Watch Scott of the Antarctic For Free

Lack of good storyline.

Absolutely brilliant

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

I saw this years ago and only recently caught the final bleak half hour, but it was just as impressive the second time around. Half a dozen men intrigue and importune to get together the first expedition to find the South Pole. It's an excellent cast and the photography is impeccable. So are the make up and the visual effect. That makes it all the more sad that they discover the South Pole but don't make it back.It's a heartbreaking film but a thought-provoking story as well. What is it that drives men to undertake such risky tasks when they have no practical purpose? Facile answers like "heroism" or "pride" won't do.Sebastian Junger, who has a degree in anthropology, has explored the topic and described the kind of men who are drawn toward dangerous work, such as "tree toppers" in the lumber industry. My anthropology professor, John M. Roberts, developed the hypothesis that an adrenalin rush was involved, that certain people can become internal adrenalin addicts. They come to NEED that rush.But any explanation can be only partial, however plausible it might sound. If Roberts were still alive, I'd ask him to look into blood testosterone levels, or I'd do it for him.There are social factors at work as well. Would Scott and his colleagues have taken on a suicidal journey if no one could ever have found out about it? If they didn't represent England, but only themselves? Would America have developed its space facilities and put the first men on the moon if no one would ever know about it? In any case, some second-unit footage was shot in Antarctica but most of the location shooting was done in the Alps and in Norway. It's not as overwhelming as the desert in "Lawrence of Arabia," but given the technology and commercial arrangements of the time, it's very convincing, and so are the studio scenes. Antarctica is a majestic continent. There's really nothing much there. And there are times when I wish we'd leave it alone in its pristine form, free of humans and their artifacts and their garbage. Sometimes I feel the same way about the Titanic, a vast rusting graveyard. Hasn't it been through enough without being exploited for a few more pennies? Sorry, I almost fell off that editorial soap box again, but that doesn't affect the many virtues of this film. Despite the climactic melancholy, you won't regret watching it.

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.

Scott Of The Antarctic is directed by Charles Frend and is a superb account of the ill fated Polar trek in 1912 which claimed the lives of four men,most notably the legendary Captain Scott. The film stars John Mills, James Robertson Justice, Derek Bond, Diana Churchill and Kenneth More.Beginning in 1908 Captain R.F Scott(John Mills)tries to put together a polar team and raise funds for a scientific trip to the Antarctic.He is accompanied by his close friend Dr.E.A Wilson(Harold Warrender),Captain L.E.G Oates(Derek Bond)who would gain fame by being the man who stepped out of the tent to try and give his companions a bigger chance at survival,Lt.H.R Bowers(Reginald Beckwith),Taff Evans(James Robertson Justice)and a young Kenneth More as Lt.Teddy Evans.There's also fine support from Diana Churchill as Scott's faithful encouraging wife Kathleen and Anne Firth as Wilson's loving wife Oriana.With breathtaking photography and use of colour by Jack Cardiff and strong performances this is a moving and fairly accurate account of the expedition we will never forget.It shows the harsh weather they faced,the ill preparation and bad luck which dogged the last leg of the trek.Taking us back to a time where men like this were heroes and the whole world was behind their endeavour,wishing them the best of luck.Based on Scott's diaries and letters as well as accounts from the survivors, this gripping film is as close to being there as you can actually get.The cast are superb,especially John playing the charming,driven and determined leader, who's valour and courage moved many after his diaries were made public.This is one you won't regret seeing and it's without a doubt one of the best films Ealing Studios ever produced.

Sir John Mills is the quintessential Scott -- he even looks like the explorer in this film. The rest of the cast (Wilson, Evans, Oates, and Bowers especially) are also lookalike actors, similar to what was done in "Titanic" with the historic figures. Such movies have more "realism" to them if the actors resemble the characters they portray.The movie is flawed in that it does not present what actually happened to Scott and his party all the way through, and does "hero-ize" the explorer and his polar party members more than they deserve. The death of Evans, for instance, is done far differently than what actually occurred, but has a true cinematic heroism to it. Evans did not die in Scott's arms, in the snow, as depicted -- he actually fell into a coma and died in the tent that night. And there is a bit of a fumble with Oates' dramatic last words, but only a slight one.Scott as hero is evident in this film, and even though recent developments have reduced his stature in the eyes of the world, he should still be viewed for what he was -- a true explorer, alongside Shackleton (who does not get nearly enough of the credit he deserves), Amundsen, Peary, etc. Sure, they had their moments of being total jerks -- but don't we all?For the last eighteen years, I have used this film in my middle-school classroom as a teaching tool during a unit on Antarctica. The story of the race between Scott and Amundsen is a classic tale and deserves to be told. There are probably much more useful films that students can see about the event, but for sheer beauty (yes, I know it was shot mostly in Greenland, but some scenes were indeed filmed down south) you cannot beat Scott of the Antarctic.