This is an old-fashioned and very satisfying seafaring adventure film. It is based on the true story of Norwegian anthropologist and explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his 5,000 mile journey, along with five other men, by raft from South America to Polynesia in the late 1940s, aiming to prove his theory South Americans populated the islands in the eastern part of Oceania instead of Asians. The film has a conventional and engaging design: we pursue Thor as his theories are derided by the mainstream scientific community, then as he plots his arduous journey, assembles his crew, builds a raft the way early South Americans may have (such as using rope instead of stronger wire), and begins to drift toward the sunset, facing any number of physical challenges and underwater threats as he goes. Pal Sverre Hagen is a charming, dashing lead with an engaging hint of the madly driven in his eyes, and there is an enormous built-in fascination considering the amazing nature of Thor Heyerdahl and his team's achievement. It is not the most insightful and provocative film of adventure and survival ever, but it never fails to grip, and it has the creative courage to end on a melancholy note which weighs Thor's scientific ambition and legendary thirst for adventure against the failures and sacrifices of his personal life.

A-

NOTE: I watched the Norwegian-language version. There is also one performed in English on the home-video release, which is I believe is the version exhibited in most American theatres, but not the one considered and honored by the Academy when they nominated the film for their foreign-language prize. I suspect hearing the dialogue in strongly accented English instead of authentic Norwegian is simply a distraction, a barrier.

David, I have seen the Engish-language version at my press screening and the English was VERY good. Scandinavians are just good at English. It doesn't hurt the verison at all (except that you might find yourself wondering, WHY they speak English).After the screening most critics have been wondering how the hell this could have been nominated for Best Foreign Language (then we found out about two versions). So, no, it didn't hurt at all.

And this is a great film. Its directors are the only reason why I am actually interested in Pirates of the Caribbean 5.

Good to know, though I still do not regret opting for the Norwegian-language version.