Great Arctic Seal Hunt (1928)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Highly entertaining documentary has filmmaker Varick Frissell taking his cameras to Newfoundland where he goes on a seven-week voyage with "sealers" as they face the deadly ice and try to locate seals to bring back for good money. A lot of what we're shown here would eventually be put into Frissell's 1931 film THE VIKING and considering the tragedy that would happen during the making of that film, it's somewhat eerie at the start of this film to see various "warnings" that would eventually happen just a few years from the time this happened. The movie is a real marvel if you like adventure films and there's no doubt as to why this film was a big hit when originally released. The entire journey of these men is a very dangerous one and Frissell gets us as close to the action as he possibly could. We get to see the various problems with the ice and how the men might chop their way through it and at times pull the ship through it. We also get to see the way these men would eventually jump down on the ice to go after the seals on their hunt. Needless to say, nothing is left to the imagination so viewers should expect some scenes of violence and blood. Fans of the recent TV show "Deadliest Catch" would probably really eat this film up as it contains the same type of adventure and adrenaline rush. The film runs just under 40-minutes and is highly recommended to documentary or hunting fans.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Highly entertaining documentary has filmmaker Varick Frissell taking his cameras to Newfoundland where he goes on a seven-week voyage with "sealers" as they face the deadly ice and try to locate seals to bring back for good money. A lot of what we're shown here would eventually be put into Frissell's 1931 film THE VIKING and considering the tragedy that would happen during the making of that film, it's somewhat eerie at the start of this film to see various "warnings" that would eventually happen just a few years from the time this happened. The movie is a real marvel if you like adventure films and there's no doubt as to why this film was a big hit when originally released. The entire journey of these men is a very dangerous one and Frissell gets us as close to the action as he possibly could. We get to see the various problems with the ice and how the men might chop their way through it and at times pull the ship through it. We also get to see the way these men would eventually jump down on the ice to go after the seals on their hunt. Needless to say, nothing is left to the imagination so viewers should expect some scenes of violence and blood. Fans of the recent TV show "Deadliest Catch" would probably really eat this film up as it contains the same type of adventure and adrenaline rush. The film runs just under 40-minutes and is highly recommended to documentary or hunting fans.
