In his stunning documentary, Australian photographer, filmmaker, and adventurer Frank Hurley captures the astonishing true story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated two-year Antarctic expedition aboard the ship, the Endurance. In July 1914, Shackleton and his 28-man crew (including Hurley) sailed from England for Antarctica, .. Read more
| Starring | Ernest Shackleton, Captain F. Worsley, Lieutenant J. Stenhouse, Captain L. Hussey |
|---|---|
| Director | Frank Hurley |
| Genres | Documentary |
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In his stunning documentary, Australian photographer, filmmaker, and adventurer Frank Hurley captures the astonishing true story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated two-year Antarctic expedition aboard the ship, the Endurance. In July 1914, Shackleton and his 28-man crew (including Hurley) sailed from England for Antarctica, hoping to be the first explorers to cross the continent. However, 80 miles from land, the Endurance became locked in impenetrable pack ice. For the next nine months, the crew desperately tried to cut "leads," and batter through to open water. Hurley's glorious images show the ghostly Endurance landlocked in unremitting white ice, as far as the eye can see. In August of 1915, the crew and their 70 sleigh dogs were forced to abandon the Endurance as the pressure of the ice began crushing the ship. The crew was able to row to Elephant Island, where 22 remained, while Shackleton and five others attempted the desperate 800-mile voyage to inhabited South Georgia Island. Miraculously, all of the men survived the two-year ordeal, and Hurley was able to save 150 of his 400 glass plate negatives and all of his film reels to provide this dazzling documentation of the Endurance's harrowing experience.
| Starring | Ernest Shackleton, Captain F. Worsley, Lieutenant J. Stenhouse, Captain L. Hussey, Dr. McIlroy, Mr. Wordie, Dr. Macklin, Captain Frank Wild, Tom Crean, Mr. James, mr. clark (ii), Mr. Clark, Mr. Greenstreet |
|---|---|
| Director | Frank Hurley |
| Studio | BFI VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 20 mins Watch now: 1 hr 20 mins |
| Certificate | DVD: |
| Genres | Documentary |
| Language | DVD: English Watch Online: English |
| Released | DVD: 27 May 2002 Watch now: 10 Jul 2009 Production year: 1919 |
| Watch now | Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package. |
| Format | DVD |
"...Hurley's inspired grasp of movement and composition retains a timeless charm and beauty..."
A film of immense majesty and drama, all the more so because it was filmed as it happened.
The amazing photography is still unsurpassed as far as polar exploration is concerned. These are/were real heroes not some celluloid beefies, these are/were men imbued with the capabilities of undergoing immense hardship and heartbreak without ever losing sight of their freindships, purpose and their unquenchable thirst to see what lies beyond!
A great, great film.
I can't imagine this would hold the imagination of those who don't know the full story, 80 mins of footage could easily have been shown in 20, with no commentary, only a rather repetitious period piano piece it was verging on the tedious, however, for those with an interest in the expedition it shows some very interesting footage of life aboard both the Endeavour and the icepack. Obviously there is little footage of the expedition after leaving the icepack, although the extras does include detail of the Ross Ice Pack expedition, who left the support caches for the outward journey from the icepack.