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Into Thin Air
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Based upon Jon Krakauer's best-selling account of the tragedy that happened during a climb up Mt. Everest, "Into Thin Air" is the occasionally enjoyable, but sometimes rather dissapointing television film that takes a compressed look at the events of what happened during these tragic events that cost lives. Although the fact that the film only has 90 minutes to go through the events and develop characters keep things from being too detailed, the IMAX feature "Everest" provided a more well-developed account with half the running time.
The film launches us into the details of what happened right away - although this instantly engages our interest, it also doesn't really build up or introduce us to the characters in any detailed fashion. We're told most of what we need to know by the narration by Krakauer(Christopher McDonald). There are two teams going up the mountain, lead by Scott Fischer (Peter Horton) and Rob Hall (Nathaniel Parker). They are leading groups of paying customers, who have shelled out enormous amounts of money to be lead up the mountain - most of whom, though, have no place being there and are not trained in the incredibly difficult details of how to climb.
The film attempts to start some television-level drama between the groups - this isn't necessary and doesn't work well for the film. When the picture settles down and actually begins to tell the details that it can fit in the 90 minute feature that it begins to become more compelling and tense, as the disaster that is imminent becomes closer and closer. The actors are possibly not the best choices for the roles, especially Peter Horton as Fischer. Parker is the best as Hall, and McDonald (in a role that isn't the bad guy for once) isn't too bad as Krakauer, but the characters are not very well-developed; the film often relies too much on Krakauer's narration.
Climbing is an activity that can make for a strong film, as shown with the IMAX "Everest", but more often than not, filmmakers seem to desire to add to the drama or, in the instance of "Vertical Limit", add explosions. Hopefully, someday a filmmaker will understand that the dangers involved in trying to reach the top are terrifying enough.
The DVD
VIDEO: Columbia/Tristar presents "Into Thin Air" in its original full-frame aspect ratio, as it was first shown on television. The presentation, for a full-frame one, isn't half bad. Sharpness and detail are generally pretty good - some scenes appeared rather soft, but not terribly so. There were some minor instances of print flaws - a speckle or two appeared as well as some grain, but certainly nothing that I found too noticable. No pixelation and only a couple of slight hints of edge enhancement appeared. Colors were natural and accurate; the bright colors of the clothing stand out nicely against the white, snowy background.
Subtitles are presented in English/French/Spanish/Chinese/Portuguese/Korean/Thai.
SOUND: "Into Thin Air" is presented in Dolby 2.0. This is generally a decent audio experience, bringing together the intense score and some ambient sounds of the mountain winds blowing. Audio quality remained strong; the score sounded full and intense and the dialogue remained clear and easily understood. A full 5.1 presentation would have been exciting, but the 2.0 presentation decently does the job.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with film-themed backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Trailers for "Cliffhanger" and "Vertical Limit".
Final Thoughts: "Into Thin Air" could have been a better look at the tragic events that unfolded upon the mountain, but the television drama only is effective part of the time. Tristar's DVD provides a decent full-frame presentation with acceptable 2.0 audio, but really nothing in the way of extras.
Based upon Jon Krakauer's best-selling account of the tragedy that happened during a climb up Mt. Everest, "Into Thin Air" is the occasionally enjoyable, but sometimes rather dissapointing television film that takes a compressed look at the events of what happened during these tragic events that cost lives. Although the fact that the film only has 90 minutes to go through the events and develop characters keep things from being too detailed, the IMAX feature "Everest" provided a more well-developed account with half the running time.
The film launches us into the details of what happened right away - although this instantly engages our interest, it also doesn't really build up or introduce us to the characters in any detailed fashion. We're told most of what we need to know by the narration by Krakauer(Christopher McDonald). There are two teams going up the mountain, lead by Scott Fischer (Peter Horton) and Rob Hall (Nathaniel Parker). They are leading groups of paying customers, who have shelled out enormous amounts of money to be lead up the mountain - most of whom, though, have no place being there and are not trained in the incredibly difficult details of how to climb.
The film attempts to start some television-level drama between the groups - this isn't necessary and doesn't work well for the film. When the picture settles down and actually begins to tell the details that it can fit in the 90 minute feature that it begins to become more compelling and tense, as the disaster that is imminent becomes closer and closer. The actors are possibly not the best choices for the roles, especially Peter Horton as Fischer. Parker is the best as Hall, and McDonald (in a role that isn't the bad guy for once) isn't too bad as Krakauer, but the characters are not very well-developed; the film often relies too much on Krakauer's narration.
Climbing is an activity that can make for a strong film, as shown with the IMAX "Everest", but more often than not, filmmakers seem to desire to add to the drama or, in the instance of "Vertical Limit", add explosions. Hopefully, someday a filmmaker will understand that the dangers involved in trying to reach the top are terrifying enough.
The DVD
VIDEO: Columbia/Tristar presents "Into Thin Air" in its original full-frame aspect ratio, as it was first shown on television. The presentation, for a full-frame one, isn't half bad. Sharpness and detail are generally pretty good - some scenes appeared rather soft, but not terribly so. There were some minor instances of print flaws - a speckle or two appeared as well as some grain, but certainly nothing that I found too noticable. No pixelation and only a couple of slight hints of edge enhancement appeared. Colors were natural and accurate; the bright colors of the clothing stand out nicely against the white, snowy background.
Subtitles are presented in English/French/Spanish/Chinese/Portuguese/Korean/Thai.
SOUND: "Into Thin Air" is presented in Dolby 2.0. This is generally a decent audio experience, bringing together the intense score and some ambient sounds of the mountain winds blowing. Audio quality remained strong; the score sounded full and intense and the dialogue remained clear and easily understood. A full 5.1 presentation would have been exciting, but the 2.0 presentation decently does the job.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with film-themed backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Trailers for "Cliffhanger" and "Vertical Limit".
Final Thoughts: "Into Thin Air" could have been a better look at the tragic events that unfolded upon the mountain, but the television drama only is effective part of the time. Tristar's DVD provides a decent full-frame presentation with acceptable 2.0 audio, but really nothing in the way of extras.
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