Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, compared to the REAL story.
Review: (My comments refer to the version aired on television.) I had read Caroline Alexander's book when I watched this. I was looking forward to it but found myself very disappointed -- Kenneth Branagh (ick), [bad] dialogue, the portrayal of Tom Crean as some kind of quaint Irish sidekick rather than as the indispensable and experienced leader he proved to be....
Maybe it's just not possible to do a good "dramatization" of this story -- it's so dramatic and visceral on its own terms that anything else feels phony and watered-down.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, compared to the REAL story.
Review: (My comments refer to the version aired on television.) I had read Caroline Alexander's book when I watched this. I was looking forward to it but found myself very disappointed -- Kenneth Branagh (ick), [bad] dialogue, the portrayal of Tom Crean as some kind of quaint Irish sidekick rather than as the indispensable and experienced leader he proved to be....
Maybe it's just not possible to do a good "dramatization" of this story -- it's so dramatic and visceral on its own terms that anything else feels phony and watered-down.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful Scenario, Marvelous Acting
Review: 1/22/05 The 3 Volume Disc ,a Borrow from the library was most appreciated by me in the 1st two disc.the 3rd was how the movie Shackleton was made,etc....The better part of the movie were the scenes once they reached the Anartic region..the scenes regarding the "Royal Geographic Society", his relationship with his wife,mistress and brother were not "new" plots to English fiction and could not have stood in its own without the promise of going to or a return to the Anartic scenes. It is a movie for those who cheer at "human survival" in spite of diversities.
Rating: 
Summary: Spectacular!
Review: Any one with any interest in maritime history or a collector of films, this movie is just spectacular. Kenneth Branagh and his support cast could not have been casted better than this. The 30 plus you pay for this film is well worth the investment. Give it 6 gold stars!
Rating:
Summary: Maverick Brit Explorer
Review: Excellent 4-pt. drama describing Shackleton's attempt to cross Antartica and his British expedition's close brush with disaster. In the first two parts he definitely appears more a fool than courageous, particularly when he chooses to ignore the advice of Argentianian whalers who tell him the ice is the thickest it has ever been at that time of the year. We are perhaps expected to believe that the assumption of risk of this kind leads to scientific advancement. These two sections are of strong historic interest for various reasons: the beginnings of World War I, how to finance such an expedition & how the expedition was approved despite the more immediate concerns of war;the Royal Geographic Society, various British and Scottish philanthropists, including King George V. Shackleton was apparently also a womanizer, having both a wife and mistress, (perhaps) in this case a good indicator of the man's adventuresome spirit. The adventure story really gets started in parts 3 and 4 and reveals more of Shackleton as a leader of men, who promises them numerous times that "you are not going to die" despite what appear to be considerable odds to the contrary, and eventually makes good on his promise despite a harrowing 800-mile boat journey to the nearest whaling station. The men end up killing their animals for food, but they do not resort to cannibalism.BR>For pure excitement, the last 2 sections are far superior to the first two, but the whole story hangs together well, revealing him to be in the end worth his salt as a leader and then some,and not just some giddy dreamer. Shackleton was knighted for his leadership and bravery..
Rating:
Summary: courageous or foolhearty?
Review: Excellent 4-pt. drama describing Shackleton's attempt to cross Antartica and his close brush with disaster. In the first two parts he definitely appears more a fool than courageous, particularly when he chooses to ignore the advice of Argentianian whalers who tell him the ice is the thickest it has ever been at that time. These two sections are of strong historic interest for various reasons: the beginnings of World War I, how to finance such an expedition, the Royal Geographic Society, various British and Scottish philanthrophists, including King George V. And for Shackleton the man, who was apparently also a womanizer, having both a wife and mistress, perhaps in this case a good indicator of the man's adventuresome spirit. The adventure story really gets started in parts 3 and 4 and reveals more of Shackleton as a leader of men, who promises them numerous times that "you are not going to die" despite what appear to be considerable odds to the contrary, and eventually makes good on his promise despite a harrowing 800-mile boat journey to the nearest whaling station.
For pure excitement, the last 2 sections are far superior to the first two, but the whole story hangs together well, revealing him to be in the end worth his salt and then some, not just some giddy dreamer. Shackleton was knighted for his efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Journey, Breathtaking Scenery!
Review: I am basing this review on the IMAX, as the DVD is not out yet. I cannot comment of the audio / video quality (although I reckon it'll be top) nor on the extra features, so the following is a comment on the content and the story.Captain Shacklton embarked on a journey to reach Antarctica, with a handful of courageous and well-spirited crew persons. Before long, their ship was blocked before reaching shore, and then sunk (8 months later), by the mounting ice, and they started fighting for their survival. Even during the most depressing times, the men always trained the dogs, played soccer, and teased each other, waiting for somebody to rescue them. But shackleton finally realised that only they would be able to save themselves. He went on a colossal journey with a few men on a tiny boat, to save all the others that were still waiting. This is a story of courage, strength, endurance, and devotion that perhaps would never be matched again. An extraordinary story of people who place there fate blindly in others, and of team spirit. The scenes also include many footages (B&W) that were taken by the ship cameraman. These too are amazing. Not to mention that the cinematography and the directing are outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: A pretty good mini-series with first-rate extras on this DVD
Review: I certainly thought "Shackleton" was an above-average mini-series, but this is really a first-rate Collector's Edition DVD set. "The Making of Shackleton" featurette is the least impressive of the extras, and it is certainly an above average example of the traditional look behind the scenes of the production on the ice flow in Greenland. However, it is the Ernest Shackleton episode of A&E's "Biography" and the History Channel's "Antarctica: A Frozen History" that are impressive, especially since both incorporate the actual footage and photographs taken by Frank Hurley when the "Endeavor" was trapped in the ice during the failed Trans-Antarctic expedition in 1914-16. On one level it is hard for this mini-series to compete with those historic pictures: I almost felt as if the movie should have been in black & white as well, in the spirit of the same logic that dictated that approach in "Schindler's List." Of course, here those images become real people trapped in a desperate quest for survival. One advantage of watching the movie on DVD is that you do not have to endure all those commercial breaks, which certainly worked against the drama of 28 men trapped on the ice. The cumulative feelings of hunger and despair should not be dispelled every ten minutes by commercials, otherwise your sense of empathy is hurt. Kenneth Branagh plays Shackleton without the Irish accent that marked him as a less than authentic British hero in some eyes, but the most important part of his characterization is the idea Shackleton is a flawed hero. What stands out is the way that Branagh embodies the man's contradictions, going from dictatorial outbursts of anger to nonchalant moments of compassion. As the situation worsens, Shackleton does whatever it takes to lead, whether by threats or examples or whatever else is needed. "Shackleton" reminds me of a Greek tragedy, with the ensemble of actors making up the crew of the "Endurance" functioning very much like a Greek chorus, from which members emerge to engage the leader in a series of dramatic confrontations. As much as he had to contend with the elements, there was the human dimension as well. If you have not yet seen the mini-series, I would even suggest that you watch MOST of the "Biography" episode. Certainly it will give you a more detailed background on his life and career prior to the point that "Shackleton" begins. So as soon as he prepares for the "Endeavor" trip you can switch over to the mini-series and complete his "Biography" when you have finished. With the production of "Shackleton" the re-discovery of this remarkable survival story has come to an end. Amazing to think that but a few years ago he was a largely forgotten figure.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Seeing-But Could Have Been Better
Review: I got turned on to polar exploration by the book and TV miniseries "The Last Place on Earth" by Roland Huntford which deals with the race between Amundsen and Scott to the South Pole, and seeing as how Huntford was an adviser for this program as well, I had great hopes. I must say I was somewhat disappointed by how this one came out. First off, let me say that it is still worth watching and the extras that come with the DVD are quite interesting. However, I feel that too much time is spent on things not relevant to the actual story of the "Endurance" expedition, such as Shackleton's relationship with his problematic brother Frank. Once they get on the Endurance and head towards the Antarctic ice, it gets better, but still, the true measure of Shackleton's genius for leadership is not really brought out. For example, there was a major difference of opinion between Shackleton and his officer from the Royal Marines, Orde-Lees, regarding stocking up on seal meat. Orde-Lees felt they should be cautious and kill as many seals as possible to put in a good store in case the seals should disappear or they should be stranded longer than expected. Shackleton strongly opposed doing this because it would signal to the men that he didn't really think they would be able to get away in any reasonable time. This was not mentioned at all but is crucial to the story. We are shown one particularly dangerous incident of insubordination by the carpenter, MacNeish, who was pacified by Shackelton and was later absolutely vital to their rescue since he fitted out the open-boat James Caird, travelled in it to South Georgia Island and kept it afloat, yet we are not told that after they were rescued, Shackleton insisted that he NOT be awarded the Polar Medal, because Shackleton never forgave him for his earlier outburst, no matter how important and cooperative he was to him afterwards. I was particularly disappointed that almost nothing was shown about the open-boat journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia, a distance of over
800 miles over the stormiest oceans on Earth. We do see them attempting to make sun sightings in order to determine their position, and we do see huge waves crash over the boat, but the immense difficulties of this amazing journey are surprisingly NOT described, for example the need to get a very accurate fix on the sun's position on a violently pitching boat, through frequently cloudy skies. If the position was not determined accurately enough, they could miss South Georgia, which is a small island, and end up in the middle of ocean while their food and water ran out. Captain Worsley's genius in knowing how and to where to steer the boat is not mentioned at all.
Finally, the difficulties of the men left behind on Elephant Island are not mentioned other than the operation performed to remove one man's frost-bitten toes. Shackleton said he expected to return to them within one month but it took over four months,
but we are not really told of how the men there coped or all the immense difficulties Shackleton had in returning to them.
"The Last Place on Earth" went into great detail explaining the differences in leadership between Amundsen and Scott and why the former was successful whereas the later died returning from the South Pole, but no comparable character study of Shackleton is presented here to show how he was able to overcome the immense odds against him and how he was able to avoid what happened to his bitter rival Scott, in spite of sharing many typical "British" attitudes that hampered their Polar parties as opposed to the more flexible Norweigians like Amundsen.
Having said this, this DVD is still worth seeing since the story
of the Endurance is so compelling.
Rating:
Summary: Better than you could imagine
Review: I purchased Shackleton after missing it when it was televised. The A&E biography, the documentary of how it was made, and the History Channel's documentary of Antarctica are also included and worth viewing. My friends tell me that I am a harsh movie critic. So, if I enjoyed this movie, it must be very very good. Branagh is brilliant as Ernest Shackleton. I lost myself in his performance. He has done Shakespearean theater, and it shows. There is always something special, in my opinion, about actors who have a history in the theater (like Branagh). If you like adventure and if you like to learn a little about history while you enjoy a film, buy this movie.
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