MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

ksf-2 Telling the story of Byrd's 1946 expedition to Antarctica, this is narrated by Robert Montgomery, who himself had been in the service; this one has a whole buncha hollywood bigshots who had served in the military. Van Heflin, Robert Taylor. We were done with WW II, so now we could move on to exploring more places. We had all those war ships with nothing to do, so thirteen ships took the admiral down to Antarctica. We watch as some of the ships get stuck in the ice; they kidnap various types of seals to bring back to the U.S, set up tent-town on the ice shelf, and send out planes to map the area. Directed by Orville (Bunny !) Dull. last thing he did in hollywood. Pretty interesting for history buffs. Certainly gave the military something to do after being so necessary during WW II. won an oscar.

captqrunch Missing from the documentary is a convincing explanation of why the Navy undertook Operation Highjump: the task force was hastily assembled from ships that were being demobilized after WW2 and it was hastily dispatched --- if memory serves, one ship was never even able to join the convoy due to operational issues. The official line was that Highjump was designed to test Navy preparedness for high latitude operations against the Soviet Union (as well as surveying parts of Antarctica); if that were actually true, wouldn't the Navy have spent more than a couple of weeks assembling and fitting out craft for the experiment? And why send the submarines and Marine combat soldiers at all? There is a "conspiracy theory" regarding Highjump: that Byrd was investigating a possible Nazi submarine base in "Neuschwabenland" --- the huge Antarctic area claimed by Germany in the late '30s, which includes ice caverns (recently discovered, or rediscovered) that are accessible only by submarine. At any rate, Byrd landed opposite Neuschwabenland and deployed his forces in classic fashion -- the naval contingent was divided and advanced on his flanks while his aircraft probed the center. After two planes were lost (shot down?), Byrd cut the mission short. Strangely, his reports and his personal diary covering the period remain secret to this day.

dbborroughs This is the story of a massive trip to Antarctica. If you thought your spouse brings too much on vacation, it ain't nothing compared to what the military brought to the bottom of the world after the second world war ended. This was a huge operation and this is its story. Never mind that this is educational and award winning, its simply a great story told expertly.I had run across this film by accident years ago on one of the Turner stations and was captivated. I fell into its tale of men over coming nature and its become a favorite of mine ever since.Granted its "America can do" attitude can make you a bit crazy, but it was that sort of attitude that allowed us to think we could do it in the first place.See it, not because you'll learn something, see it because you will be entertained better than most dramatic films entertain you.10 out of 10.

Robert Reynolds This documentary quite rightly won an Oscar for its efforts at showing the large scale exploration of Antartica undertaken by the United States military. The weather conditions were rather extreme, to put it mildly. I'd be curious to learn just how many cameras froze up during the expedition! The narration is capably handled by three prominent actors who also seved in the military during World War II and everything is very well-executed. Turner Classic Movies has been airing this fairly often in the last two or three years. Highly recommended.