Shackleton's Captain

I read about Shackleton's expedition many years ago. Having spent 30 years going to sea, and having experienced some pretty terrible conditions, I am still in awe of these individuals. Worsley's feats of navigation in getting the expedition to Elephant Island, as well as the subsequent voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia stand among the greatest achievements in the history of navigation. As if that weren't enough, the men followed that up by crossing the island of South Georgia on foot, something which no one had ever done before, with nothing but a length of rope and a carpenter's adze. I don't know how they made it, except that they simply knew that failure was not an option. Although the movie centers on Captain Frank Worsley, these were all truly iron men, of a sort whose like we shall never see again. For example, First Mate Frank Wilde deserves a tremendous amount of credit for keeping the shipwrecked survivors on Elephant Island alive for over four months, during which they had no idea whether rescue was ever going to come. And, of course, although the film plays down Shackleton's contributions in favor of Worsley's, it was Shackleton who was the supreme leader, "The Boss", who held everyone together throughout the entire ordeal.

This is one of the most incredible true stories you will ever see. If anyone ever wrote this story as a work of fiction, no publisher would ever accept it because they would consider it too far removed from realm of possibility. However, this all actually happened just the way it is depicted here. They even brought back the pictures to prove it, thanks to the expedition's photographer, Frank Hurley. This film will make Hollywood action-adventure movies seem tame by comparison.

This film is very well done! We watched this in NZ while visiting there, and thought it was brilliant.

History not many of us hear about!! Being a true story added even more to the feeling of the plot line and the tension as Shakelton was attempting to save the crew. The acting was extremely good, and the sets very realistic. I especially liked the attention to detail of the period costumes during the lecture.

As a Canadian, who has experienced it, the cold was portrayed brilliantly.

Frank Worsely himself is an unknown hero to most of us for his saving of the crew, and the crew's ability to maintain relative calm while stranded for 2 months while awaiting word as to what Worsely and Shakelton had or had not accomplished in their attempt to save them is a major storyline unto itself.

Everyone we were with, as Canadians, felt the same way as we did. We hope the feature films in Canada for two reasons. 1. To allow people to learn about this adventure. 2. Be proud of a Canadian born filmmaker who is doing so well in NZ.

I was in Germany and caught this on television. Even though my German is pretty average I really enjoyed it. I hope it ends up on television in Canada so I can watch it again in English. It was everything a great adventure story should be; exciting, frightening, moving and inspirational. The balance of documentary alongside drama was perfect. I'd known a little bit about Shackleton himself but nothing about his Captain. Typical that we never hear about the people who were behind the front-man. This story really made you think about what a hero is and what it takes to keep going when all seems lost. If it wasn't a true story there is no way I would have believed it. I enjoyed the way the programme was put together as well, with the Captain telling the story himself. I thought this was an interesting way to make a documentary seem more personal. All and all it was a ripper of a yarn and anyone who is interested in sailing will really love it.

This excellent made for TV drama-documentary retell's the story of Shackleton's legendary 1915/16 expedition to the Antarctic but from the viewpoint of the captain of Endurance, Frank Worsley. It is, perhaps justifiably, a bit negative about Shackleton, but in any case you can't fail to be awed once more by the guys involved and the feats achieved. It's all rather well done, mixing Frank Hurleys images contemporary interviews and dramatic reconstructions well.

An outstanding docudrama which tells the true story of the Shackleton adventure from the perspective of Captain Worsley, the captain of Shackleton's ship "Endurance". The film gives us an accurate, rather than a popular sensationalist account, of the adventure in which Shackleton is revealed to be not as big a hero as he has been made out to be. Here we learn through a gripping portrayal of how the survival of the stranded adventurers depended on the skill and judgement of Captain Worsley, rather than Shackleton; and that Shackleton himself showed poor judgement in undertaking the expedition in the first place, given the pack-ice conditions. The filming combines contemporary footage and dramatised reconstructions with interviews of writers, mountaineers and other experts in the field. The narration is achieved through a dramatised portrayal of Captain Worsley giving a lecture to a small audience at a club in the 1920s, in the calm manner of an English gentleman. The information presented is accurate and great attention is given to the visual details using CGI in a subtle but highly effective way. The casting is spot on and the acting is excellent.