"Kon-Tiki" - Review

“Kon Tiki” – Review

Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 embarks on an astonishing 100 day expedition - a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean on a raft made of only of rope, a cloth sail and balsa wood that he named the “Kon-Tiki”.

From his earlier days of living in the Marquesas with his wife Liv, Thor stumbles upon the controversial idea that the South Sea Islands, specifically including the Polynesia Islands had been in fact settled by ancient South Americans from Peru thousands of miles from the east and not the west as conventional theory had surmised.

With book publishing houses and naturalist organizations reluctant to print and support his theory and despite his inability to swim and fear of water from a child hood event, Thor decides to prove his theory by sailing the risky legendary voyage himself. So, after replicating what he thought the ancient raft design would have looked like, with only a radio and no modern tools or equipment for on board repairs Thor and his fellow five adventurers set sail from Peru without any means of rescue for what ultimately was the story of their lives. 

“Kon Tiki” is one of those life reaffirming tales we have seen many times where brave men and women take risk; surviving only by relying on nothing more than intellect, faith of their beliefs and that unexplainable indomitable human spirit to prevail against all odds (i.e. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton Antarctic Expedition).

With a cinematic backdrop of the South Pacific, “Kon –Tiki’ is simply beautiful to look at as it incases Thor and his crew with its vast sense of rich pristine blue isolation, all the while equally interesting for the viewing audience to watch as we self contemplate their sense of wonderment, their sense of adventure, their sense of thrills, their sense of fear and ultimately their sense of joy and triumph.

I liked “Kon –Tiki” very much, mostly as a reminder that the biggest adventure anyone can ever take in their lives is to live the life of their dreams and if you don't take any risks to achieving those dreams then you'll have wasted your soul.

3 -1/4 Stars