BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Pluskylang Great Film overall

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

DaRitz The film "Antarctica," which I viewed today in IMAX format, is a documentary about the continent of the same name. The movie opens with an excellent shot of an icebreaker plowing through sea-ice like a hot knife through butter. Then a narrator starts talking, which kills the mood. This pretty much sums up the entire movie: great cinematography, mediocre to poor narration.As other reviewers have pointed out, the writers seemed to try to cram as many subjects as they could into the 40-minute running time. This had the result of being the viewer being yanked away from a topic just as she was getting interested in it, such as during the visually spectacular underwater caverns sequence. Many of the subjects were just plain dull, such as the semi-obligatory pronouncements about the harm humans are doing to the earth and its climate. While most likely true, this is always a downer when viewed in a documentary one paid $9.50 to see.In addition, the film had several factual errors, not the least of which was saying the Scott Expedition met its tragic end "eleven miles from safety." In fact, they were eleven miles from an unmanned depot, hardly safety. Also, as any serious student of Antarctica knows, the ceremonial "barber pole" at Amundsen-Scott Station is NOT the true South Pole, as was strongly implied in the movie.In conclusion, I can recommend this for Antarctica buffs only, and even for them only with the above caveats.

Ike Hall (ikester8) Normally I love documentaries about Antarctica. The grandeur and desolation of the continent lends itself to phenomenal photography, while the animal life provides insight as to how tough the living conditions actually are.But this film was a great disappointment. I'm not really giving anything away by saying it tried to do too many things within the course of 40 minutes. Everything got short shrift: human exploration, current scientific missions, fauna, geology, weather. All of these things have been explored much better in other documentaries. This movie should have stayed to the strengths of its format: wide angle views of the desolate landscape. There is little action here, why try to create some? The sound editing was atrocious. On what is essentially a frozen wasteland, one would expect some quiet when the wind wasn't howling. But the sound editors seemingly went out of their way to add in noisome effects.The music was especially annoying. Scenes of boats and hovercrafts simply moving next to icebergs were accompanied by minor-key aural blasts more suitable for a horror movie. And I can't even comment on the cloying, near-onomatopoeic track accompanying the Adelie penguins. It must be heard in context to be believed.Not that I recommend you doing so. Four stars.

joe-2361 Antarctica is breath-taking. It takes you under the ice of Antarctica, it shows you the amazing fauna that can survive in such harsh climates. I have read that it has sold more than one hundred Million dollars worth of tickets. m not surprised. Certainly it is the best IMAX film I haVE SEEN: According to the Australian film commission it is the second or third most successful Australian film of any kind ever released.The story of humanities search for understanding - beyond the edge of what is known - is extraordinarily moving. The music is amazing in its own right I have a copy of a concerto based on it recorded by the London Symhony Orchestra with the guitarist John Williams. I recommend it to everyone.

freddent I love IMAX. However, this film lacks many of the qualities of other IMAX films. While the photography is beautiful it has virtually no story line. The film heads off into seven different directions with no thread to guide the viewer.