Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Kon-Tiki

Play trailer Poster for Kon-Tiki 1951 1h 13m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 4 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
This Academy Award-winning documentary follows Norwegian explorer, filmmaker and writer Thor Heyerdahl on his highly publicized 1947 sea expedition. Heyerdahl, along with five other crewmen, set sail in a wooden raft designed to duplicate what the ancient Incas might have used to sail from Peru to Polynesia. The goal of Heyerdahl's bold journey is to validate his own disputed theory -- that South American natives could have settled Polynesia's many islands.

Where to Watch

Kon-Tiki

Critics Reviews

View More
Chuck Bowen Slant Magazine 04/21/2013
2/4
It lacks the fire and eccentricity that we want from our stories of adventurers driven by obsessions that could be seen as egotistical or just plain bonkers. Go to Full Review Frank Swietek One Guy's Opinion 05/02/2013
C
A sort of grown-up version of a boys' adventure tale...most travelers will be happy to disembark when the credits roll. Go to Full Review Andrew L. Urban Urban Cinefile 04/06/2013
Technically superb and made chronologically to capture the verity of men growing beards and scars and deep tans when spending over 100 days at sea Go to Full Review Louise Keller Urban Cinefile 04/06/2013
Much of the exposition is fascinating, although the execution is surprisingly rigid with the plot's natural crescendos failing to peak and our emotions never stretched Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Leaburn O Mar 25 Putting Bear Grylls to shame with their manly survival skills, these Norwegians achieved a remarkable feat but their documentary proved pretty average. Highlights were the interactions with sharks during the journey across the ocean. Winner of best documentary at the Oscars in 1950. Watched on YouTube. See more Spencer P @s_plewe 09/18/2018 For its length, this voyage doc is informative, fascinating, slyly humorous, and an early example of actions taken against scientific reason, all in the same film. See more 11/02/2017 Thor Heyerdahl deve ter sido um sujeito extraordinário. Que aventura absurda. See more D. P 10/30/2016 I saw it in class, on a movie projector, in elementary school in the sixties. The subject was fascinating. We took it to be a documentary. Not, as some of these reviewers below seem to have mistaken it, as an adventure tale, lacking 'drama', a 'plot', 'lacking fire we want from stories'. Absurd. See more 07/11/2016 Great to see the real footage from their journey. See more 08/21/2015 Oscar's BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE nominee of 2012 from Norway, KON-TIKI is an ambitious endeavour from directors-duo Rønning and Sandberg (currently are recruited by Hollywood to shoot the fifth instalment of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise), to recount the story of Norwegian national legend Thor Heyerdal's monumental near 5,000-mile expedition on a balsawood raft (named Kon-Tiki) sailing from Peru to Polynesia in 1947, to simply prove that it is possible for South Americans to migrate in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. keep reading my review on my blog: http://wp.me/p1eXom-1ZO See more Read all reviews
Kon-Tiki

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Thor Heyerdahl

Director

Thor Heyerdahl

Narrator

Thor Heyerdahl

Writer

Thor Heyerdahl

Producer

Olle Nordemar

Producer

Knut Haugland

Cinematographer
View All

Kon-Tiki

Kon-Tiki (1951) Kon-Tiki (1951) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis This Academy Award-winning documentary follows Norwegian explorer, filmmaker and writer Thor Heyerdahl on his highly publicized 1947 sea expedition. Heyerdahl, along with five other crewmen, set sail in a wooden raft designed to duplicate what the ancient Incas might have used to sail from Peru to Polynesia. The goal of Heyerdahl's bold journey is to validate his own disputed theory -- that South American natives could have settled Polynesia's many islands.
Director
Thor Heyerdahl
Producer
Thor Heyerdahl, Olle Nordemar
Screenwriter
Thor Heyerdahl
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co
Syncronfilm, Janson Media, Artfilm, Sol Lesser Productions
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Norwegian
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 3, 1951, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 9, 2017
Runtime
1h 13m
Most Popular at Home Now