Movie Review: Eight Below
Posted by Administrator on March 9th, 2006
If you’re looking for a heart touching film that will provide some great family entertainment, be sure to see the movie Eight Below.
The story is a harrowing tale of eight sled dogs that are left behind when researchers are forced to leave Antarctica because of an incoming storm. The dogs are chained near the research station to keep them safe. The research team plans to return for them in a few days. However, before the guide who owns the dogs can return, winter sets in and all flights to the station are cancelled until spring. What will happen to the dogs? Will they survive the harsh Antarctic winter, or will their owner return to find they’ve all succumbed to the frigid temperatures?
Eight Below is based on a true story. The movie mainly focuses on the dogs. Their owner, played by actor Paul Walker, thinks about them constantly and is determined to rescue them. He falls into a state of depression at the thought of his dogs tethered outside the research station in the glacial temperatures. He appeals to Dr. Davis McClaren, played by Bruce Greenwood, the financier of the expedition, to allow him to return for his dogs. His request is denied. In the meantime, the audience is informed of how long the dogs have been on their own through subtitles.
Director Frank Marshall depicts the dogs as intelligent and respects their basic instincts. When one of the team is badly injured, the other dogs hunt down birds and bring them to their crippled teammate. They work together in order to survive five months in the sub-zero temperatures of Antarctica, without shelter. Their only food source is from the merciless Antarctic tundra.
The film doesn’t have a human villain. The closest it comes to one is in the form of Dr. McClaren, who won’t cooperate in rescuing the dogs in winter, even though they saved his life when he was doing scientific research. I won’t disclose the details of the rescue in order for you to experience it for yourself.
The close-ups of the dogs faces as they struggle through anxiety, danger and yearning, allow us a glimpse into their emotions and intelligence. The eight dogs, two malamutes and a husky, touch the hearts of their audience as they struggle to survive on their own.
Rated: 4 ½ out of 5 stars.
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