 |  | The ultimate drama of Polar adventure |  |
The production values make you feel like you are going along for the journey to the South Pole, and the acting is quite evocative. For me, there were so many memorable scenes, notably Cecil Meares's embittered but principled rant about Scott's unfitness to lead, the Amundsen's brothers cemetary scene, and any of the scenes with the gallant "Titus" Oates. It is enjoyable to see so many Norwegian actors in one place,and such beautiful scenery. The only flaw with this otherwise excellent mini-series is the incessant harping on Scott's incompetence and arrogance, which makes the movie seem one-sided and unfair, even if most of criticisms of Scott are accurate.
May 9, 2008The race for the South Pole adapted from the journals of those involved. You are there. The charaters are real. You can almost smell the blood, sweat and tears. What can I say to those who want to know history...this is amazingly told.
April 23, 2008 | | Great drama, low quality video. Even better book | |
Roland Huntford reveals the truth about Scott in his book, and that is brilliantly captured in this video. Scott's flaws and inner demons are made clear, but so are Amundsen's. This is a beautiful video, but it really suffers from the not-even-VHS quality of the video.
I would pay for this again if they would transfer from film and release it in HD. Even with that flaw, this is an incredible drama, well worth watching
January 14, 2008A very comprehensive background to this race was portrait in an unbiased way.
I suggest that viewers make sure they have enough time to watch the latter parts in one viewing. It really is gripping and has high impact!
July 29, 2007| | | I could not have enjoyed this more! | |
This is simply the PERFECT movie/series for anyone who is interested in polar exploration. It's beautifully filmed, interesting throughout, and really makes you feel you are there. True, Scott is, on the whole, shown in a less than favorable light, but given many of the decisions he made, it would be hard for that not to be the case. To the film's credit it goes to great lengths to give the context/history behind the mindset that led to those poor decisions. Likewise with Amundsen, you see his greatness mixed with his flaws. I wouldn't change a thing about the movie itself. As to the quality of the film transfer and the sound, it seemed perfectly fine to me - though I'm hardly an expert on such things. As for the packaging, I admit I was a little disappointed there was absolutely no booklet of any kind, nor are there any "extras" on the discs themselves. You strictly get the 7 episodes on 3 discs in a double-wide hard case. But given that exploration is rarely the subject of any movie, let alone one of this length, I consider this set a real find, worth every penny, and I will treasure it. One side note: The DVD case says "Featuring Hugh Grant & Max VonSydow", but a very young Hugh Grant has just a tiny little part in this 1985 film, so don't buy this hoping to see him or you'll be disappointed!
January 8, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
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