Rating: 
Summary: "Shackelton - The Greatest Survival Story ..." is better!
Review: 41 minutes including the credits. You can not cram this story into 41 minutes. I had hoped for much more when I made the purchase. The are trailers, but no other extras and no making of. This will be the last IMAX purchase that I ever make. The NOVA version on PBS is much better.The 3 DVD set Shackelton - The greatest Survival Story of All Time has a better Shackleton documentary than this IMAX DVD. It also has an Antartica documentary which is also quite good.
Rating:
Summary: "Shackelton - The Greatest Survival Story ..." is better!
Review: 41 minutes including the credits. You can not cram this story into 41 minutes. I had hoped for much more when I made the purchase. The are trailers, but no other extras and no making of. This will be the last IMAX purchase that I ever make. The NOVA version on PBS is much better. The 3 DVD set Shackelton - The greatest Survival Story of All Time has a better Shackleton documentary than this IMAX DVD. It also has an Antartica documentary which is also quite good.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun for a five year old explorer and his dad
Review: A beautiful, romantic, but too short treatment of Shackleton's expedition. My son and I saw this after seeing the Discovery documentary "The Endurance" and after watching the Kevin Branagh film--and this order worked. From the Discovery program you get the facts, the movie (with all its flaws) was more than adequate, and then the IMAX is a gorgeous treatment that combines the period photography of expedition shutterbug Frank Hurley, stunning modern shots of the landscape, and just a judicious bit of historical re-enactment (thankfully not too much). Well done! But we're done with Shackleton for a while.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Great IMAX film on DVD, but....
Review: Actually, I'll give the film five stars....the DVD release....well, please read on. Having seen this film in its original IMAX presentation very recently, I can truthfully say that the images and sound of the DVD edition are splendid, given the smaller TV size that most people will view this video on. However.... The DVD release contains four soundtracks. They are: 1) A DTS digital surround track - English
2) A Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track - English
3) A French language soundtrack
4) A Spanish language soundtrack I can't comment on the DTS track -- I don't have DTS capable playback equipment. However, it is absolutely clear that the Dolby Digital 5.1 English track is OUT OF SYNC with the picture (by approx. 3.5 seconds). If you don't believe me, a simple comparison of the 5.1 English track with the French or Spanish soundtracks will confirm this. It is especially evident in the first shot of the film, which depicts a photographer taking still shots of the scene. The flash of the bulbs and their accompanying sound are wildly out of sync on the 5.1 English track, but are fine on the French and Spanish tracks. At least, this was the case on my DVD copy, purchased in January 2002. If the releasing company has corrected the error (which, of course, they should) then future releases of this DVD may sound fine. It is hard to understand how a DVD with this kind of error could have been released without anyone at the releasing company noticing it. Hopefully, to anyone who has already purchased a copy of the initial DVD, the company will offer a free replacement once the problem has been fixed.
Rating:
Summary: Very well taken but ...
Review: Huge icebergs, snow and chilled water everywhere, a single wrecked ship with couple of life boats and 27 men with unified saga - one man's dream of crossing the Antartic by land.. Well, this is Shakleton's Antartic Adventure. The mission, looks simple, as long as things go well. Weather is not always to our tune, especially in the Anatartic. Water turns snow, and, beleive it, you have to wait till the next season to come and melt away the snow. And they waited, at last to know that the ship (Endurance) that brought them is of no use. The life boats help them to continue their voyage, with limited water and food but the objective never shaken. The team splits, takes rough and tough ways, to complete their mission. I wonder what is the point in making such a mission in a land of unknown. Although I enjoyed the movie very much, especially in IMAX, the mission did not make sense to me at all. Like the one Steve Fossett made in balloon across the world... What is the point in making a mission when we have sophisticated flights that take us. Well, that is my view. One can definitely enjoy visiting the country - no one dares to - sitting from your couch, for sure.
Rating:
Summary: What a guy!
Review: I did not have the privilege of seeing this in an IMAX theatre; rather, I borrowed the DVD from the library. In its 41 minutes, I was riveted and in complete awe. The photography of that very mysterious Antarctica was exquisite: the 2000/01 photography as well as the original. I cheered the great Shackleton and his crew, but was concerned about their faithful dogs (I'm not a PETA freak, I just like good dogs). I know there are other, longer and more detailed versions of Shackleton's trip. I'm happy to have seen this version. It was concise, and told me enough to know that Shackleton is a great man, an adventurer to be revered and admired in perpetuity. A bleak adventure, children should see this as a lesson in perseverence and fortitude. I'm humbled.
Rating:
Summary: Highly inspirational!
Review: I saw this film in an IMAX theater and was happy to find that it is currently available on DVD. I own all the other Shakleton DVD's that are out but this one is by far my favorite. It takes less than an hour to watch and you come away fully motivated and inspired. It makes you realize that there are no problems life can give you that can't be surmounted by will and determination. While the other versions are also quite well done, they take several hours to watch... and don't deliver any more motivation or inspiration. In any case, this version gives the best return on your time by far. I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Good but there is better...
Review: I watched this and although thoroughly enjoyed it, agree that it is a bit too short even for an IMAX. I then watched the 3 DVD collector's set and sat riveted to my seat for almost 5 hours watching both the film and the history of Antarctic Exploration extras. So, if you want the IMAX version, which is short and sort of sweet to the point, then here it is. On the other hand, if you want to really get a feel for the whole adventure and become part of it, then get the 3 DVD box set. I will watch both again and again. Just an unbelievable story whichever version you watch.
Rating:
Summary: Some good extra material but...
Review: If I had not seen other movies or read several books about Ernest Shackleton then I would have trouble understanding much about this incredible story of survival from the brief treatment this 40 minutes gives it. Indeed it seems to me as if this was conceived as an add-on to the 2-hour PBS Shackleton movie which deals with the subject in much greater depth. Both movies could have been spliced together or this short movie could have been included as a freebie on the other DVD set. Personally I would not pay money for this DVD. This review is based on the IMAX movie.
Rating:
Summary: More info on soundtrack sync problems
Review: Just wanted to add to comments below regarding the Dolby 5.1 English track that is out of sync with the video--yes it still is, and I just bought it in late May, 2003. However, the DTS Surround English track IS in sync (along with French & Spanish tracks). So, doesn't look like the manufacturer has released a corrected copy to fix the Dolby soundtrack. Other than that (and that is the reason for 4 stars) this is a great DVD. I saw the IMAX film while in West Yellowstone, Montana a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to have a copy for myself. Interestingly, the IMAX theater, which had DVD copies of all of its films, did NOT have this film on DVD in their gift store. So, perhaps they have learned about the sound sync problems and stopped selling it to avoid complaints and returns. Again, if you have DTS capabilities, the sound is in sync, and even if you have to listen to the out of sync Dolby track, it is only really noticeable in a couple of places in the film--most of which are right at the very beginning of the film. Still worth seeing even with the faults--and if you get a chance to see it at an IMAX theater, don't miss it.
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