ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

1bilbo This is a really good film.The story is pretty accurate and the characters are played splendidly by people who could actually act.The scenery is breathtaking – no CGI here and it shows! Real backdrops to go with the real actors. The music by Vaughn Williams ads to the sense of horror as these brave explorers venture to the "Worst place on earth" only to find the bitter disappointment when they get there.One is left with a real sense of "Was it worth it" as the team are picked off one-by-one by the dreadful conditions; yet still carry on with determination.Watch it in a warm room!

eyesour Fail in the midnight sun. Not a barrel of laughs, this one. This was made in 1948, three years after VE day. The writing was on the wall for dear old Blighty. The hidden American agenda had triumphed. After having thrown everything they had into countering the totalitarian threat, turning the tide alone over the skies of Dover, the old country was now learning that Uncle Sam had carried home the Oscar. The news had got out in 1945 that Errol Flynn had already taken Burma, more or less by himself. Later Britain was to be told that Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson were the really significant players in the Great Escape (the prison contained no Yanks at all); Gregory Peck had commanded the team who blew up the Nazis at Navarone; Clint Eastwood had killed thousands of Germans without even looking; Lee Marvin destroyed a whole castle full of German officers and their wives; the Enigma code was exclusively captured and cracked by the courageous Yankee submariners; Hanks died like a rugged, resolute immortal after blasting his way up Omaha beach, enabling D-Day. If seen at all, the British were lucky to be relegated to tenth fiddle.So Scott of the Antarctic was prophetic, as well as timely. Life was bleak in Britain, in 1948. I remember it well. This picture told it like it was. What a bunch of dopes, us Limeys --- and I actually had lunch once with Roland Huntford! The film is unforgettable, but not something you'd readily want to live through twice. Curious that a doomed handful of five, headed by a man named Scott, should contain a Welshman, Evans; Captain Oates, with the Irish Inniskilling Dragoon Guards; and what looked like a typical rural English gent, Wilson; although perhaps both he and Scott were Anglo-Scots. Bowers sounded sort of posh Cockney; I forget exactly where he came from. Just a thought: the decline and fall of the United Kingdom.Another thought: someone complains about the actors being wooden, and stiff-upper lipped. Make no mistake, these sorts of people were exactly like this. Several members of my family went to the same prep school as Scott, so I should know. My father was one of James Robertson Justice's good friends. Terence Rattigan once remarked that the English vice was not what you might think it to be: it was a congenital inability to express emotion.

Matthew Kresal History and heroism have always made for fertile ground for storytellers. The story of the ill-fated 1910-1912 British arm of the race to the South Pole that was led by Captain Sir Robert Falcon Scott would prove to be no exception to that rule. While history's opinion of Scott and his expedition has tended to shift back and forth and thus can cloud the issue of this film's historical accuracy one thing is certain though. That is that this film, not matter one's thoughts on its historical accuracy, is a fine film armed with a fine cast, strong production values and a fantastic score. The result is a fine film recreation of the tale of Scott and his men.To begin with the film boosts a fine cast of actors. John Mills plays Captain Scott as a heroic figure doing his best to lead his men in one of the harshest places on Earth, an interpretation that (if other reviews are anything to go by) is certainly cause for controversy six decades on but in the film's context works well. If one needs any proof of just how good Mills is listen to him as he reads out entries from Scott's journal throughout the film. There's also a fine supporting cast including Harold Warreneder as Naturalist E.A. Wilson, Derek Bond as Captain Oates, Kenneth More as Lt. "Teddy" Evans, Reginald Beckwith as Lt. "Birdie" Bowers, Clive Morton as famed Antarctic photographer Herbert Ponting and even a young Christopher Lee in the role of Bernard Day. Sadly the only actresses in the film, Diana Churchill as Scott's wife and Anne Firth as Wilson's wife, seem to be far too constrained by the conventions of wive roles of the time. Overall though it is a fine cast.Scott Of the Antarctic also boosts some strong production values as well. The sets of Arne Akermark are some fine recreations of the various elements of the expedition including the Terra Nova ship, Scott's base of operation and the tent interiors along the way to the pole and back. The costumes of Anthony Mendleson are also fantastic recreations of the outfits and uniforms worn by those who took part on the expedition. Then there's the make-up work which helps to bring a sense of the effects of the Antarctic wilderness upon the men of the expedition. There's also some incredible cinematography as well that reaches not only from the sets but to footage of the Antarctic as well. All together they make for a meticulous and incredible recreation of the places and things involved in the expedition.The film is also blessed with a fine score from composer Vaughan Williams. Williams score is an epic and sweeping piece that makes, all by itself, an incredible portrait not only of the expedition but of the icy continent. Of special mention is Williams pieces for the opening credits, Scott's entry from the end of the Discovery expedition, the Terra Nova's arrival in the Antarctic and the music that accompanies the films last few minutes. The quality of the music makes it no surprise that Williams took this score (of which only half the music he composed ended up in the film) and created his seventh symphony from it.Last, but not least, there is the script. If other reviews that I've read are any indication of things it is that the script is the single most controversial aspect of the film. After some six decades, the controversies surrounding Scott's expeditions make it nay impossible to properly judge the film on its historical accuracy. That said there are some definite changes to the historical events (the death of P.O. Evans being a prime example) but these can be forgiven as virtually every film based on a historical event makes changes to the facts to suit its needs . Judging the script from a writing point of view alone, the script is pretty good in terms of most of its dialogue and compressing years worth of events into under two hours of screen time.While the historical accuracy of the script will continue to be debated I'm sure, there are plenty of other fine things to be found in Scott Of The Antarctic. These include the fine cast, the superb production values and the fantastic score of composer Vaughan Williams. If one can say nothing else about this film it is this: that after six decades it remains a good old fashioned film of adventure and courage.

johnny_darko_kelly This film is as accurate in its presentation of the Terra Nova expedition as anyone can hope to enjoy in cinematic format.Any polar aficionados will undoubtedly be aware of the consequences of the race between Amundsen and Scott. In my opinion Scott has been poorly evaluated by critics for his failure to reach the Pole first. Of all of the critics, Roland Huntford is the most inept. Scott was not a man incapable of organisation, or undeserved of applause. Huntford has done no justice to a man he could only aspire to in his near-fictionous warblings. The title of 'biographer' is far too rewarding to a man who spins fairy tales around the most unfeigned episodes of exploration.John Mills can be applauded for not basing a raw and gripping performance on the Huntford conjuring of Scott. Or perhaps he was lucky that Huntford's 'studies' of events had not surfaced on history yet.An excellent film in my opinion; vivid colour and an enticing soundtrack that charts the expedition's unremitting penchant for adventure.