Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39864 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-09-08
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Hindi
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

DVD Description
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. Shackleton's historic story is recounted and re-created, featuring new footage of the actual locations and interviews with surviving relatives of key expedition members, plus archived audio interviews with expedition members, and much of the footage and still photos shot by one of the crew on the expedition.

Special Features

• Director's Commentary
  
• Featurettes
  
• Isolated Music Score
  
• Theatrical Trailer

DVD Technical Information:

• Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic - 1.85:1
  
• Disc Type: DVD9
  
• Language: English
  
• Subtitles: English, Hindi
  
• Audio: Dolby Surround
  
• Running time: 94 minutes

Synopsis
In August 1914, seasoned British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton embarks on his third excursion into Antarctic territory, planning to cross the Antarctic continent on foot--something no other explorer has attempted before. Only a day's journey from his final destination, Shackleton's ship, The Endurance, is trapped in pack-ice, where she will remain frozen for the next ten months, all throughout the harsh Antarctic winter. With dwindling rations, blizzards, boredom, and illness to contend with, and only each other and their faithful sled dogs for company, the crew grows restless, and Shackleton has his hands full trying to keep the peace on board. A turning point occurs when ice floes finally threaten to crush the ship, and the men are forced to take to the lifeboats. Now Shackleton, abandoning any remaining notions of completing the mission, decides instead to bring back his crew alive at any cost, even though the nearest outpost of civilization is on an island 800 miles away. Historic film clips of The Endurance shot by expedition photographer Frank Hurley, new colour footage of the eerily beautiful Antarctic landscape, as well as commentary by surviving family members and narration by Liam Neeson all combine to make watching this documentary a gripping experience.

Customer Reviews

Great, fascinating
If you like a bit of action, a bit of suspense and like to tie that up with a bit of historical accuracy, you'll love this. I wasn't sure how this would be because it's sold as a documentary but there's loads of original footage and photos alongside modern-day filming.

A truly amazing story of courage, determination and sheer rugged guts. Perfect for the armchair adventurer like me! Buy this now...

Not the full coverage
Much of the film is made up of the original material filmed by expedition member Frank Hurley. However much of the story was left without the original movie coverage, after he was forced to discard all cameras except for his pocket Kodak, while fleeing the ice floes. As a result, halfway through this film you see mostly pictures of the sea, surrounding ice floes and landscapes made by more recent expeditions. However, this film doesnt include much of the re-staging that seems to have been done for the IMAX film, that used replica boats and actors to help bring the adventure to life again, and in particular, the re-assessment of the crossing of South Georgia Island using modern mountaineering and equipment. Other than that, this film based on the book by Caroline Alexander gives a clear account of the whole adventure, it pays due homage to the protagonists and contains other interesting footage, such as interviews with descendants and the museum exhibit of the James Caird. If you can, try to get the full IMAX film by the same director - though its currently only available on DVD in Region 1. Hopefully they will soon produce it also for the other regions.