At the Edge of the World

A save-the-whales doc, At the Edge of the World offers a mediocre chronicle of the amateur activist crew of the Robert Hunter (named after the Grateful Dead lyricist), who play a dangerous game in the iceberg-filled waters of Antarctica. The 46 activists have given up their day jobs and home lives to spend their days harassing Japanese whaling ships whose crew members harpoon whales while operating under the guise of marine “research” vessels. Of course, neither the eco-pirates on the Robert Hunter nor the Japanese whalers have the right to engage in their respective activities. Unfortunately, the conservationists just don't seem to be very good at what they do. Minus a badly needed voiceover narrator, Dan Stone's film is a scattershot visual record of the Hunter crew's ineffective, juvenile attempts at thwarting the Japanese: they either throw chemical stink bombs on the decks or dispatch a rubber boat full of barely seaworthy folks who try to cast a net that will hinder the Japanese craft's propellers. At the Edge of the World ultimately fails to put a heroic face on what is essentially reckless incompetence and largely wasted effort on the part of the smug Robert Hunter crew. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)