''Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure'' is an

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graem ...

film about the

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Ernest Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the ...

led by

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of A ...

between 1914 and 1917. Directed by

George Butler George Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Butler (filmmaker) (1944–2021), American filmmaker * George Butler (record producer) (1931–2008), American record producer * George Bernard Butler (1838–1907), American painter * Geo ...

, the film was released in February 2001 and was narrated by

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

. It documents Shackleton's journey aboard the ''Endurance'' and was the follow-up to Butler's previous film, '' The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition''.

Plot

In 1914, Shackleton set out to walk across the whole of Antarctica. While the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

had already been discovered, people had yet to make the cross-continent trek on foot. Before making landfall, however, his ship became trapped in the ice-flow of the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Mar ...

where he and his crew stayed for over 400 days.

Cast

- Narrator (voice) *

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-English actor. Regarded as one of Ireland and Britain's most distinguished actors, he is known for his work on stage and screen. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivi ...

- Sir Ernest Shackleton (voice) *

Conrad Anker Conrad Anker (born November 27, 1962) is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a se ...

- Himself *

Reinhold Messner Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental ...

- Himself *

Stephen Venables Stephen Venables (born 2 May 1954) is a British mountaineer and writer, and is a past president of the South Georgia Association and of the Alpine Club. Mountaineer In 1988, Venables became the first Briton to ascend the summit of Mount Everest ...

- Himself

Production

The film was shot on location in Antarctica and also utilizes footage taken by the original expedition photographer,

Frank Hurley James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces durin ...

Critical reception

* The film received "Two Thumbs Up" from Ebert and Roeper. * Rotten Tomatoes suggests it is "a gorgeously made film tracking the explorer's legendary 1914 expedition to the icey, uninhabited continent." * Joe Leydon, in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', wrote, "Despite its brevity, 'Adventure' vividly conveys the character and courage of Shackleton, one of the last great champions of the Heroic Age of Adventure. Butler glosses over a few unpleasant details in this telling of the story—for the sake of school-aged sensibilities, he was requested to refrain from showing how crewmen were forced to kill sled dogs for food—but the story remains gripping nonetheless."

References

External links

The film's official page White Mountain Films
* {{Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 2001 films Documentary films about Antarctica Ernest Shackleton IMAX short films 2001 short documentary films IMAX documentary films Films directed by George Butler (filmmaker) Films scored by Sam Cardon 2000s English-language films 2000s American films American short documentary films Films produced by George Butler (filmmaker)