The Conquest of Everest (film #1 on Side A of Disc #10 of Historic Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]

This 50s documentary covers the first successful climb of Mt. Everest by British, New Zealander and Tibetan climbers. As usual for this kind of film, the footage makes you wonder about the difficulties the cameraman had to go through, which were just as arduous as the other climbers. The film is a bit slow-moving in spots, but that’s somehow appropriate, as the entire expedition was agonizingly slow-moving due to lack of oxygen at that altitude. Mostly, it’s an interesting story of an amazing climb that pushed the climbers to their limits. A bit of 20s footage from the unsuccessful Mallory climb is included, increasing the historical value of the film.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.