The BBC has quietly added the gripping survival film Everest to its iPlayer streaming service, making the dramatic retelling of one of mountaineering's most tragic events available to UK viewers for free.
The 1996 Mount Everest Tragedy
Originally released in 2015, the film chronicles the devastating events of May 10, 1996, when eight climbers lost their lives during a descent from the world's highest peak. The story follows rival adventure guides Rob Hall (played by Jason Clarke) and Scott Fischer (portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal) as they lead separate groups of trekkers to the summit.
While both groups successfully reached the peak, their triumph turned to tragedy during the descent when a sudden blizzard struck the mountain. The severe weather conditions created a deadly situation, with visibility reduced to near-zero, fixed ropes buried under snow, and the trail back to camp completely destroyed.
By the following morning, the catastrophic conditions had claimed the lives of eight climbers in what remains one of the deadliest days in Mount Everest's climbing history.
Critical Acclaim and Commercial Success
Upon its original release, Everest proved both a critical and commercial success. The film grossed an impressive $203.4 million (£154 million) worldwide against a production budget of $55 million (£41 million).
Critics praised the film's authentic portrayal of the disaster, with Variety describing it as "a properly gruelling, strikingly unsentimental chronicle of the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy." US Weekly called the production "a harrowing and haunting force of nature," while the New York Daily News noted that "like the mountain for which it's named, Everest is rock solid. It's big, it's beautiful, it's terrifying, and it's merciless to both its characters and the audience."
Audiences echoed these sentiments, with many viewers describing the film as "powerful" and "emotionally charged," leaving them "speechless" by its impactful storytelling.
Honouring the Victims and Survivors
Director Baltasar Kormákur approached the sensitive material with a commitment to accuracy and respect for those involved. He emphasised his intention to "humanise" the climbers rather than create simplified heroes or villains.
"I didn't want to ridicule or create a villain that doesn't exist...or a hero that didn't exist," Kormákur explained. "I wanted to be true and show the mistakes and failures that happened on the mountain. This isn't about a group of people who go up a mountain and get blown off by a storm. They were in real bad shape before the storm came in. The storm was just the final thing that finished them off."
Jake Gyllenhaal, who portrayed guide Scott Fischer, spoke about the "tremendous responsibility" involved in recreating real-life events. The actor focused on capturing "the essence of Scott Fischer" and understanding the motivations behind the climbers' decisions.
The film features an ensemble cast including Josh Brolin, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Elizabeth Debicki, and Vanessa Kirby.
Several survivors of the actual disaster documented their experiences in memoirs published in the years following the tragedy. Journalist Jon Krakauer, who was on the expedition, detailed the events in his bestselling book Into Thin Air published the following year. Guide Anatoli Boukreev wrote The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest, while other accounts appeared in Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest and Climbing High: A Woman's Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy.
The addition of Everest to BBC iPlayer provides British audiences with free access to this powerful retelling of one of mountaineering's most sobering chapters. The film serves as both entertainment and memorial, honouring the victims while reminding viewers of the extreme risks inherent in high-altitude climbing.
More than 300 people have died attempting to climb Mount Everest since records began, with the 1996 disaster remaining one of the most documented and analysed tragedies in climbing history.
