Kon Tiki (2013)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 55
Fresh: 46 | Rotten: 9
A well-crafted retelling of an epic true story, Kon Tiki is a throwback to old-school adventure filmmaking that's exciting and entertaining in spite of its by-the-book plotting.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 4
A well-crafted retelling of an epic true story, Kon Tiki is a throwback to old-school adventure filmmaking that's exciting and entertaining in spite of its by-the-book plotting.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 9,148
Movie Info
Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947, together with five men, to prove that South Americans already back in pre-Columbian times could have crossed the sea and settle on Polynesian islands. After gathering financing for the trip with loans and donations, they set off on an epic 101 day-long journey across 8,000 kilometers, all while the world was watching. KON-TIKI tells about the origin of Heyerdahl's idea and the events surrounding the group's
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Cast
-
Pål Sverre Hagen
Heyerdahl, Thor Heye... -
Anders Baasmo Christ...
Herman Watzinger -
Jakob Oftebro
Torstein Raaby -
Tobias Santelmann
Knut Haugland -
Odd Magnus Williamso...
Erik Hesselberg -
Gustaf Skarsgård
Bengt Danielsson -
Agnes Kittelsen
Liv Heyerdahl
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All Critics (55) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (9)
Kon-Tiki is a widescreen man-against-nature epic, beautifully shot and boasting seamless, stunning visual effects.
Top Critic"Kon-Tiki" is awesome in the true sense of the word: You sit in awe of the bravery, audacity, stupidity and natural power on display. Ah, to imagine and dream. And to go forth.
How much is fiction and how much is deliberate confusion?
Upbeat and less exciting than you might wish, though it could be a good adventure film for older kids.
A thrilling introduction to one of the more remarkable adventures of the post-World War II world.
The characters don't register as much more than genre archetypes, but that doesn't spoil the fun, since the filmmakers re-create the journey in such vivid detail.
With a man-against-the-elements adventure like this one, the emphasis is, and should be, largely on spectacular depiction of the environment, and [the] directors...make use of the biggest budget yet afforded to a Norwegian film... [Blu-ray]
Not only is it nicely paced, but it features gripping moments of intensity, as well as some impressive visual effects.
This unconventionally thrilling adaptation of the memoir by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl compensates with visual flair what it lacks in intimate details.
It's an absorbing and often lyrical piece of storytelling that doesn't overembellish the facts or rely on a pumped-up score or whiplash editing to heighten the dramatic action.
"Kon-Tiki" has a grand, old-fashioned feel - a man-against-nature adventure that feels like it was made in - not just set in - the optimistic post-World War II era.
An adventure film driven by curiosity
a credible account
Astonishing adventure - filmed simultaneously in Norwegian and in English.
This is not simply a faithful recreation or hagiographic biopic, but rather widens the focus to include the toll Heyerdahl's obsession.
The film unfolds with earnest majesty, characterized by sweeping camera moves (shot by Geir Hartly Andreassen) and orchestra swells. But the sheer beauty also creates distance.
Has similar sea-going survival thrills as Life of Pi, but somehow means more.
It all combines to create a great true-life adventure of a type no longer seen in the world.
Go on this journey.
Audience Reviews for Kon Tiki
I really wanted to enjoy this film more than I actually ended up doing. Being one of the nominees for Best Foreign Film at the 85th Academy Awards and producing a fairly compelling trailer that really had me excited for the movie, I can chalk it up to expectations not quite being met, but at the same time, I believe Kon-Tiki has some obvious issues. It mainly comes down to the characters. Once we get to sea, they are almost all fairly bland individuals. There is maybe a trait or two to separate a couple of them, but for the most part, I didn't really engage with these people that are a part of a harrowing journey. This especially goes for the lead character, Thor, who ends up coming off as quite bland overall.
To its credit, Kon-Tiki is a gorgeous film, thanks to both its strong cinematography and visual effects by the company Rhythm & Hues, the team also responsible for Life of Pi (who nabbed an Academy Award for their effects work on that film, which also relied heavily on a great and beautiful depiction of life at sea). Kon-Tiki is happy to show off the boat, the seas, and the various creatures and obstacles the crew comes into contact with and those moments tend to be quite thrilling in the kind of way that has you gripped into the moment, regardless of what actually happened and what is being dramatized. That is the aspect that makes this film worth a viewing overall, even if I am more curious as to what the 1950 documentary is like, given that it was actually shot by the crew, in the moment.
I wanted to enjoy Kon-Tiki more, but the film felt like a merely average representation of an interesting story. The characters are too thin to make it more of an engaging feature and the fact that not enough really happened on this journey to make more of a big deal out of this feature ends up detracting from the film. It is no one's fault that adding a shark attack every so often to keep one engaged was necessary, but there just was not a whole lot more for me to sink my teeth into. It is certainly a gorgeous film, with enough moments to make it worth a look, just not any better.
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Foreign Titles
- Kon-Tiki (DE)
- Kon-Tiki (UK)
