Customer Reviews

Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a good, overall telling of the exciting adventure of Earnest Shackleton's expedition attempt to transnavigate the South Pole. The videography is, as usual, quite spectatular.

However, two other recent versions of this amazing tale are both worth mentioning. "The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" (2000), with Liam Neeson, and PBS NOVA's "Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance," (2002) with David Ogden-Stiers narrating, are both better accounts because you really get more of the in-depth impact of what did and could have gone wrong on the expedition. It is incredible that, in an era where tradegy from expedition travel was not that uncommon, the fact that all 27 men made it back alive - in such a harsh yet beautifully intriguing environment - is truly amazing. If the IMAX version captured your interest, these other two will rivet you to your chair.

My name is Ryan Mullins and I produced the DVD of Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. Let me start by stating that I had no choice but to input a star rating in order to register this comment, my Mother suggested 5 stars...

I am writting in response to the discussion regarding the bad batch of disks that went out at the beginning of this release. Much to our shock and horror, an out of synch Dolby Digital 5.1 track appeared on the first run of disks. At the time we took all measures available to us to pull back and quarantine as many of the bad copies as possible. No further bad copies have left our plant since September, 2003. Unfortunately DVDs circulate among a lot of different stores and sub-distributors over a a long period of time. Unsold copies can be returned into the system and go back out without being noticed. We do try and catch them but there are literally thousands of DVDs flowing through the system on any given week.

As stated by the editor, any bad copy will be cheerfully replaced by the vendor who sold it to you. Be assured that we are doing are best to rectify this problem. If it has a blue dot on the back cover over the Image Logo it is a proper copy.

My apologies to anyone who has been inconvenienced by this mistake.

Sincerely,

Ryan.

Actually, I'll give the film five stars....the DVD release....well, please read on.

Having seen this film in its original IMAX presentation very recently, I can truthfully say that the images and sound of the DVD edition are splendid, given the smaller TV size that most people will view this video on. However....

The DVD release contains four soundtracks. They are:

1) A DTS digital surround track - English
2) A Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track - English
3) A French language soundtrack
4) A Spanish language soundtrack

I can't comment on the DTS track -- I don't have DTS capable playback equipment. However, it is absolutely clear that the Dolby Digital 5.1 English track is OUT OF SYNC with the picture (by approx. 3.5 seconds). If you don't believe me, a simple comparison of the 5.1 English track with the French or Spanish soundtracks will confirm this. It is especially evident in the first shot of the film, which depicts a photographer taking still shots of the scene. The flash of the bulbs and their accompanying sound are wildly out of sync on the 5.1 English track, but are fine on the French and Spanish tracks.

At least, this was the case on my DVD copy, purchased in January 2002. If the releasing company has corrected the error (which, of course, they should) then future releases of this DVD may sound fine. It is hard to understand how a DVD with this kind of error could have been released without anyone at the releasing company noticing it.

Hopefully, to anyone who has already purchased a copy of the initial DVD, the company will offer a free replacement once the problem has been fixed.

41 minutes including the credits. You can not cram this story into 41 minutes. I had hoped for much more when I made the purchase. The are trailers, but no other extras and no making of. This will be the last IMAX purchase that I ever make. The NOVA version on PBS is much better.

The 3 DVD set Shackelton - The greatest Survival Story of All Time has a better Shackleton documentary than this IMAX DVD. It also has an Antartica documentary which is also quite good.

When I saw this film on IMAX, I came out of the theatre wanting to own my very own copy. I was delighted to find that the same gorgeous film was available to me on DVD. It is perfect in every way for anyone who wants a glimpse into the world that Shackleton describes in "South". The DVD makes an ideal complement to the journals written by the Endurance crew themselves. If you are looking for a movie that will tell you everything about what happened to the Endurance, you will be disappointed. This IMAX DVD is a nugget that celebrates Ernest Shackleton's heroism and leadership. It achieves this admirably.

A beautiful, romantic, but too short treatment of Shackleton's expedition. My son and I saw this after seeing the Discovery documentary "The Endurance" and after watching the Kevin Branagh film--and this order worked. From the Discovery program you get the facts, the movie (with all its flaws) was more than adequate, and then the IMAX is a gorgeous treatment that combines the period photography of expedition shutterbug Frank Hurley, stunning modern shots of the landscape, and just a judicious bit of historical re-enactment (thankfully not too much). Well done! But we're done with Shackleton for a while.

A very inspiring concept executed very well by Imax. Full marks to them for doing so. Team leader Shackelton and his team of 27 men start from South Georgia for antarctic trip. Their ship is trapped in snow and they are forced to disembark. Hope to recover the ship as the ice melts keeps them near it for 4 months and tragically as the ice starts melting after 4 months it shatters and drowns the ship. Starting a journey on lifeboats and touching different grounds of ice and leaving so many of colleagues at different places, Shackelton finally reaches the land after 17 months and manages to go back with some help and get back all his men. A masterpiece of human courage and endurance that is very rarely seen. A must see

This is another great IMAX film that is now available on DVD. I recently saw the film at an IMAX theater, which, of course, was breathtaking, and gives an amazing impression of the physical dimension of the entire ordeal as only an IMAX presentation can. As with all IMAX films transferred to DVD, the larger the screen you can view this DVD on, the better. This film is not as long as other films that concern themselves with the Shackleton trip, but, as any student of the IMAX filmmaking process can tell you, it is on a par with most IMAX films, being approximately 40 minutes in length. It is not really intended to compete directly with other Shackleton films such as those produced for television; the IMAX Shackleton film is an experience unto itself. Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the demands of filming in the IMAX process will appreciate this fine effort.

Unfortunately, there is a fly in the ointment. It is not with the film itself, but, rather, with the DVD transfer. I purchased my copy of this DVD in January 2003. Amazingly, the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround English track is OUT OF SYNC with the picture (by approx. 3.5 seconds). This can be confirmed by switching to either the French or Spanish alternate tracks (I do not have DTS capable playback equipment, so I can't comment on that track). There is very little synchronous dialogue in the film (the track is mostly music and sound effects), so the problem with the English 5.1 track is not immediately obvious. However, in the first scene in the film, which depicts a photographer taking several still photos with an old-style flash unit, the problem is painfully obvious. Hopefully, the company that released this DVD will soon correct the error and offer previous buyers of this title the opportunity to swap their old copy for a new one.

Still, with that problem in mind, this is a beautiful film and should not be missed.

Most of the Imax movies are short because they are to expensive to make, but to be realistic this is a movie that deserve more time, anyway the movie it's great. This movie shows an increible film fotography and the orchestral arrangements for the music are great, the story is well narrated by Kevin Spacey, everything in the movie is great. If you are looking for a good Imax story, this is it.

I saw this film in an IMAX theater and was happy to find that it is currently available on DVD. I own all the other Shakleton DVD's that are out but this one is by far my favorite. It takes less than an hour to watch and you come away fully motivated and inspired. It makes you realize that there are no problems life can give you that can't be surmounted by will and determination. While the other versions are also quite well done, they take several hours to watch... and don't deliver any more motivation or inspiration. In any case, this version gives the best return on your time by far. I highly recommend it!