Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "S.O.S. Eisberg" is a German black-and-white film from 1933, so this one is already almost 85 years old. It runs for roughly 1.5 hours and was written and directed by Arnold Fanck, a German filmmaker, who was pretty famous back then and is still known today for his dramatic nature films with focus on ice and mountains. He worked with Luis Trenker for example too. Or with Leni Riefenstahl like in this movie here. It is one of her last performances in front of the camera as Riefenstahl focused more on making films when the Nazis came into power which was at pretty much the same time when this film came out. There also is an English-language version of this movie that came out the same time, but stars American actors like Rod La Rocque playing Lorenz' part and the director is also not Fanck in that version. But Riefenstahl plays in both and so do other actors. But back to this one here. it is a film from the very early days of sound film. Pay attention to how there really isn't a whole lot of dialogue in here. The premise isn't bad. A polar expedition goes on a voyage looking for the members of another polar expedition that they lost contact to. Sadly, what they made of it in detail is not really convincing at all. I almost never felt well-entertained watching this one. If there is one main problem, you can probably say it is the script in general. The random nature recordings aren't even bad here I think, but the characters and story around them never feels really interesting unfortunately. I would not even blame the actors, they tried their best, even if I am not really sold like everybody else when it comes to Riefenstahl's alleged charisma and range. Oh yeah, legendary German pilot Ernst Udet plays himself in here too, which is pretty interesting. But still the bad outweighs the good and I give this film a thumbs-down ultimately. Not recommended.

drystyx Much about this Arctic adventure film looks to be inspiration for JURASSIC PARK.Although there are no prehistoric beasts, there are beasts. It is the characters and the nature of the experience which reminds a viewer of Jurassic Park.The characters are all quite believable, making for what typically makes the best story line, credible characters in incredible situations.However, this situation is not as incredible as Jurassic Park.Still, the characters remind us of it. We have "good" guys for the most part, and the "bad" guys are not really "bad" so much as victims of circumstance of their personalities.Jurassic had three bad guys, and didn't contrive too much in their fates, as two bad guys perish along with at least two heroic types, leaving the most insane and irresponsible of the evil men alive and smelling pretty and still rich.Here, there is a similar character, a maniac who risks the lives of his group in folly, not waiting for the time to tell him when to explore, but deciding he is a god who tells time when he can explore.In real life, such a maniac would perish, and the other unstable character can actually be excused his madness, for he does so out of a hunger we probably can't imagine.And like Jurassic, there is no contrivance to save heroes, bad guys, the brave, or anyone. The chips fall where the chips fall, with just enough miraculous survival to be credible.The experience is harrowing, and full of adventure. It is a bit chaotic, as we aren't sure who these people are for a long time, but we gradually learn to care about them.This is an exciting film, and has all the credentials of a good film. Thumbs up.

Vortrek The story involves an expedition of four men who set off to Greenland to rescue an explorer previously presumed dead, but whose survival is attested to by a note written on a piece of jetsam. The expedition itself gets into fatal trouble when, trying to cross a half-frozen fjord, it is swept out to sea. This will be no leisurely drift into the ocean; they constantly see similar icebergs rolling over due to uneven melting. A similar roll would surely be their sudden end.Even though all action in this movie takes place within a few hundred feet of sea level, this is definitely a mountain movie or Bergfilm (German). Bergfilms are all about individuals at the utmost edge of human existence, pitted against a relentless lethal Nature in a struggle which Nature wins as often as not. Bergfilms are not about wonderful dialogs or intricate plots, they're about iconic heroes sternly staring into the face of an implacable oncoming storm.The film is directed by Arnold Fanck, the dean of Bergfilms. Leni Riefenstahl, a veteran lead in many great Bergfilms, and later to become a very controversial director in her own right, plays an aviatrix in search of her husband.The cinematography of the icebergs-- calving, drifting as stupendous sculptures, or rolling over like massive whales breaching-- is absolutely spectacular. You will not be able to detect the shifts between shots made on the outdoor sets and those actually filmed in Greenland.The film offers some unexpected bonuses-- 30's airplanes puttering among the icebergs, and scenes of real Eskimos (Inuits) in their village and on the water, their lives not yet transformed by Western goods.If you accept the film for what it is, a symphony of ice and water in dark conflict with the human will to survive, you will not be disappointed.

Mozjoukine After the international success of WHITE HELL OF PIZ PALU and the arrival of sound, Universal decided to get itself involved in this two version effort from Fank's team.The German copy is incoherent with our hero stumbling round on the ice flows for what appears to be weeks, getting help, but there are some quite amazing passages - harpooning the real polar bear who (understandably) takes a dim view of that or the actors swimming in with the genuine ice flows, an ice berg turning over, Ernst Udet's flying footage and rescue by kayak.Dramatically things get by. Having Gibson Gowland from GREED in the US version in which a glamorous Leni Riefenstahl speaks English adds curiosity value.These frozen waste dramas are a cycle which remains fascinating and it's a pity we don't have more access to them