Documentary on the Shackleton Antartic expedition. A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in and the crew of his vessel 'The Endurance', which was trapped in the ice floes and frigid open ocean of the Antarctic in 1914. Shackleton decided, with many of his crew injured and weak from exposure and starvation, to take a team of his fittest men and attempt to find help. Setting out in appalling conditions with hopelessly inadequate equipment, they endured all weather and terrain and finally reached safety. Persuading a local team of his confidence that the abandoned team would still be alive, he set out again to find them. After almost 2 years trapped on the ice, all members of the crew were finally rescued.
Similar titles
Reviews
This movie shows that it's all about quality of leadership.Shackleton put an ad in the paper for the journey:"Men wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." Would you sign up for an inland trek over the South Pole? I know that I would not, yet over a thousand men answered the ad. The men that Shackelton led were skilled men but not all that out of the ordinary. They had the same weaknesses as any other team. Keeping them from self destructing and working towards the common mission was an amazing accomplishment. And, the thing that made all the difference was the quality of the leadership of Ernest Shackleton.This movie is wonderful for leadership training. Everyone who is going through troubles and is in a position of leadership can easily spot parallels to their own situation in the movie. Shackleton's virtues of concern for his men and desire to keep up their morale shine through in this movie. On one occasion he even makes a decision which doesn't make sense but serves to keep up the hopes of the men.I would show this movie to a group of businessmen in a competitive market, to an executive board faced with tough decisions or to a church leadership team in need of encouragement and strengthening. It shows what is common in all human lives (adversity) and what is uncommon (an extraordinary faith and perseverance).
At its simplest, this film gives you greater appreciation of the comforts that surround us every day. Car window not working? Browser crashing on you? Vending machine rob you of 75 cents? You don't have a dreaming clue how bad it COULD be. I am not sure the makers would have seen it this way, but I see this film, ultimately, as a downer. A day-grayer. After going so deep into gloom and walking around in it for a couple of hours, it has an effect on you. If you are at all like me, you sat pinched, really dreading to find out what is coming up next. Yet after seeing it, I definitely stepped out of the theater into the frozen weather, feeling warmer, far warmer than when I had gone in. It is a film that makes you actively search for the uplift; a thought-provoking experience.Ten stars. See it.
I have read several books about Shackleton's amazing expedition to Antarctica. I first became aware of the story from a PBS documentary several years ago, and being amazed by the story of survival and endurance, sought out books for more of the story. As a teacher I have used parts of this story as examples of leadership, enduring hardship, teamwork, loyalty, service, and hope. Being so familiar with this story, I wasn't sure what would be new in the film, but there was plenty there for me to enjoy and still learn about. I found it interesting that the descendants of survivors consistently said that their relatives, as is common from many trying circumstances, rarely talked about the events. It was also great to see the pictures I have seen over and over again put into a format where I could see them on a big screen. Even more amazing is the surviving film footage from the expedition. The preservation of this footage is wonderful, and in conjunction with the newly filmed footage of the unchanged antarctic landscape, gives you a better understanding of the wilderness these men were up against. Shackelton is portrayed as the excellent leader that he was, but is not presented as an infallible genius. He was a man who demonstrated amazing qualities in difficult circumstances, and he was a man who understood the burden of his leadership and the importance for getting his men home safely. If you've never heard of Shackleton, you are in the same boat (pun intended), as my wife, who was completely new to Shackleton's story. She loved the film as well, and was fascinated by the story. So if you are well aware of the story, or totally new to it, I highly recommend this story of survival and endurance.
I saw this film in the fall of 2000, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at the Telluride by the Sea Festival. It was amazingly beautiful. The director fused modern cinematography of the antarctic with old moving pictures taken by the expeditions photographer. The landscape hasn't changed a bit.This was a stunning piece of work. It would be easy to let the story speak for itself, the survival of all crew members for over a year in inconceivable surroundings. But, these film makers didn't just tell the amazing story, they brought it back to life. Most stories of this ilk are old legend. They are being told by historians and great great grandchildren. This story is laid out before our eyes, in movies shot at the site. It didn't happen all that long ago. 1914, or thereabouts. Their children are alive to tell their tale. It makes you realize that we have come as far as we have come in a very short span of time. All of our technological advances are still very new. Perhaps this would not happen to a crew in the age of cell phones, world wide web, helicopters, survival suites, satellites, etc. But it happened in our century. The century of advancement.
