By Renee’ Collins
Rating: 4 (Out of 5 Reels)
Legendary explorer Thor Heyerdal (Pal) convinces five Norwegian colleagues to help prove his theory that South Americans settled in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. Heyerdal comes to this conclusion by years of fieldwork and study in native areas.
The film does take a while to set the voyage into motion because Heyerdal initially has trouble obtaining funding for the expedition. Plus, many, including his family, have serious concerns the voyage is too ambitious and dangerous; concerns that are valid because in 1947 global positioning systems did not exist which would make rescue difficult if not impossible. Despite those and other concerns the team set sail for Polynesia.
This film is well made and acted but I found it to be a bit long especially after they set sail. Don’t get me wrong there are some spectacular scenes with a whale and some sharks but this film is first and foremost a drama with a little action along the way. The acting is adequate but nothing noteworthy to mention. Also, I don’t believe their marketing budget was very large because I saw the film two weeks ago and have not seen any trailers on television since then. This films story is definitely unique and worth a look. I had never heard if it before and was surprised to learn that Heyerdal became a world renown scientist, wrote a book about the journey which has sold millions of copies which has been translated into twenty-two languages. This film was actually made in Norwegian and English. Luckily, all the actors in the films spoke both Norwegian and English, what a time and money saver! I do recommend seeing this film but would definitely hit a matinee.