Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 30, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page c3 Winnipeg repress. Com entertainment Winnipeg free press saturday August 30, 2008 c 3                                                                                                                                                     John Hirsch theatre the                                                                                               " #  $ % & $                                                                                                .     /                                                                                                                "      # $ %   & /              $  0   .   1  0   .     2  0   . 3  4      0       %     "        %  "  &       1          %       $     &  0     .  0   0    3    0          " % & "                   %  zoo society. Com with Over 4,000 animals waiting to meet you theress lots to discover under $ 5 gets you in. Assiniboine Park zoo opening minds 365 Days a year. T he Frozen slopes of mount Everest have Laid claim to Many dreams and Many dreamers whose sole intent was to reach the top and stand above the whole world below. Despite All the preparation All the determination All the Good intentions and Good Fortune that can be mustered Everest More often produces tales of failure than of Success. And so it is with Everest the ambitious and Well intended two part drama that airs sunday and monday at 8 p. M. On Csc. The miniseries which revisits the 1982 expedition that made Laurie Skreslet and Pat Morrow the first two canadians to scale the planets highest Peak is a reasonably engaging and at times rather exciting drama that sets lofty goals for itself and then never quite achieves them. Despite some stunning Mountain cinematography shot mostly in the Rocky mountains with additional second unit footage collected in the Himalayas that makes most of its four hours Beautiful to watch Everest never quite succeeds in turning its real life Story into a fully compelling drama. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact its been More than a Quarter Century since these events occurred and so much has happened atop Everest in the interim. And even More Likely is the fact that so much of what has occurred since skies lets and morrows ascents has been captured on film often in Max and High definition formats and turned into some of the most breathtaking and compellingly dramatic documentary and docudrama productions of their generation. Like the achievement of Summ iting Everest itself the Challenge of filming Everest expeditions has now been met with great Success numerous times and cd cos Everest bears the heavy Burden of being compared to the likes of a bsds storm Over Everest frontline and Everest the death zone nov discovery channels Everest beyond the limit and even abcs mini series dramatization into thin air death on Everestus Well As numerous other titles. Quite frankly anyone who tunes in cd cos Everest and watches the first hour of sundays premiere might be inclined to tune out quickly As the drama takes far too much time setting up its storyline and establishing its Large and sometimes unwieldy cast of characters. As it does the actors Are saddled with quite a bit of Clunky dialogue and Many scenes that simply dont ring True. The Story starts with three friends Skreslet Eric Johnson Roger Marshall John Pyper Ferguson and John Lauchlan Jason priestly climbing a Rock face near Canmore Alta. Sometime in the Early 1980s. They reach a shelf High above the Valley below and pause to discuss the surreal implications of their recently obtained permit to climb mount Everest. Despite some chiding from Lauchlan to continue their climb Skreslet and Marshall head Down the Mountainside to attend to the demands of their daily lives. Lauchlan unwisely opts to head upward on his own a decision that leads to a slip a Long fall and his death. Shaken and somewhat hesitant to continue the Everest assent without their Friend Skreslet and Marshall Are ultimately convinced by other members of the expedition that Lauchlan would have wanted them to carry on. And so they do. By the Way it bears mentioning that the promotional ads for Everest represent something of a celebrity co Star bait and switch they focus largely on Priestley and fellow High profile William Shatner but the fact is that they and 24 Alumna Leslie Hope play Only peripheral and in Priestley is Case fleeting roles in the Story. Much of the rest of sundays first instalment follows the canadians As they travel to Nepal and begin preparations for their Everest assault and assault is very much the right word As team Leader Bill March Tom Rooney insists on a military minded approach to the task. Still the younger canucks Are a mischievous Bunch and part 1 of Everest leaves one wondering How such a Bunch of immature and goof off inclined pranksters could Ever Hope reach the top of the world. The last half hour of sundays instalment finally gets around to examining whether they re up to the task with several Mountain climbing scenes that finally inject a bit of excitement into what has until then been pretty Dull slogging. Mondays conclusion is much better with the action focused on the difficult and at Many turns almost abandoned Effort to reach the top an Effort that claims the lives of three expedition members and prompts some others to decide they ave tempted Fate enough and its Wiser to head Back to the Bottom. Ultimately of course theress Triumph with Skreslet and Morrow reaching the Summit this is a bit of dramatic licence in actual fact Skreslet reached the Peak with two Sherpa on oct. 5, with Morrow and a pair of guides Summ iting two Days later and the embattled Canadian Crew finally being Able to declare their Mission a Success. It could fairly be argued that the producers of Everest could claim Success too theirs is an ambitious Effort to Tell a distinctly Canadian Story amid some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. They deserve credit for the Heights they achieve but in comparison to so Many other Topnotch Everest tales that have graced the Small screen in recent years it must be said that this one never quite sets foot on the Summit. Brad. Oswald free press. My. Ca Csc sets lofty goal but does not hit Heights watching to Brad Oswald to preview Everest. Sunday & monday. Csc. 8 p. M. Morrow Eric Johnson above plays Laurie Skreslet the first Canadian to scale Everest in cd cos ambitious but flawed miniseries which airs sunday and monday. Csc a 03_ aug 30 08. Ind c3 8/ 29/ 08 7 30 07 pm ;