A Masterpiece!

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I really do enjoy adventures and real stories of survival, and this wasn't a bad movie, but let's bring this one back to reality. Most of the reviews here are obviously on the Shackleton band wagon. I think for obvious reasons because no one else but the enthusiasts have even heard of the movie or the book.Let's start with the movie. It was a bit slow even for a documentary. However, my biggest complaint is the fact that I didn't even know there were deaths on the supply side of his expedition until I read it here on IMDb, and I watched the movie twice, because my wife had fallen asleep during it the first time. Isn't it relevant to the movie? I think the story on the other side the expedition is interesting as well. Why wasn't it told? Perhaps a little bit of Shackleton hype maybe? However, I must say the movie had absolutely stunning photography and does a good job of helping us to live the tail.Now let's go after Shackleton. His expedition failed so miserably that I can't imagine how he is deemed a great leader. Yes, everyone survived his part of the expedition but only after complete failure of their objective. What were his back up plans for getting stuck in the ice? He had none. The real genius of the expedition seems to have been the "mutenous" carpenter. Maybe if Shackleton had listened to him and built a boat out of the remains of the Endurance they would have been home sooner and in better shape. This same carpenter saved them again by upgrading their life boat so that it could survive the South Atlantic from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island. Yet, even after the expedition was over he continued to punish the Carpenter for his disloyalty. Shackleton seems to be a stereotypical know it all that does not know how to listen.Let's also pick on the mission. It was an egotistical crusade for nothing. What a waste of time and money. The South Pole had already been discovered. Even if he succeeded he basically accomplished nothing for the world, only for his own ego.Great leader? I think not.

"The Endurance" (2000): Documentary. "In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail on the Expedition with 27 men aboard, aiming to cross Antarctica. But when the vessel became stranded in frigid, deep waters, the crew began a battle of the human spirit, testing the limits of endurance as they strove to overcome the debilitating setback. Miraculously, they succeeded, even capturing the experience in pictures and on film." What is MOST profound about this story is what you learn from the mouths and diaries of survivors & their families. Their story leaves you gasping for air, and feeling you can NEVER EVER AGAIN WHINE ABOUT A SINGLE THING in your cushy, little, safe, easy, pampered life. This is one of the most difficult, torturous trials of life of all time. These men were the toughest, bravest, most steadfast humans to walk the Earth. It BOGGLES my mind to think of what they faced, and what they did to survive. Wow. See this! Get some perspective.

This is the most unbelievable TRUE story I have ever seen! Thank God I walked into it not knowing anything about Shackleton or the cataclysmic expedition he and his men endured for almost two years of their lives; I was mesmerized by the tale and STUNNED by the conclusion! Without a doubt, Sir Ernest Shackleton is one of the bravest, loyal, and awe-inspiring men I have ever heard of. This documentary does everything right in trying to tell his (and his crew's) story without sensationalizing or mythifying his character. Use of actual still and motion picture photography from the doomed expedition, letters from the crew, interviews and stories with grandchildren of the ship-men, new footage of the original Antarctic sites, and a beautifully written and delivered narration (by Liam Nieson) are blended together seemlessly to transport the viewer back in time, and into the terror that was the voyage of The Endurance. Although Kenneth Branagh's SHACKLETON (2002) was a good effort and a fine telling, it truly could not capture the real tension, anticipation, expectation and real-life drama in the way this documentary did throughout (I found Branagh's version often played on obvious audience manipulators, ie., heavy-handed dialogue, hammered musical scoring, camera indulgence, etc.). 9/10. ENDURANCE is the greatest example of TRUTH being stranger than fiction, and so much more compelling!

I'm not certain what compelled me to see this film. I think it had something to do with Liam Neeson narrating, and the fact I knew nothing about Shackleton or any legendary antarctic expedition. So when I sat down in the movie theater to see this film, I feared I was forcing myself to see a dry documentary. On the contrary, it was fabulous! The film brought the expedition to life by showing photographs and historic reels, and beautifully conveyed the sense of being on that journey and the sheer magnitude of its undertaking. I was lost in their world and amazed at the strength (and sheer luck) of these men. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen. 9/10