The harrowing journey to Elephant Island by Ernest Shackleton and Endurance crew

Shackleton died some 7 years later in a subsequent expedition.

And no, he didn’t take time to recover from the journey to South Georgia before doing that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Exped...: “He first left South Georgia a mere three days after he had arrived in Stromness”

3 days to organize a ship, a crew and supplies.

And of course, once back in England, he and most of his crew volunteered to serve in World War One. He was denied that, but several of his crew died in that war. They already had offered to do that when, IIRC in Buenos Aires they heard war had broken out, but had been told by the king to continue the expedition.

That was many moons ago.

And loads of luck. There were so many occasions where if something had gone only slightly wrong they would all have died. But you have to admire their persistence to never give up. Not giving up is all you can do.

Beastie boys up to and including Ill Communication were one of the best bands of the modern era, both in terms of having good music and in defining new genres of music. Paul's Boutique is one of the top 5 albums of the 20th century I'd argue.

And then they really became boring. Everything was just a lame copy of some previous success. Intergalactic, etc, just completely uninteresting.

Maybe that happens to all bands.

A memorable element was the mens’ reaction to WW1. Them asking “who won?” felt awfully like one would ask about a football game.

But I found Ernest endlessly describing every depth measurement and the stomach contents of every penguin they killed hard to get through.

The Antarctic could perfectly well have killed Amundsen, too, just like it killed Scott. It's true his journey was better planned and prepared, but that didn't mean his success -- or indeed survival -- was guaranteed.

What I like most about the film is how great the French commander also is. He's absolutely no push over and as devious and clever as Jack Aubrey.

I notice the same thing in great sporting events. A push over is fun but the best games, matches and races for me are where the opponents are evenly matched and really have to battle it out.