Encounters at the End of the World

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars (probably against my better judgement)
I saw this movie on August 12th at Coolidge Corner

This was a Werner Herzog documentary (same guy who made/narrated "Grizzly Man") about the people and work being done at the South Pole. The music was really great and stoic and almost made the movie feel like a religious experience. The visuals were also breathtaking in their magnanimity. These were the major selling points of the movie.

I didn't like that Herzog tried to do too much and tell too many stories with very little unifying theme or thread. It seemed very scattered and aimless at times.

I also am still not a fan of scientific (or historical for that matter) documentaries without an argument. I don't find them well suited to big screen documentaries. This is probably a personal bias but I felt like this would have been better served if it were drawn out as a multi part piece on Antarctica for the Discovery channel. It's definitely episodic in nature and I just think movies like this (and "March of the Penguins") belong on the Discovery Channel and not the big screen.

I probably should give this a lower score but I'm in a good mood today. It was good for what it is, I just don't particularly like what it is.

If you know what you're getting into and the archaelogical and especially scientific aspects of Antarctica interest you then this is definitely worth a view. Otherwise it is not a travesty to miss.