The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
Several films have documented or dramatized the incredible saga of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated trans-Antarctic expedition, butThe Enduranceoffers the most comprehensive one-source reference. Originally presented as a PBSNovaspecial and narrated by Liam Neeson, this excellent film--based on Caroline Alexander's acclaimedbook, 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