Share

Watch It

On DVD: Now | On Blu-ray: Now
Watch it on iTunes Buy on Amazon

Seven Years in Tibet Review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 3.0
    55

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Mixed or average reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 50

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    Though Pitt is as attractive as ever, "Seven Years" offers other things to look at and in fact functions better as a travelogue than as a drama.

    Read Full Review

  • 60

    out of 100

    Variety Derek Elley

    Despite some magnificent widescreen lensing, faultless ethnographic detail and a timely sympathy for the plight of the Tibetan people, director Jean-Jacques Annaud's true-life tale about a self-obsessed Austrian mountaineer who learns selflessness in the Himalayas too rarely delivers at a simple emotional level.

    Read Full Review

  • 63

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    Seven Years in Tibet is an ambitious and beautiful movie with much to interest the patient viewer, but it makes the common mistake of many films about travelers and explorers: It is more concerned with their adventures than with what they discover.

    Read Full Review

  • 63

    out of 100

    ReelViews James Berardinelli

    Annaud's desire to create an epic tale actually harms the production, since it results in unnecessary scenes that pad the running length to more than two hours.

    Read Full Review

  • 67

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

    French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, who brought his interest in self-discovery and untamed places to Quest for Fire, The Lover, and the IMAX 3-D film Wings of Courage, is at his best re-creating the serene exoticism of the Dalai Lama's Tibet. But the spark of the holy that the Dalai Lama lights in Harrer flickers only fitfully in all the wind in this production.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

    Beyond his struggles with an unwieldy accent and the screenplay's hokum, Mr. Pitt gives a sincere if labored performance enhanced by a sense of genuine struggle.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Seven Years in Tibet reviews at Metacritic.com

View MoreView Less

For Families provided by Common Sense Media

OK for kids 13+

Soul-searching story won't interest younger teens.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that unless their kids are fixated on Brad Pitt, the subject matter may not hold the interest of young teens. Based on one man's spiritual journey, it tells the true story of a mountaineer's experience in Tibet as it is occupied by Chinese Communists in the 1950s. The beginning of the movie shows some scenes of World War II combat, and there are images of Nazi propaganda.

  • Families can talk about Buddhism's role in East Asia and how the teachings of Buddhism motivated Heinrich to be a better father. They can also discuss World War II history and the subsequent Cold War era, and the effects of Communism in Asia.

The good stuff
  • message true3

    Messages: Not an issue

What to watch for
  • violence false3

    Violence: Lots of guns, killing. War depicted in a harsh and realistic way.

  • sex false0

    Sex: Not an issue

  • language false3

    Language: A few instances of profanity.

  • consumerism false0

    Consumerism: Not an issue

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

View MoreView Less
Advertisement