AllMovie

Made as the small-screen half of a two-part WGBH series on the adventures and travails of the groundbreaking Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (alongside the 2001 IMAX film Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure), NOVA: Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance concerns Shackleton's ill-fated 1914-1916 expedition on his ship, The Endurance, which became one of the most fantastic -- and near-tragic -- survival tales in modern history. The film begins in October and November 1999, when several members of the NOVA team follow Shackleton's lead by piling into boats and sailing forth into the churning, sub-thermal, ice-ridden Antarctic oceans. Cameras aboard, the crew films their forays across Arctic waters and onto the rugged outer banks of the Elephant and South Georgia Islands. For the second half of the film, the same team accompanies seasoned mountaineers Reinhold Messner, Conrad Anker, and Stephen Venables as they emulate Shackleton's final quest: traversing South Georgia Island -- a daunting, life-threatening task. NOVA: Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance debuted on American public television on March 26, 2002.