The Climbers

2019 2h 3m ZH

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 65

AdventureActionDramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Upon learning that the international community does not recognize China's ascent of Mount Everest during May 1960 owing to a lack of videographic evidence from the summit, three members on the team rally together a group of young hopefuls to reach the world's highest point.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Wu Jing
Fang Wuzhou
Zhang Ziyi
Xu Ying
Zhang Yi
Qu Songlin
Jing Boran
Li Guoliang
Hu Ge
Yang Guang
Wang Jingchun
Zhao Kun
Chen Long
Lin Jie
He Lin
Zhao Hong

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Daniel Lee
Writers: Daniel Lee, Alai
Languages: Mandarin
Countries: China

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 7 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Daniel Lee, shot by Tony Cheung Tung-Leung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jack Tang Man-To shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Wu Jing and Zhang Ziyi and Zhang Yi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt9635616 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Daniel Lee directs. Tony Cheung Tung-Leung behind the camera. Jack Tang Man-To cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in China. Dialogue in Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.
2Released 7 years ago.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Daniel Lee, shot by Tony Cheung Tung-Leung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Jack Tang Man-To shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Wu Jing and Zhang Ziyi and Zhang Yi carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt9635616 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Tony Cheung Tung-Leung
Editing: Jack Tang Man-To
Runtime: 123 min · 2h 3m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $156,892,866
Return: 392% of budget
Original language: ZH
Certification (US): 12
IMDB: The Climbers (2019)

Awards

Huabiao Award for Outstanding Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Daniel Lee

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2022-01-30
★ 8/10
I have watched a lot of accounts and dramatizations of mountaineering expeditions, but this is the oddest one I have seen. I guess it is because this film tries to be more than one genre. It is part thriller, part documentary of Chinese Himalayan history, part romance and some propaganda thrown in for good measure. Too much of everything at different times, it seemed to me. The thriller part was like a Hollywood movie, with more last second rescues and literal cliffhangers than any climber might experience in a lifetime, and some of them so dramatic I expected to see a superhero cape flapping in the howling winds. Likewise the romance angle seemed overplayed at times, descending into melodrama. Romantic happiness seemed harder to achieve than summitting Everest itself. I watched it to the end, however, hanging on because the special effects seemed good to me, if a little disjointed, plus I could appreciate the restrictions the Chinese director was under in mailing this national celebration of a movie.

Production companies