Customer Reviews

Scott of the Antarctic [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Director Charles Frend showed he could turn real life stories into stirring drama with war films like The Foreman Went to France, and here turned his hand to a different sort of heroism. Whilst the war films showed small victories in what we hoped would prove to be a big victory, Scott Of The Antarctic shows a peculiar sort of victory, that of the human spirit in the midst of failure.

Whilst Scott is held up as a role model to every schoolboy, he was a flawed man, sometimes putting his own vanity and the desire to win above the safety of his crew. The film does not dwell on this, but the shoestring budget and hasty preparations are shown, as are some of Scott's own misgivings. The war had honed Ealing studios' skills in making films in the drama-documentary style and the realism of the sets is to be applauded. Photographs of the hut Scott built look almost identical to that shown on screen and the recreation of the Antarctic on Soundstage 1 in Ealing Studios is a marvel (though some scenes are shot on location in Norway).

The casting is very nice, with square jawed leading men Kenneth More and John Gregson in supporting roles here, James Robertson Justice in an unusually subtle role as Taff Evans and of course John Mills as Scott. The length of Mills's career, spanning from 1932 to date is surely tribute to his acting skills, as well as his amiablity. He isn't the John Gregson type you would necessarily associate with the heroic lead, but a smaller man, more human than super-human, and this probably works better in portraying a man like Scott.

A major contribution to the film's success is the rousing music by Vaughan Williams, which somehow adds a sense of realism and scale to the landscapes. Vaughan Williams cited this score as a particular favourite of his, and it makes a change from the usual Benjamin Frankel music that Ealing employed during this period.

This is a film I remember fondly, but was very disappointed with this transfer (from 905 Entertainment); the colours are faded and the soundtrack very coarsened and almost unlistenable - indeed, the very opening of Vaughan Williams' superlative score has been clipped in this version. There's now a far superior transfer available from Optimum Classic as part of their Easling Studios Collection - on sale from amazon.co.uk: vibrant colours and a much better soundtrack, so the extra dollars for that version are worth it!

I'll have to agree with the previous reviewers both in appraisal of the story-- it's great, and denigration of the technical quality of this particular DVD version. Just be forwarned to prepare yourself for only fair to poor video quality (grainy & high contrast) and continous distortion in the audio.

Having said that I kind of doubt we'll see a better transfer anytime soon of this 1948-49 film. I'm willing to give the DVD's technical weaknesses a pass in order to have this important film in my library.

The producers obviously went to great lengths to re-create the final, tragic Scott expedition. Robert F. Scott, Edward (Bill) Wilson, 'Birdie' Bowers, and others are faithfully portrayed by actors who seem to have been selected for their physical resemblance to them. The interior sets obviously were designed from Ponting's photographs, and indeed, many of the scenes in the movie are hauntingly realistic recreations of Ponting's photographs. This film is especially recommended to anyone who has read Scott's diaries, or any of the popular accounts of the expedition. The only caveat is that this version is reproduced in EP mode, with the slight loss of audio and video quality of that process. This is more than compensated for by the low price. A good value, a great movie.

This 905 edition of Scott of the Antarctic should be withdrawn from sale by Amazon immediately. The picture looks like it has been taken from a VHS tape, by an operator holding a shaky hand held camera. The sound is tinny to the extreme. There is no need to tolerate a film issued in this poor quality. The Optimum Classic version shows how well the film has survived, with beautiful vibrant colour and excellent sound to do justice to the Vaughan Williams score.

History and heroism have always made for fertile ground for storytellers. The story of the ill-fated 1910-1912 British arm of the race to the South Pole that was led by Captain Sir Robert Falcon Scott would prove to be no exception to that rule. While history's opinion of Scott and his expedition has tended to shift back and forth and thus can cloud the issue of this film's historical accuracy one thing is certain though. That is that this film, not matter one's thoughts on its historical accuracy, is a fine film armed with a fine cast, strong production values and a fantastic score. The result is a fine film recreation of the tale of Scott and his men.

To begin with the film boosts a fine cast of actors. John Mills plays Captain Scott as a heroic figure doing his best to lead his men in one of the harshest places on Earth, an interpretation that (if other reviews are anything to go by) is certainly cause for controversy six decades on but in the film's context works well. If one needs any proof of just how good Mills is listen to him as he reads out entries from Scott's journal throughout the film. There's also a fine supporting cast including Harold Warreneder as Naturalist E.A. Wilson, Derek Bond as Captain Oates, Kenneth More as Lt. "Teddy" Evans, Reginald Beckwith as Lt. "Birdie" Bowers, Clive Morton as famed Antarctic photographer Herbert Ponting and even a young Christopher Lee in the role of Bernard Day. Sadly the only actresses in the film, Diana Churchill as Scott's wife and Anne Firth as Wilson's wife, seem to be far too constrained by the conventions of wive roles of the time. Overall though it is a fine cast.

Scott Of the Antarctic also boosts some strong production values as well. The sets of Arne Akermark are some fine recreations of the various elements of the expedition including the Terra Nova ship, Scott's base of operation and the tent interiors along the way to the pole and back. The costumes of Anthony Mendleson are also fantastic recreations of the outfits and uniforms worn by those who took part on the expedition. Then there's the make-up work which helps to bring a sense of the effects of the Antarctic wilderness upon the men of the expedition. There's also some incredible cinematography as well that reaches not only from the sets but to footage of the Antarctic as well. All together they make for a meticulous and incredible recreation of the places and things involved in the expedition.

The film is also blessed with a fine score from composer Vaughan Williams. Williams score is an epic and sweeping piece that makes, all by itself, an incredible portrait not only of the expedition but of the icy continent. Of special mention is Williams pieces for the opening credits, Scott's entry from the end of the Discovery expedition, the Terra Nova's arrival in the Antarctic and the music that accompanies the films last few minutes. The quality of the music makes it no surprise that Williams took this score (of which only half the music he composed ended up in the film) and created his seventh symphony from it.

Last, but not least, there is the script. If other reviews that I've read are any indication of things it is that the script is the single most controversial aspect of the film. After some six decades, the controversies surrounding Scott's expeditions make it nay impossible to properly judge the film on its historical accuracy. That said there are some definite changes to the historical events (the death of P.O. Evans being a prime example) but these can be forgiven as virtually every film based on a historical event makes changes to the facts to suit its needs . Judging the script from a writing point of view alone, the script is pretty good in terms of most of its dialogue and compressing years worth of events into under two hours of screen time.

While the historical accuracy of the script will continue to be debated I'm sure, there are plenty of other fine things to be found in Scott Of The Antarctic. These include the fine cast, the superb production values and the fantastic score of composer Vaughan Williams. If one can say nothing else about this film it is this: that after six decades it remains a good old fashioned film of adventure and courage.

The Brits love nothing so much as their heroic failures, and Scott of the Antarctic is pretty much the poster boy for Imperial underachievers, thanks in part to the publishing success his very heavily edited diary (none of those crabby bits blaming everyone else for his own mistakes made the cut) and a neat bit of mythmaking from J.M. Barrie, who invented a fictional heroic death for him.

Surprisingly, although it doesn't dare to criticize and does play down Scott's awkwardness and snobbery, Ealing's beautifully lensed color epic holds back from deifying him, offering a more sober portrait than you might expect. Amundsen is purely an offscreen presence here, despite proffering the sneaking suspicion that he's a bit of a bounder and a cad for getting there first by being competent (not the British way of exploring at all!), and legendary Norwegian Arctic pioneer Nansen only gets a brief look in (and no mention of his affair with Scott's wife: goodness, no!), but then this is more a film about stoic endurance in the face of `bad luck' (rather than bad leadership and bad planning) than the race for the South Pole. John Mills is surprisingly good casting for Scott, his slight awkwardness with others suggesting he'd done his homework (his gutted reaction to reaching the Pole second is convincingly bitter), and the supporting cast is full of welcome mainstays of the British film industry - Kenneth More, James Robertson Justice (without a beard for once!), Reginald Beckwith et al. Although the integration with the studio work isn't always entirely convincing, the location photography is genuinely staggering and Vaughn Williams score is impressively forlorn.

As others have noted, the Region 1 NTSC transfer is atrocious. Seek out the UK PAL DVD instead, which is devoid of extras but does have a good transfer.

I agree with the other reviewers about the poor quality of the dvd. However, the movie places you there with Scott and the others as their mission of research, and, of course, personal glory degenerates into a battle for survival in the frigid air of the Antarctic. Can you possibly imagine day after day of below zero weather, pulling a sleigh, not with dogs, but human power, camping each night during the howling sub-zero wind, and slowly realizing you are going to die? The movie places one right there with Scott and the others. Very, very eerie and frightening. A must see for historical adventure fans.

Well done (in a '40's perspective) film of Scott's last attempt to reach the South Pole. I would've expected more(some,at least)restoration of such an historical film. It really rated 5 starss but 2 were deducted because of the poor print quality.
Edward Kerr
iegolden@shaw.ca

I have seen this DVD and the script and characters are absolutely first rate. However the DVD quality of the picture is very poor.
We are going to Antarctica this November and it does give you a great background for the history of Antarctic exploration.