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Nat Geo Brings Shackleton’s Antarctica Expedition to Life 110 Years Later

Photo from Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 on Instagram

Nat Geo Brings Shackleton’s Antarctica Expedition to Life 110 Years Later

By Movieguide® Contributor

Nat Geo is bringing one of history’s greatest expeditions to life, mixing film footage from the 1915 expedition with a 2022 search mission to tell the incredible story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctica escapade.

Shackleton was a major player during the great age of exploration. His focus was set on conquering Antarctica, crossing the continent from sea to sea. His journey, however, would turn to tragedy when his ship was locked in ice 100 miles from the continent and eventually sunk after being crushed by the brutal Antarctic winter.

Amazingly Shackleton had brought the most innovative camera and film technology of his day aboard the ship, and the entire expedition was recorded. Even more miraculous, Shackleton and his entire crew survived the trip, bringing the footage with them. Now 110 years later, Nat Geo is making this incredible journey available to the public, alongside a search mission to find Shackleton’s sunken ship.

“Shackleton is still considered a hero today because, although he lost Endurance to the pack ice, he never gave up, and through his incredible grit, courage and inspirational leadership saved all his men. Risking his own life is what makes him a true hero,” John Shears, the search expedition’s director of operations, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“You’d think the explorers would have had more pressing things on their minds than making a film,” added marine biologist Mensum Bound, “but all the insanity was captured in startling detail on [expedition member] Frank Hurley’s photographic plates and 35-millimeter film.”

The film from the journey includes the ship setting sail, daily life, lighthearted moments and the sinking of the ship. While the moments from 1915 are incredible to witness, the 2022 search mission plays a major role in the documentary as well.

“More than a century later the Endurance22 expedition set out on the icebreaker Agulhas II. Led by Dr. Shears, alongside expedition subsea manager Nico Vincent, director of exploration Mensun Bound and historian and broadcaster Dan Snow and an international team of scientists and technologists, their mission was to find the wreck of the Endurance,” Deadline reported.

The finding of Shackleton’s sunken ship represented over 10 years of work on Bound’s part along with millions of dollars in investments from his supporters. Ultimately the search came down to the final days with the brutal Antarctic winter bearing down on his crew, threatening to trap them in the ice.

“Each step taken into the unknown unfolds a page of mystery…it is not only man’s right but his duty to try to unravel it,” Bound said. “This was the great age of exploration. We hadn’t then descended to the deepest depths of the ocean. We hadn’t climbed the highest mountain in the world. Getting to the moon was a distant dream. The idea of exploration, going for the prize and then taking one step beyond, is in all of us.”

“We have made polar history with the discovery of Endurance, and successfully completed the world’s most challenging shipwreck search,” Shears said at the time of finding the ship.

The documentary will debut in the U.K. on Oct. 12 before becoming available to audiences worldwide later this fall on Disney+.