paulclaassen
An instant favorite!! Incredible! Spectacular! Fascinating! Awesome! (there are a few more descriptive adjectives but lets stick to these). From the acting, to the visual effects, music and emotion, this was an incredible journey of pure delight. The excitement grips you from the beginning and never lets go. A satisfying adventure drama. Simply awesome!
krocheav
To anyone looking for a film that embodies all that resembles quality movie making - this might be as close as you could get. Superb images ~ superb sound ~ superb performances ~ superb music ~ superb script, direction and cinematography ~ it's all on show...the Norwegians can be applauded for this special achievement.Due to better than average, imaginative script writing, any age group can enjoy this journey. In the hands of lesser writers it could have been loaded up with unnecessary language and details - instead, it's been mostly kept lovingly on target (the involvement of original family members probably helped). If anything was perhaps not fully necessary it might have been the beefing-up of some menacing 'JAWS' type scenes, but this is in keeping with the expectations of modern audiences - those weaned on over-the-top action flicks and moronic computer games. The representation of crew member Herman Watzinger has also been re-engineered and includes situations added for 'entertainment' purposes. These modifications of course are a small price to pay for a totally rewarding, highly exiting movie experience - that perfectly captures the passion and commitment of Thor Heyerdahl and his diverse crew's determination to pursue his vision on both land and sea. Some have made comparisons to another superb movie, the magnificent "Life of Pi" but this probably has more to do with the look of the above-average CGI effects and the survival at sea themes - apart from these ingredients they are a totally different genre of storytelling. Don't miss this terrific film and if possible see it on the big CinemaScope screen - complete with big sound reproduction to get the most from the award wining sound track!ADDITIONAL NOTE: For those who have seen the interesting 1960 movie "As The Sea Rages" also known as "Raubfischer in Hellas" and based on the famous novel of the same name by Werner Helwig (see IMDb listing), the real life character that Clements the seaman (played by Cliff Robertson) is based on, was a crew member on other Thor Heyerdahl expeditions ~ these are also worth seeking out by interested movie historians. KenR
anml-1
Better to watch the true story made by the people who actually did the epic journey. The documentary about the Kon-Tiki expedition of the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, released in 1950. The true and accurate film made by the explorers themselves is much better. Too much irrelevant drama in this one. They even had to pinch footage from the original film to make this one watchable. Other films made by Thor Heyerdahl about his adventures are very good too. The Ra Expeditions, Aku- Aku, and Galapagos. The several books written by the real Kon-Tiki explorers are good reading as well. It is sad to see Hollywood style nonsense corrupting the story of what was a truly remarkable journey.
ma-cortes
Legendary explorer Thor Heyerdal's (Pal Hagen who gives a fabulous acting) epic 4,300-mile crossing of the Pacific on a Balsawood raft in 1947, in an effort prove that it was possible for South Americans to settle in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times . Heyerdal and his brave crew (Anders Baasmo Christiansen as Herman Watzinger , Tobias Santelmann as Knut Haugland , Odd Magnus Williamson as Erik Hesselberg , Jakob Oftebro as Torstein Raaby and Gustaf Skarsgård son of Stellan and brother of Alexander) carry out an incredible adventure en route Polynesia .Awesome retelling about the dangerous adventure starred by Thor and a valiant group of heroes . Big budget production with gorgeous scenarios , colorful images , thrills , emotion and sense of style . Large parts of the film were filmed in two versions at the same time, one in Norwegian, the other in English, in order to secure international funding. Including wide participation from several nations , as there take part Sweden, Bulgaria , Norway , Malta , Maldives crews . Glamorous and glimmer cinematography by Geir Hartly Andreassen . Special mention to sensitive as well as evocative original Music by Johan Söderqvist . Lavishly produced among several countries such as UK | Norway | Denmark | Germany | Sweden with important financing by great producer Jeremy Thomas . The film's producer, Jeremy Thomas, had wanted to make the film since 1996 and was granted the rights to the story by Thor Heyerdahl before the latter's death in 2002 . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Joachim Rønning (Bandidas , Max Manus) and Espen Sandberg and it was the official submission of Norway to the Best Foreign Language Film of the 85th Academy Awards 2013. The film was well based on real events , these are the followings : Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl's book; the Academy Award-winning documentary film chronicling his adventures; and the 2012 dramatised feature film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. Although most anthropologists as of 2010 had come to the conclusion they did not, in 2011, new genetic evidence was uncovered by Erik Thorsby that Easter Island inhabitants do have some South American DNA, lending credence to at least some of Heyerdahl's theses. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey.The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army. Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquerers. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely.Thor Heyerdahl's book about his experience became a bestseller. It was published in Norwegian in 1948 as The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas, later reprinted as Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft. It appeared with great success in English in 1950, also in many other languages. A documentary motion picture about the expedition, also called Kon-Tiki was produced from a write-up and expansion of the crew's filmstrip notes and won an Academy Award in 1951. It was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar. The voyage was also chronicled in the documentary TV-series The Kon-Tiki Man: The Life and Adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, directed by Bengt Jonson.The original Kon-Tiki raft is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo.
