180° South

Chris Malloy's documentary paean to outdoor adventure (delivered with an ecological message) follows amateur explorer Jeff Johnson as he sails thousands of miles from North America to Patagonia to re-create Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins' historic 1968 quest to climb Chile's menacingly beautiful Cerro del Corcovado. Johnson winds up with more than he bargained for when his boat's 70-foot mast breaks off, forcing a detour to Easter Island for repairs, where a cautionary story of resource depletion on the island takes center stage in the first of several segments devoted to serious conservationist warnings. When Johnson's crew later meets up with Chouinard and Tompkins in Patagonia, the drama of climbing the forbidding peak is intercut with familiar talking-head carping about the evils of cities (Santiago, Chile, in this case) and the ruthless deflowering of virginal Mother Nature. The real strength of 180° South lies in its visual aspects, offering sweeping aerial views of mountain ranges and other natural phenomena that are nothing short of spectacular, while Chouinard's aphoristic wit adds some welcome comic relief. “It's not an adventure until something goes wrong,” the climber says at one point—an apt description for Johnson's journey. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (24 min.), a behind-the-scenes featurette (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are “The Music” soundtrack featurette (38 min.), deleted scenes (18 min.), and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a solid documentary.] (M. Sandlin)