Other Titles • The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition • The Endurance (2000)
Synopses for The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (2000)
1.
Several films have documented or dramatized the incredible saga of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated trans-Antarctic expedition, but The Endurance offers the most comprehensive one-source reference. Originally presented as a PBS Nova special and narrated by Liam Neeson, this excellent film--based on Caroline Alexander's acclaimed book, also titled after the ironic name of Shackleton's doomed ship--chronicles the astonishing events of 1914-16, when Shackleton and 27 crewmen survived against all odds after their ship was crushed in the polar ice floes. This is the only "Shackleton" film to incorporate new footage, expert interviews, dramatic recreations (without dialogue), and expedition photographer Frank Hurley's archival film and photographs. The cumulative effect of this extensive material gives the viewer an almost palpable sense of the expedition's hardship and unlikely survival, made possible in part by a man who had precisely the required experience and leadership skills, and in part by what can only be described as divine intervention. No matter how you interpret it, this is rightly called "the greatest survival story ever told." --Jeff Shannon
(15 votes)
2.
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 color 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.
(15 votes)
3.
A Film by George Butler Based on the Book by Caroline Alexander
In August, 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton, a renowned explorer set sail with 27 men on his ship The Endurance. His plan was to be the first expedition to cross the Antarctic Continent.
His ship was beset in heavy sea ice off the coast of Antarctica and was eventually crushed. Marooned on four feet of ice over 8,000 foot deep water Shackleton and his crew survived some 635 days and nights without proper shelter or rations in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Eventually by small boat and foot Shackleton was able to get to safety and then rescue his entire crew.
The Endurance is considered by many experts to be the greatest of all adventures. Miraculously much of the original story was captured on film and in pictures by the ship's photographer. To make The Endurance the modern filmmakers went to all original locations to capture this astonishing story in color in one of the most remote motion pictures shoots ever recorded.
(15 votes)
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