist Jon Krakauer accompanied one of several groups who climbed Mount Everest in 1996. Afterwards he wrote the book “into thin air” which has been the basis for this movie. It must have been produced (in the Tirolian Alps btw) very quickly because it was released one year later. Some efficient mountain guides take some rich amateurs on Mount Everest which leades to a catastrophe. The terrible arrogance and ignorance of guides and guests comes across very well. Less noticeable are the terrible cold and the exhaustion in the first half. There is a great scene when one of the members dies because he steps in slick slippers out of his tent. The second half, when the mountaineers fight for their lives has been staged pretty well. I didn´t have much expectations and was surpised positively. The beautful pictures of the snowy mountains is worth the watch alone. letterboxd.com/eudorafletcher/list/snow-and-ice/

   6
2. C

   chiara 8 月 23, 2026

   made for tv movies are crazy like what would you even do if you paid a hundred thousand dollars to die one of the most unpleasant deaths i can conceive of and they made a movie about it and the movie was bad. what do you do in that scenario

   27
3. C

   Ceci 8 月 23, 2026

   I’m definitely not opposed to making a movie adaptation of this book. As a matter of fact, I think this book would make a great movie. But, this is the second movie I’ve rated 1/2 star. Here’s why: 1. Racism This is INSANE to me. First of all, I recognize that in Krauker’s novel does point out a lot of problems with the Tawiianese group, especially since they do contribute to the disaster, and I’m not suggesting they didn’t make mistakes. BUT nowhere in the book does a Taiwanese man not wear boots and cartoonishly slide down a slope, falling to his death. The other big problem regarding race is the Japanese businesswoman. She is an experienced climber and an…

   6 2
4. L

   Luke Bonanno 8 月 23, 2026

   This 1997 ABC TV movie tells the same true story as 2015’s Everest, only without the breathtaking spectacle of large format cinema. Given the budget constraints of the moribund format, Into Thin Air manages to have some fairly impressive scope and scale, complete with real snowy mountain locations in Austria. It’s adapted from the nonfiction book by Jon Krakaeur, who is portrayed as a soulful, scruffed journalist/narrator by Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald). While the drama is decent, it doesn’t hold a ton of general appeal and real climbers will likely find false notes. I watched this chiefly for the appearance by Richard Jenkins, who plays a Texas pathologist among the deep-pocketed hobby climbers running into bad weather on their pricy expedition. Welcome to the 50-Plus Club, Mr. Jenkins! Wishing you scotch and cheesecake in honor of your long and distinguished career. Don’t ever lose your dinosaur! #32 on Richard Jenkins, Ranked

   26
5. R

   Ryan 8 月 23, 2026

   Considering this came out only a year after the events it’s depicting, the broad characterizations of real people who lost their lives feels really callous and offensive. I’m not sure if that’s just the nature of TV movies from this time period or if this is just exceptional in how bad the writing is, but either way it was really painful to watch.

   10 2
6. L

   Lucy🥞 8 月 23, 2026

   i played flappy dunk the whole time, but it was sort of slay (idk what happened)

   12
7. J

   jack bartley 8 月 23, 2026

   Jake Gyllenhaal was not in this

   6 1
8. D

   Dr Lois 8 月 23, 2026

   oh geez, this movie was awful. I don’t even know where to start – the acting, the casting, the soundtrack, none of it works. I was very surprised because the book is absolutely AMAZING. But if you want to watch a film about this fateful climb, I recommend Everest instead. Or at least watch this one FIRST so you can see how awesome Everest is.

   6
9. B

   Blake Douglas 8 月 23, 2026

   School movie day.

   19
10. P

    Pants Gamblefini 8 月 23, 2026

    1) Hiking Everest is some of the dumbest white people shit I have ever even begun to think or hear of. 2) Dramatizing this shit like “well, they dead, but they def saw the face of God – sure hope it was pretty” is the only dumber thing I’ve heard or seen in my life. 3) This writer for this also wrote BODY DOUBLE and a bunch of other direct to video erotic thriller so at least he made Everest like a sexy killer. 4) John Krakauer worries me. He goes long on some seriously dark shit. Someone make sure he’s getting the occasional Rom Com in his diet.

    6
11. B

    BeeRye 8 月 23, 2026

    Just straight up boring and uninspired. You won’t care about the characters, the actors never try to sell you on their performances, there’s no fun use of visuals, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. Nathaniel Parker sounds like Randy Marsh during the third act which was mildly amusing.

    23
12. J

    jeffrouk 8 月 23, 2026

    So inept. Decided to re-watch this before I watched EVEREST, and I had forgotten how awful this was. In short – (attempts to) retell the events of the 1996 Everest disaster. Filled with cardboard cut-out characters, an oversimplified sequence of events and a shudderingly clumsy script, it really does the survivors and the dead no justice. And a brief paragraph that only makes sense if you know the events pretty well: What really grates is that the movie paints Krakauer as literally the only sensible person on the mountain, while Boukreev is an absurd pantomime villain. I’m going to watch EVEREST now – I can only hope it does a better (and more balanced) job.

    7