I was trusted with going to Blockbuster the other day to rent a couple of movies for the family. I make a big deal about this because according to my wife, my movie picking ability is "suspect at best". Well I didn't want to break tradition here, and one of the movies I came home with was a New Release for Blockbuster, but hardly a new tale.
It was a documentary of William Shackleton and his crew of 28 of "Endurance", the ship that took them to Antartica in 1914. Short story: On his third attempt at making it to Antartica, the Endurance becomes trapped in the mass of ice that rotates around the north side of the island. The Endurance is crushed by the ice after some months, they make an escape off the ice by pulling their 1-ton-plus lifeboats MILES in knee-deep snow to the edge, wind up on an island not near any shipping lanes, part of the crew (of which Shackleton is one) takes off on an 800 mile trip in one of the lifeboats to get to an island used by whaling vessels, and more months later, the entire crew of 28 is saved. Over two years of being lost in the most remote place on earth.
I humbly admit I wasn't familiar with this story until I saw this documentary. I've already ordered two books on the adventure of Shackleton off of Half.com today, though. Highly, highly recommended. It's amazing what these guys went through, and how important Shackleton's positive leadership was to them. The movie is nearly all original pictures AND ORIGINAL VIDEO! It's really cool to see these guys like you were right there with them. What's more, nearly every crewmember seems to have kept a daily journal which are also very, very interesting.
If you've read of the adventure, watch the documentary as the original video is just amazing!
It was a documentary of William Shackleton and his crew of 28 of "Endurance", the ship that took them to Antartica in 1914. Short story: On his third attempt at making it to Antartica, the Endurance becomes trapped in the mass of ice that rotates around the north side of the island. The Endurance is crushed by the ice after some months, they make an escape off the ice by pulling their 1-ton-plus lifeboats MILES in knee-deep snow to the edge, wind up on an island not near any shipping lanes, part of the crew (of which Shackleton is one) takes off on an 800 mile trip in one of the lifeboats to get to an island used by whaling vessels, and more months later, the entire crew of 28 is saved. Over two years of being lost in the most remote place on earth.
I humbly admit I wasn't familiar with this story until I saw this documentary. I've already ordered two books on the adventure of Shackleton off of Half.com today, though. Highly, highly recommended. It's amazing what these guys went through, and how important Shackleton's positive leadership was to them. The movie is nearly all original pictures AND ORIGINAL VIDEO! It's really cool to see these guys like you were right there with them. What's more, nearly every crewmember seems to have kept a daily journal which are also very, very interesting.
If you've read of the adventure, watch the documentary as the original video is just amazing!
. not heard of shackleton,, shocking 
