Kon-Tiki

Rating:
Summary: Great disappointment
Review: Another Image Entertainment release, another disappointment.

From the fact that there is no menu...and no extras...to the fact that this is not the complete original release (this is the edited television release), this is yet another loser from Image Entertainment.

The original release is 78 minutes long, and has different opening and closing credits.

As for the movie...it is interesting for one viewing, but the poor quality of the pictures (not up to the standards of Thor's later movie "RA Expeditions") make it unlikely you will want to see it more than once.

My suggestion...stick with the book.

Rating:
Summary: Kon Tiki stands up well to the test of time.
Review: Even though this black and white film was produced so long ago, it continues to provide information and entertainment for young people today. The only caution I have concerns the scenes where the voyagers violently kill several fish and sharks. In addition, the attack on the whale shark was particularly upsetting to my children. Such waste is disturbing in this era of conservation. However, if the subject is approached with care, this film is well worth your while.

Rating:
Summary: Kon Tiki stands up well to the test of time.
Review: Even though this black and white film was produced so long ago, it continues to provide information and entertainment for young people today. The only caution I have concerns the scenes where the voyagers violently kill several fish and sharks. In addition, the attack on the whale shark was particularly upsetting to my children. Such waste is disturbing in this era of conservation. However, if the subject is approached with care, this film is well worth your while.

Rating:
Summary: True Life Sea Adventure
Review: I have just finished viewing the 1997 commemorative edition (Janson Associates, NJ) of this 1952 Academy Award for Best Documentary. It is 58 minutes of actual black and white footage taken by the crew of the Kon-Tiki. Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian biologist, had suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east. He knew that the trade winds and ocean currents off the South-American coastline bear in the direction of Polynesia. The film shows how his team harvested balsa from Quito, took these huge logs to Peru and built a raft according to the traditions of pre-Columbian S.A. Indians. There are no nails on this craft; everything is tied by rope. Heyerdahl's team embarked on a 101 day of ocean voyage, often surrounded by sharks, sometimes whales so close they could look down their blow holes. How and what they ate and how they charted their journey is fascinating. The trip almost ends in disaster because of the coral reefs surrounding the Polynesian islands when they finally encounter land. It is a gripping and informative documentary and worth the Academy award.

Rating:
Summary: Thor Heyerdahl crosses the Pacific in the Kon-Tiki raft
Review: In 1947 Norwegian biologist Thor Heyerdahl and five crew members embarked on a 4,300 mile expedition across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia by raft. Ridiculed by the scientific establishment, Heyerdahl wanted to duplicate the legendary voyage of an ancient race of settlers led by the mythical hero Kon-Tiki. The expedition attracted worldwide attention as one of the most daring feats of its day. Heyerdahl's story was told first in his book and then in this 1950 Oscar-winning Documentary Feature directed by Olle Nordemar. The story of "Kon-Tiki" is half Lindberg crossing the Atlantic and half Schleimann discovering Troy, since it has inspired not only other perilous voyages but archeological investigation. This might be black-and-white photography, but "Kon-Tinki" is still an exciting documentary record of an epic journey.

Rating:
Summary: The Last Road Scholar
Review: Kon-Tiki, Kon-Tiki, oh so soft and cuddley, as was this man, in his little reed raft. Yes Madames and Messieurs, I Ratmouse am here to endorse this DVD and Thor Heyerdahl's kind humanist persona, as well as this great mission he undertook in his little raft from South America to Polynesia, as is documentented in this DVD. He made this journey in an effort to prove his theory that the Polynesians migrated from South America. While this postulate is still controversial- Thor proved here that it was entirely possible. O Kon-Tiki, Kon-Tiki, oh so soft and cuddley, because it was made of reeds, piloted a Captian of steel, with the kindest, gentlest nature on Earth. We all will miss you, sweet Thor Heyerdahl.

Rating:
Summary: a must for all Kon-Tiki fans
Review: Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon-Tiki" was one of my favourite childhood
books. I read it many times (every time I had to stay in bed
because of sickness) and always was glad to come back, sit on
that bamboo deck and watch the Pacific waves. There was something
truly magical for me in an idea of that slow ocean-crossing to
Polynesia. Now - 25years after I last read the book I had a
chance to watch DVD. It speaks to me the same way book did.
It is very low-tech, grainy black and white far below any modern
standards for nature cinematography. But it has same spirit the
book had - optimism, perserverence and love and respect for
nature. I recommend that DVD to anybody that read the book.

Rating:
Summary: a must for all Kon-Tiki fans
Review: Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon-Tiki" was one of my favourite childhood
books. I read it many times (every time I had to stay in bed
because of sickness) and always was glad to come back, sit on
that bamboo deck and watch the Pacific waves. There was something
truly magical for me in an idea of that slow ocean-crossing to
Polynesia. Now - 25years after I last read the book I had a
chance to watch DVD. It speaks to me the same way book did.
It is very low-tech, grainy black and white far below any modern
standards for nature cinematography. But it has same spirit the
book had - optimism, perserverence and love and respect for
nature. I recommend that DVD to anybody that read the book.