Werner Herzog takes his camera to Antarctica where we meet the odd men and women who have dedicated their lives to furthering the cause of science in treacherous conditions. A scientist studies neutrinos, which are everywhere, yet elusive; he likens them to spirits. A researcher’s nighttime performance art includes contorting her body into a luggage bag. A survival guide teaches his students to survive white-out conditions by wearing cartoon-face buckets over their heads. Animal researchers milk mother seals as part of their study. Volcanologists offer advice on what to do when a volcano erupts. A pipefitter shows us the anomaly in his hands that he says are a sign he descended from Atzec royalty. A former Colorado banker drives what he has christened Ivan the Terra Bus. An underwater diver shows his colleagues DVDs of apocalyptic sci-fi films like Them! (1954). And — though Herzog declares he’s not “making another film about penguins” — we meet a penguin researcher who answers the filmmaker’s questions about homosexuality and insanity in his subjects. We also meet an individualist penguin, who breaks away from the other birds to run toward the mountains, facing certain death.

Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
  • Rating: (6,642 votes)
  • Runtime:99 minutes
  • Director: Werner Herzog
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Marine Ecologist
    David Ainley
    Cell Biologist
    Samuel S. Bowser
    Physiologist
    Regina Eisert
    McMurdo Station Survival School Instructor
    Kevin Emery
    McMurdo Station Cook
    Ryan Andrew Evans
    Multiple World Record Holder
    Ashrita Furman
    Physicist - University of Hawaii
    Peter Gorham
    Narrator
    Werner Herzog
    McMurdo Station Linguist - Computer Expert
    William Jirsa
    Computer Expert
    Karen Joyce
  • Genre:Documentary
  • Producers:
    Randall M. Boyd
    supervising producer  
    Phil Fairclough
    executive producer  
    Dave Harding
    executive producer (as David S. Harding) 
    Julian Hobbs
    executive producer  
    Henry Kaiser
    producer  
    Tree Leyburn
    associate producer  
    Andrea Meditch
    executive producer  
    Erik Nelson
    executive producer  
  • Plot: Werner Herzog takes his camera to Antarctica where we meet the odd men and women who have dedicated their lives to furthering the cause of science in treacherous conditions. A scientist studies neutrinos, which are everywhere, yet elusive; he likens them to spirits. A researcher's nighttime performance art includes contorting her body into a luggage bag. A survival guide teaches his students to survive white-out conditions by wearing cartoon-face buckets over their heads. Animal researchers milk mother seals as part of their study. Volcanologists offer advice on what to do when a volcano erupts. A pipefitter shows us the anomaly in his hands that he says are a sign he descended from Atzec royalty. A former Colorado banker drives what he has christened Ivan the Terra Bus. An underwater diver shows his colleagues DVDs of apocalyptic sci-fi films like Them! (1954). And -- though Herzog declares he's not "making another film about penguins" -- we meet a penguin researcher who answers the filmmaker's questions about homosexuality and insanity in his subjects. We also meet an individualist penguin, who breaks away from the other birds to run toward the mountains, facing certain death. Written by J. Spurlin
Encounters at the End of the World
  • User's comment:Not another movie about penguins. by snafoolery

    My school recently sponsored a screening of this film with Werner Herzog himself in attendance. Herzog joked with the audience that part of his ambition to make this film was because he wanted to document the Antarctic without making "another movie about penguins." And although a portion of the movie DOES contain a segment about penguins, it plays a minor role in a film of many elements which compose a curious and beautiful documentary. It is a study of both Nature and Man: by turns breathtaking in its landscape (especially the underwater photography), at other times funny and serious, as Herzog interviews the motley crew of individuals who call Antarctica home for the greater part of the year. Herzog narrates the film with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, yet always maintains respect for the subjects he covers. While he quipped with us afterward that this is not your typical Discovery Channel fare, he said he hopes to broadcast this film sometime on Discovery early next year. If that is the case, it is not a documentary anyone should miss.


  • Quotes: Narrator: The National Science Foundation invited me even though I made it clear I would not be making another movie about penguins. McMurdo Station Forklift Driver: I've explored many different lands of the mind and many worlds of ideas and I started before I even knew how to read and write... so I started my journey in my fantasy before i even knew the means of accomplishing it, but my mind and my psyche was ready for it... I fell in love with the world. McMurdo Station Forklift Driver: And I think there's a fair amount of the population here who're full time travelers and part time workers. So, yes those are the professional dreamers, they dream all the time... I think that there're many different ways for the reality to bring itself forward, and dreaming is definitely one of those ways.
  • Also known as: Begegnungen am Ende der Welt (Germany - DVD title), Encuentros en el Fin del Mundo (Spain), Rencountres au bout du monde (Canada - DVD box title, French title), Spotkania na krancach swiata (Poland), Synantiseis sto telos tou kosmou (Greece - festival title),

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