Review – The Endurance

Despite the aspect ratio, this comes across as a PBS production. A slickly-produced member of the species, but a public TV artifact nonetheless. That notwithstanding, this is an excellent documentary about the ill-fated Shackleton expedition. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that despite the hardships faced by the crew – especially after they were forced to abandon their ice-locked ship – they managed to save a vast quantity of motion picture and still film of their experiences. I found the fates of the expedition’s dogs and cat a little hard to take, but other than that the production was nothing short of fascinating. How anyone could survive for nearly two years under such conditions is almost beyond imagining. This is a must-see for anyone with an interest in Antarctica or the Age of Exploration or just a general curiosity about the outer limits of human endurance. Worth seeing