Customer Reviews

Shackleton [VHS]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I saw this film when it was broadcast on UK TV around Christmas 2001. It is a wonderfully acted and hugely evocative historic account of an amazing adventure story. Essentially a British period drama with some fine actors who are eminently believable in their roles. The Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh stars as Shackleton with Lorcan Cranitch and Mark McGann as his loyal lieutenants Frank Wild and Tom Crean.

The first part of the film may drag a little for those eager to get to the ice and the true adventure, but it sets a historical basis for what is to follow. How Shackleton is up against the odds even before his ship has sailed and the planning for an expedition that may not actually happen is a story in itself about Shackleton's self-belief and his intention not to fail those who have put their faith in him.

Once the story gets to the Antarctic, the frozen south and the pack ice, it inspires feelings of "How did they make that look so real, without actually doing it?". The atmosphere of being lost in the middle of endless pack ice is portrayed very realistically and the human emotions of those caught up in this drama are believable.

For those who do not already know the story, I would recommend reading it first in one of the many books available. For me this is one of, if not the most amazing stories of all time. It is like three incredible adventures back to back.

I won't spoil the full story for the uninitiated, but in the first adventure Shackleton's crew are stranded in the Antarctic pack ice for the winter, not a totally unexpected state of affairs in itself, but certainly not good news. This slowly turns to disaster as the ice crushes the ship leaving the crew stranded on crumbling ice, miles (hundreds of miles) from land with no way of summoning help. They manage to get to dry land eventually on Elephant Island.

Elephant Island is a respite, but no place to hang around. The second adventure then starts when Shackleton and five others have to cross 800 miles of the stormiest ocean in the world at on of the worst times of year in a 20-foot lifeboat.

This accomplished, they find themselves on the wrong side of a mountainous island having to cross peaks, ice fields and glaciers that no one had ever done before hand to reach a whaling station where from where rescue could be called. With no equipment and already exhausted, three of the men strive onwards and make it.

None of the 28 crew of the ship, the Endurance are lost against incredible odds.

A fabulous story, that is gripping for the Antarctic buff, history buff and any one who just enjoys a good tale.

This movie, combined with the generous bonus material, is a genuine bargain for those wishing to augment their reading on Shackleton's epic Antarctic survival story. It cannot be used as a primary source for learning about it, however.

For that, I highly recommend 'Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage' by Alfred Lansing.

Lansing used the diaries of the men as his primary source, along with interviews of expedition survivors. The result is a much more detailed understanding of all of the men and how they came to be chosen so intuitively by Shackleton, using his unerring sense of not only their particular skills but how they would all work together as a team. Also, it gives one a much better sense than the movie of their interrelationships as the hardships mounted and the sheer length and depth of their struggle to survive. By being able to go well beyond what a necessarily time-limited (and budget-limited) dramatic production can encompass, one is drawn much deeper into the day-to-day struggles the expedition faced and the truly heroic nature of the effort put forth by all - particularly Shackleton. Where the movie gives short shrift to perhaps the most unbelievable part of the entire adventure - the voyage of Shackleton and a few of the men from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a small boat - Lansing's book allows us to relive the sheer terror and utter exhaustion and deprivation the men faced. The movie spent far too much time dwelling on the pre-voyage quest for financial backing and the fairly irrelevant sub-plots about wife and mistress - which, most certainly, had absolutely nothing to do with 'The Greatest Survival Story of All Time'. There was also precious little detail in the movie about the many, many months the men spent on the pack ice, then on Elephant Island while Shackleton made his way to South Georgia and back, and the means they all used to stay alive and relatively sane in their respective situations. Also, Shackleton's astounding mountaineering feat in the crossing of South Georgia to the whaling station was not given its proper due - truly an incredible accomplishment in its own right.

The movie is, however, quite well done and the actors are very good and well cast. A bigger budget production could perhaps have better captured the daunting scope of the challenges faced by the expedition, but it would have had to be many hours longer.

All in all, when you take into account the bonus extras - the A&E biography of Shackleton and the 2-hour History Channel production on the exploration of Antarctica - it's pretty hard to beat this DVD set.

Just make sure you read Lansing's wonderful account to really get the full flavor of the incredible hardships and sheer terror faced by Shackleton and his men, because you just won't get that from this movie.

I certainly thought "Shackleton" was an above-average mini-series, but this is really a first-rate Collector's Edition DVD set. "The Making of Shackleton" featurette is the least impressive of the extras, and it is certainly an above average example of the traditional look behind the scenes of the production on the ice flow in Greenland. However, it is the Ernest Shackleton episode of A&E's "Biography" and the History Channel's "Antarctica: A Frozen History" that are impressive, especially since both incorporate the actual footage and photographs taken by Frank Hurley when the "Endeavor" was trapped in the ice during the failed Trans-Antarctic expedition in 1914-16.

On one level it is hard for this mini-series to compete with those historic pictures: I almost felt as if the movie should have been in black & white as well, in the spirit of the same logic that dictated that approach in "Schindler's List." Of course, here those images become real people trapped in a desperate quest for survival. One advantage of watching the movie on DVD is that you do not have to endure all those commercial breaks, which certainly worked against the drama of 28 men trapped on the ice. The cumulative feelings of hunger and despair should not be dispelled every ten minutes by commercials, otherwise your sense of empathy is hurt.

Kenneth Branagh plays Shackleton without the Irish accent that marked him as a less than authentic British hero in some eyes, but the most important part of his characterization is the idea Shackleton is a flawed hero. What stands out is the way that Branagh embodies the man's contradictions, going from dictatorial outbursts of anger to nonchalant moments of compassion. As the situation worsens, Shackleton does whatever it takes to lead, whether by threats or examples or whatever else is needed. "Shackleton" reminds me of a Greek tragedy, with the ensemble of actors making up the crew of the "Endurance" functioning very much like a Greek chorus, from which members emerge to engage the leader in a series of dramatic confrontations. As much as he had to contend with the elements, there was the human dimension as well.

If you have not yet seen the mini-series, I would even suggest that you watch MOST of the "Biography" episode. Certainly it will give you a more detailed background on his life and career prior to the point that "Shackleton" begins. So as soon as he prepares for the "Endeavor" trip you can switch over to the mini-series and complete his "Biography" when you have finished. With the production of "Shackleton" the re-discovery of this remarkable survival story has come to an end. Amazing to think that but a few years ago he was a largely forgotten figure.

I recently watched this film when it premiered on A&E in April and I was amazed by both the real man's life and the care the production crew took to bring that life to the screen. I saw the biography on the real man and I was really impressed on how accurate the movie was to the real expedition that Ernest Shackleton took in 1914. I shouldn't be surprised though for the star of the film has always been associated with great productions. I have long been an admirer of Kenneth Branagh, whether he does Shakespearean drama or modern film, he never disappoints. This film was certainly no expection, his performance was worthy of an Emmy as were all the performances. While watching this film I was filled with excitement and anticipation of what would happen next, not to mention COLD!! even though I was safe in my living room. I can't recommend any Branagh movie high enough being an avid admirer of his work, but this movie is truly spectacular and rates 10 stars, not just five ones.

My five year old and I watched Branagh's portrayal of Shackleton right after seeing the Discovery documentary, which is much better; even so, this was a good order to see them in. After talking through the facts about the expedition, we were able to see how actors in a movie did it, and that was valuable for my son. I agree with other reviewers' comments that this looked like a TV movie and that the ending was rushed; moreover, important details of the expedition's ordeal were left out to show scenes in London that were meant to be ironic. Scenes you'll probably want to skip for little ones: the shooting of the ship's cat and the expedition's dogs, and most especially the (rather drawn-out) toe amputation scene. All in all, though, a good learning experience.

This is quite an excellent film for its genre. The production values are pretty darned good. Branagh is a brilliant actor who really makes the film. The representations of Georgian England are splendidly drawn. The film stands repeated viewings.

Truth be told, you get what the title states and much more. Schackleton is an amazing true saga of romanticism, heroism and perseverance. The tale brings you back to the age of the explorers and to the quest to conquer the last unattained territory of terra firma, the south pole. Only the quest for the moon would rival such a saga, though I'm not convinced that space exploration would match the true grit of the south pole explorers. Survival in such extremes for months, even years, with even today's technological advances would stretch the bounds of human endurance.

While the 2-DVD movie is rather long, it is filled with remarkable detail, superb acting and the bitterly eerie, yet compelling scenery of frozen Antarctica (actually filmed in Greenland). The bonus DVD adds the plus. While the Schackleton mission is by far the greatest tale of the south pole exploration, the race to be first is an adventure itself. The challenge to be the first to the south pole pits Robert Scott, Raold Amundsen and Ernest Schackleton against each other. Only one will be the first. Each man is a leader in their own right, yet they vastly differ in style, strategy and decision making ability. Some choose wisely. Some face the peril of their miscalculations. It is a must see if not for the adventure but for a lesson in proper planning. execution and critical thinking.

When I first read of the incredible story of Shackleton's Endurance expedition--almost two years stranded in the Antarctic and yet all men lived to tell the tale--I thought it would make a wonderful film but couldn't imagine how a filmed version would live up to what was in my mind's eye.

I was gratified to find "Shackleton" (the movie) to be one of the greatest adventure movies I'd ever seen. Kenneth Branagh is perfectly cast as Sir Ernest Shackleton, the slightly full-of-himself but heroic leader of the expedition. The entire thing was filmed, quite realistically, in Greenland, which looks stunning.

I was particularly impressed at how closely the cinematography matches the well-known photographs taken by the actual expedition photographer, Frank Hurley. Some shots in the film are essentially identical to Hurley's photos, adding to the film's realism. (If you'd like a good look at the original photos, I recommend Caroline Alexander's "Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antartic Expedition," which contains great reproductions of them.) It's true that it takes the entire first half of the film for the expedition to get underway and then stranded, but even this lengthy non-Antarctic segment is reasonably well done.

On top of the inherent drama in the story and the excellent production, the DVD carries an entire volume of worthy extras: a 2-hour history of the Antarctic, a segment from A&E "biography" on Shackleton, and a "making of" video as well.

Enough to keep exploration fans--or anyone interested in great adventures--happy for hours and hours!

I got turned on to polar exploration by the book and TV miniseries "The Last Place on Earth" by Roland Huntford which deals with the race between Amundsen and Scott to the South Pole, and seeing as how Huntford was an adviser for this program as well, I had great hopes. I must say I was somewhat disappointed by how this one came out. First off, let me say that it is still worth watching and the extras that come with the DVD are quite interesting. However, I feel that too much time is spent on things not relevant to the actual story of the "Endurance" expedition, such as Shackleton's relationship with his problematic brother Frank. Once they get on the Endurance and head towards the Antarctic ice, it gets better, but still, the true measure of Shackleton's genius for leadership is not really brought out. For example, there was a major difference of opinion between Shackleton and his officer from the Royal Marines, Orde-Lees, regarding stocking up on seal meat. Orde-Lees felt they should be cautious and kill as many seals as possible to put in a good store in case the seals should disappear or they should be stranded longer than expected. Shackleton strongly opposed doing this because it would signal to the men that he didn't really think they would be able to get away in any reasonable time. This was not mentioned at all but is crucial to the story. We are shown one particularly dangerous incident of insubordination by the carpenter, MacNeish, who was pacified by Shackelton and was later absolutely vital to their rescue since he fitted out the open-boat James Caird, travelled in it to South Georgia Island and kept it afloat, yet we are not told that after they were rescued, Shackleton insisted that he NOT be awarded the Polar Medal, because Shackleton never forgave him for his earlier outburst, no matter how important and cooperative he was to him afterwards. I was particularly disappointed that almost nothing was shown about the open-boat journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia, a distance of over
800 miles over the stormiest oceans on Earth. We do see them attempting to make sun sightings in order to determine their position, and we do see huge waves crash over the boat, but the immense difficulties of this amazing journey are surprisingly NOT described, for example the need to get a very accurate fix on the sun's position on a violently pitching boat, through frequently cloudy skies. If the position was not determined accurately enough, they could miss South Georgia, which is a small island, and end up in the middle of ocean while their food and water ran out. Captain Worsley's genius in knowing how and to where to steer the boat is not mentioned at all.
Finally, the difficulties of the men left behind on Elephant Island are not mentioned other than the operation performed to remove one man's frost-bitten toes. Shackleton said he expected to return to them within one month but it took over four months,
but we are not really told of how the men there coped or all the immense difficulties Shackleton had in returning to them.
"The Last Place on Earth" went into great detail explaining the differences in leadership between Amundsen and Scott and why the former was successful whereas the later died returning from the South Pole, but no comparable character study of Shackleton is presented here to show how he was able to overcome the immense odds against him and how he was able to avoid what happened to his bitter rival Scott, in spite of sharing many typical "British" attitudes that hampered their Polar parties as opposed to the more flexible Norweigians like Amundsen.

Having said this, this DVD is still worth seeing since the story
of the Endurance is so compelling.

I watched the IMAX version before this and although thoroughly enjoyed it, agree with others that the IMAX version is a bit too short. I then watched the 3 DVD collector's set and sat riveted to my seat for almost 5 hours watching both the film and the history of Antarctic Exploration extras. So, if you want the IMAX version, which is short and sort of sweet to the point, then here it is. On the other hand, if you want to really get a feel for the whole adventure and become part of it, then get the 3 DVD box set. I will watch both again and again. Just an unbelievable story whichever version you watch and for a such an unbelievably cheap price. Just the history of Antarctic Exploration at 100 minutes would have been worth the price, so absolutely no regrets whatsoever.