Thursday, June 27, 2019

Eight Below 2006


   This film is surprisingly based on a true story of 1958.   Dr. Davis McClaren and sled dog trainer Jerry Shepherd are in the Antarctic on an expedition.  Jerry has to leave the polar base with his colleagues because they are in the proximity of a heavy snowstorm.  He ties his dogs up to be rescued but the mission is called off.  Amazingly, the dogs are left alone for six months while Jerry tries to find a sponsor for the rescue mission?
     The photography of the scenery is very beautiful.  You also get an idea of what its like to be in the Arctic.  Paul Walker certainly shows that he is an animal lover.  The real stars are the dogs and they steal all the scenes.  Some of their tricks were difficult, the dogs interact together with compassion.  I thought this film was interesting and good. 4* (I really liked this movie)  
  
120 min, directed by Frank Marshall with Paul Walker, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Wendy Crewson, Gerard Plunkett, August Schellenberg, (dogs) D.J., Timba, Koda, Jasmin, Apache, Buck, Noble, Troika.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3*, Common Sense Media age 8+ 3* out of 5* (3* positive) 3* role models, 3* violence & scariness, 3* language) Cynthia Fuchs, Metacritic 64 out of 100 with 31 critics 7.7 out of 10 user score (71 positive, 11 mixed, 9 negative), Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 940 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Svalbard, Norway; Greenland; Smithers, Stewart, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  This film is based on a Japanese expedition to the South Pole in 1958.  The expedition members were faced with extreme weather conditions like this mission.  Each dog had at least one stunt double.  In all, over 30 dogs were used in this film.  At least 5 of these dogs also appeared in the movie Snow Dogs 2002.  Dogs have been banned from Antarctica by a treaty since 1993.  There was evidence that diseases were spreading to seal wildlife.  This film is somewhat of a retelling of the film Antarctica 1983.  The American Humane Association monitored all the animal action.  No animals were harmed in the making of this film. 

No comments:

Post a Comment