Customer Reviews

Shackleton - Escape from Antarctica [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are looking for a video with film and still photography from the original Shackleton expedition, keep looking. This video is really about a group of Irishmen who wanted to replicate the Shackleton expedition--and only the part at the end where Shackleton's crew sailed in a small boat from Elephant Island to South Georgia. To make it worse, they failed halfway there and wound up on a larger cruise ship the rest of the way to South Georgia, bemoaning their disappointment the whole way. After reading the account of the Shackleton expedition, I was hungry to see Hurley's film of that amazing journey. Imagine my disappointment to find out this video was, despite what the cover sleeve promised, nothing more than film of a relatively uneventful personal adventure which uses Shackleton's expedition more as an outline for the video's storyline than a reason to produce it in the first place.

This film is a fine documentary of one dedicated group's 1997 journey to retrace the Endurance expedition. Unfortunately, the packaging and marketing of this piece misrepresents the content contained within; one expects an historical narrative of the Endurance story. Don't let that dissuade you: This documentary is a great tribute to Shackleton, and a fine exploration in it's own right. Any Shackeltonian will appreciate the value of such an attempt. In the true spirit of Polar Exploration, a slightly crazy but absolutely wonderful Irish team constructed a beautiful replica of the James Caird lifeboat, which they christened the Tom Crean, & transported to the Antarctic in 1997. They attempted to sail the tiny vessel the 800 miles across to South Georgia from Elephant Island. (Only the Irish would think they could get away with this feat twice in one century!) The difficulties and utimate heartbreak the team endured simply reinforce Shackleton's feat, as the going was so dangerous. They could easily have killed themselves, had they been foolhardy. Yet they used Shackletonian thinking, and stayed alive to finish the trip to South Georgia. At King Haakon Bay they set a memorial in stone to Shackleton. Finally, they traversed the uninhabited interior of South Georgia, crossing Crean's Glacier and finally reaching Stromness and Shackleton's final resting place. Their "pilgrammage" is a lifetime fantasy come true for anyone who has ever imagined that 800 mile open boat journey. Use this film in conjunction with the 1919 Hurley film, South, and you won't be disappointed. And if they ever try again, I'd like to go along.

I am totally taken with Shackleton and the Endurance story and always wondered what it would be like to try and sail that journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia - and it was fascinating to see a film of some brave souls trying it. This film mixes the best of Hurleys original footage with a modern adventure as a brave Irish team follow in the wake of their fellow countrymen Shackelton, Crean and McCarthy on that incredible boat journey. There is spectacular footage of Elephant island, the Antarctic Ocean and South georgia. I really enjoyed this film - especially after being put off somewhat by one of the Amazon reviews - but that reviewer obviously didn't do their homework - I already had Hurley's original film and wanted something more. I'd highly recommend this film.

This film includes an interesting recreation by some Irish sailors who followed Shackleton's voyage. It was an odd combination of modern and historic information, not really satisfying on either count.