Kon-Tiki
In the middle of the 20th century, the name for adventure was Thor Heyerdahl. The Norwegian biologist-explorer became world famous in 1947 when he sailed an unsophisticated raft 4,300 miles in the Pacific. The remarkable voyage was made to prove Heyerdahl's theory that ancient South American natives could populate Polynesia by sailing across the Pacific. Heyerdahl and his five crewmates supervised the creation of an aboriginal balsa wood raft (made with no nails or rivets) that sailed the trade winds on a voyage the scientific community thought was foolish and suicidal. The film record shot on board--which became this 58-minute documentary--shows that amazing passage of the raft, theKon-Tiki, and its various encounters with sea life. The low-key Heyerdahl tells his story without irony, certainly a trait that helped during the four-month journey. Heyerdahl'sbookof the voyage sold over 20 million copies and the film won the 1951 Oscar for Best Documentary. Heyerdahl went on to later journeys (including another voyage in the shipRa) and discoveries, but this uncluttered black-and-white film delivers thrills all these years after the voyage. Young explorers age 8 and older will get caught up in the excitement.--Doug Thomas