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Actors: Paul Walker, Jason Biggs
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Eight Below |
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Jerry Shepherd, a guide for a group of scientists based in the Antarctic, is forced to leave his sled dogs behind when winter arrives sooner than expected. Frostbitten and hospitalized, he is under the delusion that his ex-girlfriend and friend, Katie and Cooper, are going to fly back to get the dogs. As a terrible storm closes in on the base, the dogs get left behind with no one to save them, and Jerry ends up returning to Oregon, dogless. He spends the next several months trying to find a way to get back to the Antarctic, but with no help from anyone, it looks like that day will never come. Meanwhile, his cherished sled dogs have to learn to fend for themselves on the ice fields, hoping they can survive through the winter.
--Angie Wills, Resident Scholar
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As a tracker at a remote Antarctic research base, Gerry Shepard (Paul Walker) relies on the strength and instincts of his pack of eight sled dogs to help him do his job. On a mission to take a scientist (Bruce Greenwood) to a meteor site, an accident occurs, leaving the two men and the dogs stuck in a powerful winter storm. When they finally return to the base, everyone is ordered to evacuate, and Gerry is forced to leave behind his beloved dogs. Agonized with guilt, Gerry spends the next six months trying desperately to get back to Antarctica, while the dogs struggle to survive the frosty, hungry winter alone.
As much as Disney is going to try and sneak this film past audiences as a type of lighthearted "Snow Dogs" sequel in the marketing, "Eight Below" has more in common with the old "True Life Adventure" nature series Walt Disney himself loved to produce. A remake of a 1983 Japanese film entitled "Antarctica," "Below" is a sobering picture (sorry folks, no talking dogs here) about life and death, and to a lesser extent, about how much Paul Walker one person can stand.
Coming out of a 10-year hiatus from directing (his last picture being the dreadful "Congo"), Frank Marshall takes on the sizable challenge of bringing this wintry tale to the screen, and I can only imagine the daily struggles he faced. Marshall deals terrifically with the animal actors, taking time to allow the viewer to become familiar with their defining features and varying personalities. It's an important step to take, since "Eight Below" soon splits abruptly into two movies: one being a dialog-free story of the dogs' journey, and the other Gerry's depression and desire for redemption.
It doesn't take a genius to determine which story carries more dramatic weight. Using impeccably trained dogs, Marshall has so much more to work with on the survival side of the film. Here the filmmaker can fully take in the equally gorgeous and imposing snowy landscapes, and the absence of dialog amplifies the pure language of cinema, giving "March of the Penguins" a run for its money in terms of basking in the mystery of animal instinct. The dogs' trek takes them through the frozen seas and icy mountaintops as they hunt for food and, in a film highlight, try to outwit the violent local predators. Through life and death (young audience members might get a little spooked here), loyalty and abandonment, Marshall cautiously defines the interaction within the pack of these gorgeous creatures, agreeably creating real drama out of their struggle. And let's be honest, the dogs have more acting range than Walker.
With his side of the story, Walker has to deal with needlessly drawn-out scenes of despair, padding the running time to an obese two hours. Walker is good with the struggle-of-the-moment adventure sequences, but he fails to sell the more difficult arc of Gerry's guilt. As the film moves along, the interest in Gerry's story begins to erode quickly, partially due to failed execution (and a ridiculous pass at a love story), but mostly because the dogs are a much more compelling tale to follow.
"Eight Below" takes a lot of liberties and blows even more opportunities, but it remains a steady, fulfilling adventure
--lawrence, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Eight Below |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 25%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 55%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1980's-1999
- present (2000-2010)
Wilderness adventure
Yes
Plotlets:
- surviving natural elements
Romance
Yes
Terrain
- ice/snow
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- explorer
- govt employee
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- blonde
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average build (man)
How much in movie?
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- natural phenomena
- animal
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- explorer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Pacific NW
Ice Caps?
Yes
Where?
- Ocean
- South Pole
Misc setting
- scientific labs
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- non-gory references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- very happy
- all mixed up
How many deaths in film?
- 0 (not a murder mystery)
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 2 (a little)
Kind of violence:
- mission to rescue
- mental battles
Any profanity?
- None
- Occasional swearing
If this is a kid's movie...
- Ages 10-15
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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