Into Thin Air

Author(s): Matt
Location: Illinois

"Into Thin Air"

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Written by: Eric Roth
Based on the Book by: Jon Krakauer

Main Cast

Billy Crudup as Jon Krakauer
Tom Hanks as Rob Hall
Michael Keaton as Scott Fischer
Ginnifer Goodwin as Linda Krakauer
Rinko Kikuchi as Yasuko Namba
Helen Hunt as Sandy Pittman
Matt Damon as Beck Weathers
Eric Bana as Anatoli Boukreev
Rory Culkin as Young Jon Krakauer

Tagline: "In a classic battle of man vs. nature, man rarely wins"

Synopsis: While other children were collecting baseball cards and idolizing movie stars, a young boy was looking up to a family friend. This family friend was just a normal man, though. He was a mountaineer. The young boy grew up full of desire to reach the top of the world and consumed by a fascination with nature. He never once believed that nature would end up scarring him for the rest of his life.

Jon Krakauer grew up to be a journalist, who spent more time reporting on mountain summits than actually climbing them. However, in his free time he had dabbled in mountain climbing. It was still surprising, though, when a magazine approached Jon and asked him to write an article about commercialism on Everest. He was offered a first hand expedition. Jon jumped at the opportunity, even to the dismay and anxiety of his wife. He left the United States anticipating the best time of his life, but all of that eagerness died the minute he stepped onto the mountain.

Jon officially met with the group that he would be ascending Everest with. He evaluated the strangers’ personalities and questioned his ability to put trust in his team members. The group was guided by Rob Hall, and contained a couple of dead weights, including Sandy Pittman. Krakauer highly doubted that the woman would ever reach the summit. A Japanese mountaineer Yasuko Namba was hard to strike a relationship with, due to the cultural and linguistic differences. Jon put most of his trust in Rob and Beck Weathers, a very experienced climber.

Throughout the ascent, the climbers overcame illness brought on by the high altitudes. Facing head aches and sore throats led them to become openly hostile and unsupportive. Other shortcomings included falling ice and unsalvageable climbing rope that had previously been set by the natives. Jon and the crew overcame these setbacks while struggling with inner demons, like loneliness. Unfortunately, they were unprepared and could not overcome the storm that took place during the summit push. Many of the climbers perished on the mountain, including guide Rob Hall.

Jon Krakauer survived. Sadly, he never returned home with a feeling of accomplishment for having reached Everest’s peak. Instead he was haunted by the memories of the lost members of his team and the guilt for not having been in good enough shape to save any of them. He goes on to write a book about the incident, as the original article would never have done the event justice.

What the Press would say:

An adaptation can only be as good as its original source material. Eric Roth is extremely lucky that Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction novel, Into Thin Air, was so fantastic. Roth deserves praise, too, as he turned the true account into a very interesting storyline. Robert Zemeckis handled the screenplay as no other director could. This film is by far his best. He truly understands the themes of survival and emotional impacts of tragedy. The actors elevate these themes through believable performances. Billy Crudup is perfect for the role of Jon; he captures the intensity and subtlety of the character and real man. Ginnifer Goodwin plays the worried wife amazingly and is definitely on her way to becoming one of the best young actresses around. Helen Hunt does a great job at playing the innocent and somewhat weak Sandy. Eric Bana and Matt Damon are just as good as usual. Bana especially seems to deliver Roth’s dialogue perfectly. Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton are both terrific as competing Everest guides. Hanks especially seems right at home with Zemeckis’ direction. The two have become a great team. Out of all the films the two have worked on together, Into Thin Air tops the list. The movie has drama, epic suspense, and more. Into Thin Air deserves a mountain of praise and success.

Possible Oscar Nominations

Best Picture
Best Director: Robert Zemeckis
Best Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth
Best Actor: Billy Crudup
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks
Best Supporting Actress: Ginnifer Goodwin
Best Supporting Actress: Helen Hunt
Best Supporting Actress: Rinko Kikuchi