| Photos (see all 10 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 10) |
| David Ainley | ... | Marine Ecologist | |
| Samuel S. Bowser | ... | Cell Biologist | |
| Regina Eisert | ... | Physiologist | |
| Kevin Emery | ... | McMurdo Station Survival School Instructor | |
| Ryan Andrew Evans | ... | McMurdo Station Cook | |
| Ashrita Furman | ... | Multiple World Record Holder | |
| Peter Gorham | ... | Physicist - University of Hawaii | |
| Werner Herzog | ... | Narrator | |
| William Jirsa | ... | McMurdo Station Linguist - Computer Expert | |
| Karen Joyce | ... | Computer Expert | |
| Doug MacAyeal | ... | McMurdo Station Glaciologist (as Douglas MacAyeal) | |
| William McIntosh | ... | Volcanologist - Geochronologist | |
| Olav T. Oftedal | ... | Nutritional Ecologist | |
| Clive Oppenheimer | ... | Volcanologist | |
| David R. Pacheco Jr. | ... | McMurdo Journeyman Plumber | |
| Stefan Pashov | ... | McMurdo Station Forklift Driver | |
| Jan Pawlowski | ... | Zoologist | |
| Scott Rowland | ... | McMurdo Station Transportation Dept | |
| Libor Zicha | ... | McMurdo Station Utility Mechanic |
Directed by | |||
| Werner Herzog | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Werner Herzog | written by | |
Produced by | |||
| Phil Fairclough | .... | executive producer | |
| Dave Harding | .... | executive producer (as David S. Harding) | |
| Julian Hobbs | .... | executive producer | |
| Henry Kaiser | .... | producer | |
| Andrea Meditch | .... | executive producer | |
| Erik Nelson | .... | executive producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Henry Kaiser | |||
| David Lindley | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Peter Zeitlinger | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Joe Bini | |||
Production Management | |||
| Jessica DeJong | .... | production manager | |
Sound Department | |||
| Werner Herzog | .... | sound | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Christopher Dusendschon | .... | digital imaging supervisor: iO FILM | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Danica Barnes | .... | on-line editor | |
| Bartholomew Burcham | .... | assistant editor | |
| Herrianne Cayabyab | .... | assistant on-line editor | |
| Ryan Delk | .... | first assistant editor | |
| Brian Hutchings | .... | colorist: Alpha Dogs, Inc. | |
Music Department | |||
| Stephen Hart | .... | score mixer | |
| Stephen Hart | .... | score recording engineer | |
Other crew | |||
| Ryan Andrew Evans | .... | production assistant | |
Thanks | |||
| Lloyd Austin | .... | thanks | |
| Samuel S. Bowser | .... | thanks (as Samuel Bowser) | |
| Steve Clabuesch | .... | thanks | |
| Art Devries | .... | thanks | |
| Roger Ebert | .... | dedicatee | |
| Guy Guthridge | .... | thanks | |
| Elaine Hood | .... | thanks | |
| Philip Kyle | .... | thanks | |
| Rob Robbins | .... | thanks | |
| Kim Stanley Robinson | .... | thanks | |
| Kim Silverman | .... | thanks | |
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| An Inconvenient Truth | King of the Rocket Men | Little Miss Sunshine | Jesus Camp | Happy Feet |
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| News articles | IMDb Documentary section | IMDb USA section |
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Encounters is an almost straight forward account of Werner Herzog going to Antarctica.Invited to go by one of the scientific organizations he agreed to go because he was fascinated by life under the sea ice (see his Wild Blue Yonder which used footage from under the ice to represent an alien world) and wanted to have a chance to film life there. He also warned them it would not result in film about fluffy penguins.
This is not Shackleton's Antarctica. The main US base is more like a mining colony anywhere on the fringes of civilization then what you think of when you think Antarctica. Its strangely modern and looks to be almost anywhere people mine. Indeed there is an odd shot of the modern camp with Scott's hut in the distance that signals how times have changed.
Herzog's film is really about some of the wayward travelers who have reached the frontier. Herzog is curious what sort of people they are and finds them to be a rather philosophical lot. They are what you would consider explorers of the 18th or 19th century looking for something greater then themselves. As one guy says "Where else do you find guys with Phds doing the dishes, or linguists on the one place on earth where there is no native language." Its an amusing portrait of people I think many of us would like to be.
We also get a portrait of what life is like there. Of the eternal sun (which annoys Herzog)Of the drabness of the living quarters (motel like)mixed with individual expression. We see the survival training, the various scientific studies going on (including one about penguins which cause Herzog to ponder if they go mad). and we see the landscape both above and below the ice on land and in the sea. These portraits of the land and seascapes are stunning. Herzog's ability to mix music and image creates some hypnotic passages that in part reminded me Koyaanisqatsi or Luc Besson's Atlantis. Its magical and creates sequences that you hate to see end.
If there is any flaw is that the film kind of just ends. There is a wonderful final quote by Alan Watts, but the film ultimately feels like a philosophical travelogue about a summer vacation instead of something grander then what I saw on my vacation. I'm sure had it not been Werner Herzog behind the camera I would not have been disappointed.
Still you must see the film on a big screen if you can. Its really beautiful at times. It will enlighten and inspire you- much more than this review will. And even though this is a Discovery Channel film, I'm glad I saw it where I did because there is something about the end credits with the seal songs echoing all thorough the theater from front to back that you can't get at home. The long confines of the Film Forum in New York really allows for the magic of a sound scape.
7.5 out of 10