Antarctica Movie, DVD / Video - History, Drama, and Nature

Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

Starring: Ryan Andrew Evans, Director: Werner Herzog

  DVD     DVD

Just about anywhere Werner Herzog goes becomes an interesting place, in part because the director shapes it with his distinctively sardonic eye. In Encounters at the End of the World, the 'Zog heads off to Antarctica, finding there a population of unusual people, hallucinatory underwater life, and penguins. He doesn't appear on camera, but the unmistakably Teutonic Herzog voice is very much with us all the time, a baleful tour guide for this blank destination. In the human outposts of Antarctica, Herzog finds the kind of people you might expect would gravitate to the edge of existence--the curious, the oddball, the wanderers who've run out of other places to explore. He finds some deadpan hilarity, especially in filming a communication drill involving people practicing blizzard conditions (they wear buckets over their heads while roped together). The underwater photography (a realm previously explored in Herzog's The Wild Blue Yonder) is by Henry Kaiser, and it meshes perfectly with the director's interest in alien eye-scapes. And when Herzog finally does find penguins, his imagination goes to the idea that some penguins go insane, scurrying off into their own suicidal directions. This isn't as arresting a film as Grizzly Man, but it is an entertaining travelogue spiked with quirky observations.

Antarctica Dreaming (HD DVD + DVD Combo Disc) (2006)

  DVD     DVD

Imagine a world colored by ice and fire, carved by hurricane-force winds, weighted by glaciers, and teeming with wildlife perfectly adapted to freezing conditions and winters of perpetual darkness. Experience the beauty of wild white blizzards and fire-red sunsets reflected in a glassy sea.

Antarctica Dreaming HD DVD explores the Antarctic peninsula, South Georgia Island, and the Falkland Islands, and features five species of penguins, four kinds of seals, fierce seabirds, and the most spectacular scenery on the planet.

- Filmed by Emmy Award winner David Hannan
- Includes 6 bonus mini documentaries.
- Shot in High Definition by Emmy-Award-winning maker of Coral Sea Dreaming, David Hannan
- Dolby TrueHD for 100% lossless High Definition Audio

March of the Penguins (2005)

      Star DVD

Widescreen DVD   Fullscreen DVD

DVD HD DVD  Blu-ray DVD

March of the Penguins instantly qualifies as a wildlife classic. French filmmaker Luc Jacquet spent a full year of extreme conditions in Antarctica to capture the life cycle of Emperor penguins on film, and their diligence is evident in every striking frame of this 80-minute documentary. Narrated in soothing tones by Morgan Freeman, the film focuses on a colony of hundreds of Emperors as they return, in a single-file march of 70 miles or more, to their frozen breeding ground, far inland from the oceans where they thrive. At times dramatic, suspenseful, mischievous and just plain funny, the film conveys the intensity of the penguins' breeding cycle, and their treacherous task of protecting eggs and hatchlings in temperatures as low as 128 degrees below zero. March of the Penguins remains family-friendly throughout, and kids especially will enjoy the Antarctic blue-ice vistas and the playful, waddling appeal of the penguins, who can be slapstick clumsy or magnificently graceful, depending on the circumstances. A marvel of wildlife cinematography, this unique film offers a front-row seat to these amazing creatures, balancing just enough scientific information with the entertaining visuals. - Jeff Shannon

Antarctica (1983)

A Japanese Antarctica movie with English subtitles. Based on the story of a  1957 Japanese Antarctic expedition and how an abandoned dog team survive alone.

The Japanese name for the movie is NAN KYOKU MONOGATARI. Ken Takakura (Mr. Baseball), plays the leader of a dog sleigh team. If you like Dogs this is the movie for you. Forget Bengi, Balto, Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Old Yeller. This is based on a True Story and Legend in Japan. Recently remade as the Disney movie "8 Below".

  Buy on VHS (limited availability)  Vangelis soundtrack

Last Place on Earth (1994)

  DVD    VHS 
  DVD

Scott and Amundsen both wanted to be first to the Pole. One of them was. The other became a hero.  Scott vs. Amundsen. It wasn't meant to be a race, but race it becomes, as the world awaits news of the first to reach the Pole. What follows is a tale of heroism, foolhardiness, selflessness and self-delusion, in a land where victory must be secondary to survival.

Beside the outstanding script and acting, the cinematography is absolutely breathtaking and the almost Herculean efforts to film this in the harsh environment of Greenland really paid off in making making one of the most impressive productions ever to be seen on television or the cinema. Anyone who is interested in history, exploration, or the psychology of men in extreme conditions will immensely enjoy this treasure.

Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (2001)
IMAX dramatization

  DVD    VHS

  DVD

The only documentary that traces the actual steps of the explorers' blessed journey. While providing a concise summary of the Shackleton team's 1914-16 expedition, this breathtaking IMAX feature employs exacting re-creations and flyover footage (from 1999 and 2000) of the same harsh landscapes that Shackleton and his men traversed, by land and sea, during their ill-fated voyage. As with most IMAX films, climactic moments are driven by a bombastic score, and the harshest facts of the Shackleton journey (e.g., sacrificing beloved dogs for food and euthanasia) are omitted for family viewing. What matters here are the visuals (both vintage and contemporary), and they're absolutely magnificent, conveying the sheer horror--and divine beauty--of the greatest survival story of all time.

Mr. Forbush And The Penguins [1971] UK
(Released as "Cry of the Penguins" in USA)

DVD   DVD

A young London biologist spends most of his time pursuing girls rather than pursuing science. When the opportunity to go to the Antarctic to study a colony of penguins presents itself he agrees to go, not so much for the benefit of science but rather to impress the girl he has recently been chasing. The longer he stays in the Antarctic, however, the more he becomes truly interested in the penguins fight for survival. When the time to go home finally arrives, he is a changed man with a totally new outlook on life. Starring John Hurt.

A personal note - When I was about 14, I was off school with some real or imagined illness, this film was on TV in the afternoon. As a result I decided that I wanted to go to Antarctica.
Paul Ward - Webmaster

The Adventurers: Richard Byrd: Alone in Antarctica
Buy on VHS

Heart of Antarctica (1998)
Buy on VHS

   

Cousteau: Lilliput in Antarctica
Buy on VHS