The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
Back to trending 
The Endurance
Documentary · History · 2000
Documentary on the Shackleton Antartic expedition. A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in and the crew of his vessel 'The Endurance', which was trapped in the ice floes and frigid open ocean of the Antarctic in 1914. Shackleton decided, with many of his crew injured and weak from exposure and starvation, to take a team of his fittest men and attempt to find help. Setting out in appalling conditions with hopelessly inadequate equipment, they endured all weather and terrain and finally reached safety. Persuading a local team of his confidence that the abandoned team would still be alive, he set out again to find them. After almost 2 years trapped on the ice, all members of the crew were finally rescued.
Movie details
The Endurance
2000 Documentary · History 1h 37m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.8 / 10
2.3K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
95 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
85 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.0 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Documentary on the Shackleton Antartic expedition. A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in and the crew of his vessel 'The Endurance', which was trapped in the ice floes and frigid open ocean of the Antarctic in 1914. Shackleton decided, with many of his crew injured and weak from exposure and starvation, to take a team of his fittest men and attempt to find help. Setting out in appalling conditions with hopelessly inadequate equipment, they endured all weather and terrain and finally reached safety. Persuading a local team of his confidence that the abandoned team would still be alive, he set out again to find them. After almost 2 years trapped on the ice, all members of the crew were finally rescued.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Endurance?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Apollo 13: Survival
Documentary · 2024
Using original footage and interviews, this documentary tells the nail-biting story of Apollo 13 and the struggle to bring its astronauts safely home.
IMAX Hubble
Documentary · 2010
An IMAX 3D camera chronicles the effort of 7 astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
180° South
Documentary · 2010
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
Documentary · 2021
In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights in any pursuit. The film follows his team as they seek to defy naysayers and push the limits of human endurance.
Ghosts of the Abyss
Documentary · 2003
With a team of the world's foremost historic and marine experts as well as friend Bill Paxton, James Cameron embarks on an unscripted adventure back to the wreck of the Titanic where nearly 1,500 souls lost their lives almost a century ago.
Encounters at the End of the World
Documentary · 2007
Acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog travels to Antarctica, where he finds a desolate, beautiful landscape, largely untouched by human hands, and a group of truly unique people who risk their lives to study it. Centered at McMurdo Station, the United States' largest Antarctic research center, Herzog explores the minds of the scientists willing to abandon civilization and endure volatile conditions to learn more about the continent's wildlife and awe-inspiring natural wonders.
Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea
Documentary · 2026
Never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts trace the 2012 shipwreck of a luxury cruise and the disaster that ensued, in this immersive documentary.
An Inconvenient Truth
Documentary · 2006
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Last Breath
Documentary · 2019
A commercial diver is stranded on the seabed with only five minutes of oxygen supply, but with no chance of rescue for more than 30 minutes. With access to amazing archival footage, this is the true story of one man’s impossible fight for survival.
The Deepest Breath
Documentary · 2023
Bonded by their love of freediving, a record-setting champion and a heroic safety diver try to make history with a remarkable feat, ready to risk it all.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
George Butler
Liam Neeson
Narrator (voice)
David Cale
Hubert Hudson (voice)
Brian d'Arcy James
Frank Wild (voice)
J
Julian Ayer
Himself (Grandson of expedition member)
Court is in session
Put The Endurance on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.