Amazon.com
True to the IMAX tradition, Antarctica is replete with breathtaking aerial and underwater footage of the earth’s highest, coldest, and driest continent. Most folks’ TVs are 4,500 times smaller than an IMAX screen–too small to duplicate the acrophobic-stomach sensation that is the hallmark of the IMAX in-theater experience. All the same, like most IMAX movies, Antarctica has some of the best production values on film today. The story begins with a flock of penguins above–and below–water, and moves to gargantuan underwater ice sheets and then to a look at Antarctic climatic changes. Watch scientists locate and extract ancient ice to analyze preserved bubbles of ancient air, as well. Explorer Robert Scott makes an important contribution with his appealing voice and serene, well-articulated narrative. The DVD’s special features include Spanish and French language tracks, subtitling, and Internet links if you use the disc on your computer. –Erik Macki
Imax / Antarctica: Adventure of Different Nature
My favorite moments in this film are the seals, the penguins, and the people swimming inside the water of the interior of a glacier. The penguins are really cute, and the seals are amazing, the way they let people come right up to them.
I don’t know enough about Antarctica to comment as to whether it has been presented fairly in this film, and I’ve never seen another film on Antarctica to compare this one to.
Rating: 3 / 5
I love nature doc’s. But this milking that IMAX does is driving me nuts. 40 minutes for a nature movie is downright ridiculous. So your telling me on all their movies they can only come up with 40 minutes of nature to film and charge me anywhere from 13 to 25 dollars a pop for it. No thanks.
Rating: 2 / 5
Look, I love all things about Antarctica, having visited there as a Coast Guard officer in 1982. I have stood at the South Pole, flew in a helicopter through the Dry Valleys, cavorted with penguins on the sea ice, visited the restored huts of Scott and Shackleton. And yet this DVD bored me. Granted, the cinematography is awesome (well, semi-awesome on a 21 inch screen), and I learned a bit about glaciers. But the reviewers who point to the film’s choppiness are spot on. Moreover, the narration is at an annoyingly low volume compared to the rest of the soundtrack. Finally, the romantic elevation of Robert Scott into a great explorer is ahistoric, as Roland Huntsford showed long ago in his book Scott and Amundsen, so the fawning treatment here is inappropriate.
Rating: 2 / 5
This is the IMAX presentation. I hope you have a big screen to view it on. The 5.1 audio is also great and gives the subwoofer a good workout on the opening sceans of the ice breaker. Go for it! I liked the other version by Slingshot Video as the Super Jewel case was very nice and also very well packaged.
Rating: 4 / 5
I rented this dvd in the hopes that I could show it to my classes of fourth and fifth grade science students. I will have to look elsewhere for my purposes. While the images are visually stunning (in particular the glacial meltwater and crevasse scenes), the narration was poor for my intended audience. The narrator spoke in a monotone voice and many basic points were ignored… were we looking at an ice shelf, an ice sheet, or pack ice? Furthermore, the focus of the film bounced around from topic to topic with no apparent connection. I appreciated information about what the scientists were studying but I don’t plan on paying for the dvd for five minutes of content.
Rating: 3 / 5