Erebus: Into the Unknown *** (2014) – Movie Review

Director Charlotte Purdy’s powerful and compelling documentary tells the true story of the New Zealand cops who tackled the aftermath of one of the world’s worst ever aviation disasters.

On 28 November 28 1979, a jet with 257 passengers went missing during a sightseeing tour over Antarctica. Within hours, 11 ordinary policemen flew in to face the formidable Mount Erebus and recover the bodies.

As the untrained police struggle against the odds and the frozen, alien environment to recover the victims, an investigation team back home try to uncover the mystery of how a jet could fly into a mountain in broad daylight. The police suspect the airline have a secret it is trying to bury.

It’s taken 35 years for this fascinating, if sombre, grisly and depressing story to be told, but the cops concerned talk in vivid detail about their experience and the trauma it caused, bringing them some final needed and deserved closure. There’s reconstruction of the crash scene with actors, too, to bring the story back to life.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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