What a waste of my time!!!

Overrated and overhyped

One of my all time favorites.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This documentary I and my sister saw it in Amsterdam, Holland 1953. It happened in a small theater named "Ceintuurtheater". Months ago every day publications about this unique adventure. I remember the preparations before the climb. The reaching of the top was not shot. We only saw a photo and a flag. No persons.

I was born in 1946 so was 7 year of age in 1953.I was in my second year at Pinner Road Infants school which helped to educate part of the post war baby boom in Northwood Hills and Pinner Middlesex.What a treat to be told we were all going to the building next to the school to see "The Conquest of Everest".This was shown at the REX cinema.Today it is a supermarket and the school demolished to make way for a block of flats.If you asked me what do I remember about this film 64 years later, bearing in mind I have not seen it since on UK TV networks, I have to confess I do not remember a thing about it.Perhaps scenes of conquering the summit were shown on news, travelogues, documentaries and the like but being a person that does not like snow & ice it escaped me.Nevertheless I voted this film 7/10 mainly based on other reviewers posts and the historic accomplishment of dragging all that film equipment up Everest.

On a historical day in 1953, two headlines rocked the British press. Queen Elizabeth went through her coronation, and a group of British explorers were praised for being the first humans to reach the top of Mount Everest, the highest point in the Himalayas. This documentary excellently tells the tale of their preparation, struggle and success, and does so humbly and with great care. O feel sorry for the cameraman documenting all this, as with all the others traipsing around in the bitter cold, overloaded with heavy supplies. It takes more than strong ropes, warm clothes and a heavy pick to make it there. Luck and nature must be on their side, and this doesn't leave anything to the imagination. Of course, the scenery is gorgeous, but even beautiful nature has its dangers, so there is an element of suspense. Dramatic music adds to the impact and the result is am Oscar nominated documentary that would make a great tool for showing the triumph of the human spirit in middle and high schools.

I did not know this documentary existed until I found it at Kathmandu airport as I left Nepal recently. What fascinated me was the amazing changes that I noted, particularly on the West Buttress and some other places in the 56 years since this was filmed. It also amazed me how long it took them to find a way thru the Ice Fall. I was born a couple of weeks prior to Hillary's summit and I summited Everest myself on May 23, 2009 within a few days, give or take 56 years from the first summit. In fact, our climb was documented by Discovery Channel and will be aired in November, 2009. The experience is difficult to explain, but when I saw this video with the highest quality cinematography, all using presumably large, heavy cameras and 16 MM film or larger, it is truly amazing to watch. The music is typical of the 50s but that adds to its historic nature. The documentary is wonderfully accurate, is not overly dramatic as many of today's efforts are (such as Discovery's Everest series) so its really a pleasant review of an awesome achievement over 56 years ago.