Kon-Tiki

Starring:Bengt Danielsson (III), Ben Grauer, Knut Haugland, Erik Hesselberg, Torstein Raaby, Gerte Wald, Herman Watzinger
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
In the middle of the 20th century, the name for adventure was Thor Heyerdahl. The Norwegian biologist-explorer became world famous in 1947 when he sailed an unsophisticated raft 4,300 miles in the Pacific. The remarkable voyage was made to prove Heyerdahl's theory that ancient South American natives could populate Polynesia by sailing across the Pacific. Heyerdahl and his five crewmates supervised the creation of an aboriginal balsa wood raft (made with no nails or rivets) that sailed the trade winds on a voyage the scientific community thought was foolish and suicidal. The film record shot on board--which became this 58-minute documentary--shows that amazing passage of the raft, the Kon-Tiki, and its various encounters with sea life. The low-key Heyerdahl tells his story without irony, certainly a trait that helped during the four-month journey. Heyerdahl's book of the voyage sold over 20 million copies and the film won the 1951 Oscar for Best Documentary. Heyerdahl went on to later journeys (including another voyage in the ship Ra) and discoveries, but this uncluttered black-and-white film delivers thrills all these years after the voyage. Young explorers age 8 and older will get caught up in the excitement. --Doug Thomas
Description
Kon-Tiki is the Academy Award-winning film of an astonishing adventure, a journey spanning 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. On April 28, 1947, Norwegian biologist Thor Heyerdahl and his five crew members embarked from Peru on a daring voyage to prove Heyerdahl's theory that the South Sea Islands were settled by South Americans aboard balsa wood rafts. Building a similar raft according to the pre-Columbian Indians' traditions, Heyerdahl and crew spent 101 suspenseful days on the open sea, alone amid raging storms, whales, and countless sharks until finally landing on the Polynesian island of Raroia. The expedition attracted worldwide interest, with Heyerdahl's book "Kon-Tiki" selling over 20 million copies in 67 languages and this Oscar-winning documentary, the commemorative 1997 edition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the voyage.

Kon Tiki
Average customer rating:

True Adventure

Kon Tiki
Director: Thor Heyerdahl
Manufacturer: Janson Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft

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Description

This is the classic Academy-Award winning documentary film of an astonishing adventure, a journey spanning 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. Intrigued by Polynesian folklore, Norwegian biologist Thor Heyerdahl suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east, led by the mythical hero Kon-Tiki. Heyerdahl knew that the trade winds and ocean currents off the South-American coastline bear in the direction of Polynesia. Ridiculed by the scientific establishment, who had concluded that a voyage by aboriginal balsa raft from Peru to Polynesia was impossible, he decided to prove the possibility of his theory by duplicating the legendary voyage. The ensuing expedition was hailed as one of the most fantastic feats of daring and courage of its time.

On April 28, 1947, Heyerdahl and his five crew members embarked from Peru on their daring voyage to the Marquesas Islands, on a balsa wood raft which was built according to the traditions of South America's pre-Columbian Indians. After 101 suspenseful days on the open sea, alone amid raging storms, whales, and countless sharks, they landed on the Polynesian island of Raroia.

The expedition attracted worldwide interest. Heyerdahl's book Kon-Tiki was translated into 67 languages, and sold more than 20 million copies. Heyerdahl had been presented with a film camera before the journey began, and both the building of the raft and the voyage across the Pacific were filmed in detail. In 1952, his fascinating black and white film was awarded an Oscar for the most outstanding documentary. The film subsequently enthralled cinema-goers all over the world. The raft is now exhibited at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, where it is seen by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

Extra Features:
• Thor Heyerdahl: Explorer & Scientist
• Photo Gallery
• Expedition Map
• Rare Color Footage

Customer Reviews:

True Adventure.......2007-01-11

I was pleasently surprised by the quality of this DVD. Thor was a man who truly lived by the phrases, 'put your money where your mouth is' and 'Put up or shut up!' Most "experts where sure he and his companions would never be seen again when they departed Peru on a raft to cross the Pacific Ocean! They made it with surprisingly little trouble considering what they were up against. If you read the book this DVD gives you a nice filling out and if you haven't read the book, do so. You will only wish you could have gone with him.

Average customer rating:

Would be better if there was some extras.
Kon-Tiki-An Incredible Voyage
Informative But Mercifully Short
a must for all Kon-Tiki fans
Great disappointment

Kon-Tiki
Starring: Bengt Danielsson (III) , Ben Grauer , Knut Haugland , Erik Hesselberg , and Torstein Raaby
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft
In the Footsteps of Adam: A Memoir
Pyramids of Tucume: The Quest for Peru's Forgotten City
AKU-AKU: The Secret of Easter Island
Ra Expeditions

ASIN: B000055XNX
Release Date: 2001-01-02

Amazon.com

In the middle of the 20th century, the name for adventure was Thor Heyerdahl. The Norwegian biologist-explorer became world famous in 1947 when he sailed an unsophisticated raft 4,300 miles in the Pacific. The remarkable voyage was made to prove Heyerdahl's theory that ancient South American natives could populate Polynesia by sailing across the Pacific. Heyerdahl and his five crewmates supervised the creation of an aboriginal balsa wood raft (made with no nails or rivets) that sailed the trade winds on a voyage the scientific community thought was foolish and suicidal. The film record shot on board--which became this 58-minute documentary--shows that amazing passage of the raft, the Kon-Tiki, and its various encounters with sea life. The low-key Heyerdahl tells his story without irony, certainly a trait that helped during the four-month journey. Heyerdahl's book of the voyage sold over 20 million copies and the film won the 1951 Oscar for Best Documentary. Heyerdahl went on to later journeys (including another voyage in the ship Ra) and discoveries, but this uncluttered black-and-white film delivers thrills all these years after the voyage. Young explorers age 8 and older will get caught up in the excitement. --Doug Thomas

Description

Kon-Tiki is the Academy Award-winning film of an astonishing adventure, a journey spanning 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. On April 28, 1947, Norwegian biologist Thor Heyerdahl and his five crew members embarked from Peru on a daring voyage to prove Heyerdahl's theory that the South Sea Islands were settled by South Americans aboard balsa wood rafts. Building a similar raft according to the pre-Columbian Indians' traditions, Heyerdahl and crew spent 101 suspenseful days on the open sea, alone amid raging storms, whales, and countless sharks until finally landing on the Polynesian island of Raroia. The expedition attracted worldwide interest, with Heyerdahl's book "Kon-Tiki" selling over 20 million copies in 67 languages and this Oscar-winning documentary, the commemorative 1997 edition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the voyage.

Customer Reviews:

Would be better if there was some extras........2005-10-31

This DVD doesn't even have a menu. Soon as you put it in it just starts playing and when you do hit the menu button it just goes to the chapter listing. How cheap.

The documentary itself about Thor Heyerdahl and his crew sailing a large raft 5,000 miles from South America to the Polynesian Islands is interesting but surprisingly tiresome - I felt like I was watching somebody's vacation videos. You would think actual footage of people sailing a handmade raft the equivalent of San Francisco to Iceland in open water would be very exciting, but Thor's narration is so flat he sucks the energy right out of the remarkable images on the screen.

Worth watching for historical value.

Kon-Tiki-An Incredible Voyage.......2005-08-09

The story of the Kon-Tiki was a vague memory from High School days. I remember reading the book, but back then, it seemed dull and boring. The film of this voyage in the new DVD format revived the old memories and brought to me a greater appreciation of the story.
The film is pretty much a hand held 8mm or 16mm adventure filmed by the author during the trip. But it certaintly did contain the romantic ingredients for a great adventure. I came away envious of the six crewmen who took the 3 month voyage across the pacific guided only by the winds and currents and a specualtive theory that this was the way that the ancient Polyneisans made their made to the Central pacific islands.
For all of its old documentary baggage it was surprisingly entertaining and interesting. I would recommend this to anyone who ever thought of taking a long ocean voyage.

Informative But Mercifully Short.......2005-07-15

Did the Polynesian Islands get seeded by men from South America? That might be tough to say based on this 1951 Academy Award winning documentary by biologist Thor Heyerdahl. But this is exactly what Thor and several other men try to prove by building a raft in Peru and drifting/sailing into the Pacific Ocean.

The film is interesting if very dated. The cartoonish depictions of the world map and their travels were often hard to watch, reminding me of some kid's crayon drawing scrawling across the screen, but informative in a kind of regressive nature.

The more interesting aspects of this 58-minute documentary were how involved the world was in the Kon-Tiki expedition (Ham radio operators were listening around the world), and some of the strange and new discoveries of fish species during their voyage.

But lost to me were the difficulties of the journey. More film time was spent describing the rigors of gathering the rare cork-like wood for their raft than was given to their actual struggles out on the water.

Once we're on the Pacific Ocean with them, we also feel that this is some sort of simple trip, as if they're just trolling around a lagoon (felt kind of Gilligan's Islandish). But this was also a bizarre strength for the film. In today's (2005) reality TV world, every bug bite that some contestant on Survivor receives is broadcast as if a limb were amputated, but here the men seemed minimally interested in the sharks following them and when their cooking facilities nearly burn up.

Scientifically, though, I think this documentary is a serious flop. The initial idea was to prove that the peopling of the Pacific Islands came about by ancient mariners from South America. Although I still believe this is true, doing it in 1946 with a sextant, cooking stove, experimental military food supplies, and other modern conveniences didn't set well in my analytical mind.

Final summation: watch it once if you're a film history buff. If not, stick with the book.

a must for all Kon-Tiki fans.......2004-05-21

Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon-Tiki" was one of my favourite childhood
books. I read it many times (every time I had to stay in bed
because of sickness) and always was glad to come back, sit on
that bamboo deck and watch the Pacific waves. There was something
truly magical for me in an idea of that slow ocean-crossing to
Polynesia. Now - 25years after I last read the book I had a
chance to watch DVD. It speaks to me the same way book did.
It is very low-tech, grainy black and white far below any modern
standards for nature cinematography. But it has same spirit the
book had - optimism, perserverence and love and respect for
nature. I recommend that DVD to anybody that read the book.

Great disappointment.......2003-12-18

Another Image Entertainment release, another disappointment.

From the fact that there is no menu...and no extras...to the fact that this is not the complete original release (this is the edited television release), this is yet another loser from Image Entertainment.

The original release is 78 minutes long, and has different opening and closing credits.

As for the movie...it is interesting for one viewing, but the poor quality of the pictures (not up to the standards of Thor's later movie "RA Expeditions") make it unlikely you will want to see it more than once.

My suggestion...stick with the book.

DVD:

DVD

Backtrack (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Gia/Bronx Tale

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