Superb drama depicting the "race" to the south pole between Scott and Amundsen. The revisionist history, based on a book by Roland Huntford, is a classic bit of iconoclasm. New evidence suggests Scott was not an inept bungler who shouldn't have led the expedition while Amundsen was a skillful Arctic and Antarctic explorer. In fact, both men were skilled in Antarctic conditions, but Scott, who planned the expedition meticulously and relying on the latest in science and technology, had a run of bad luck and Amundsen, going a route sometimes impossible, had a run of good luck. It would be interesting to see a show on this scale and with the quality of production and acting and scripts that detail Scott and Amundsen in light of new geographical discoveries that unfortunately blew Huntford's research apart.
Everyone is very good, with a mix of old hands (Stephen Moore, Max von Sydow) and rising young performers (Hugh Grant, Michael Maloney). And the cast seemed to have put themselves through a hardship to make this miniseries. It's too bad they had to show Scott as mean as well as bungling and Amundsen as too saintly and all-knowing. Amundsen lived and Scott died, but in the Antarctic the difference between success and failure is razor thin, and luck is not something either man could plan for.
Everyone is very good, with a mix of old hands (Stephen Moore, Max von Sydow) and rising young performers (Hugh Grant, Michael Maloney). And the cast seemed to have put themselves through a hardship to make this miniseries. It's too bad they had to show Scott as mean as well as bungling and Amundsen as too saintly and all-knowing. Amundsen lived and Scott died, but in the Antarctic the difference between success and failure is razor thin, and luck is not something either man could plan for.