Dir. Frank Marshall, 2006, US, 120 mins
Cast: Paul Walker, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood
Review by Hemanth Kissoon
“The most amazing story of survival, friendship, and adventure ever told…”
..according to the poster. A bold claim if there ever was one. The logic of such expectation-raising should be queried. A film has got to be pretty impressive to live up to that tag-line. 8 Below does not.
Two modern cinematic trends really grate:
1. ‘Inspired by true events’ prefacing a movie.
2. Movies labelled family entertainment, when the word ‘family’ is really marketing-speak for ‘pre-teens’.
This movie is based on a Japanese film (Nankyoku Monogatari or “Antarctica”), which in turn is based on alleged true events. ‘Inspired by true events’ seems to be the phrase that allows filmmakers to gain credibility and audience empathy while not being bogged down by pesky libel lawsuits and the effort of research.
8 Below begins with a scientific expedition led by geologist Davis McLaren (Greenwood) who is searching for a meteorite that has recently landed in Antarctica. At the Antarctica US base, guide Jerry Shepherd (Walker) warns that this is the wrong time of year to travel to the site; but he still agrees to make the journey. However, sled dogs will be the only way to get there as motorised vehicles will be too heavy for the ice. On the way back a storm hits and the base has to be evacuated. The sled dogs are left behind due to lack of room. Shepherd expects to return for them in a few days, but due to worsening conditions no-one can and they are left to fend for themselves. What follows is a dual tale of animals attempting to survive and human compassion for their canine friends.
The title 8 Below appears to have multiple meanings, such as the number of dogs, the temperature and the geographic position. I would add another, the age at which you would have to be to really enjoy this film. While marketed at a family crowd, there is not much substance here for the analytical mind. With a poorly paced two-hour running time, boredom rears its head too often, with brief moments of enjoyment arriving infrequently. Don’t misunderstand - long films are good, if the time is filled well. 8 Below has some charm but is predictable for the most part, has a regular dose of cheesy emotion, and the overall feeling when the credits roll is of a potentially interesting story handled with only a modicum of skill.
The characters in the film talk about how inhospitable Antarctica is, which should confirm the audience’s own general knowledge. However, even though the scenery is photographed handsomely by Don Burgess (Forrest Gump, Spider-Man, Contact), the traumatic conditions are not conveyed. The storm that hits and the area itself seem less harsh than the hyperbole bandied about by the leads. Even though March of the Penguins is a poor film (the filmmakers spent a year in Antarctica and all they could come up with is sentimental anthropomorphised superficiality) you still get the impression of the extreme climate conditions. Added to that is the lack of knowledge and context conveyed about the sled dogs. How tough are they? So any endurance is met with a mixture of admiration and ambivalence. There is the also the dubious behaviour of the dogs, who suffer from the same projection of human characteristics as March of the Penguins.
Paul Walker proved he had some range in January’s crime thriller Running Scared, though here there is still the whiff of a poor man’s Keanu Reeves about him. The big test will be Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers which could quell his critics and enlarge his fan base.
Who let the side down? The writing was poor. However, director Frank Marshall should have known better. He is one of the best producers/executive producers of cinematic entertainment ever: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Gremlins, Jurassic Park, The Bourne Identity, The Sixth Sense, The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes. Why has Speilberg, Shyamalan, Zemeckis, Donner, Dante, Liman, Levinson not rubbed off on him as a director? Alive is good but Arachnophobia and Congo have only mild entertainment value. 8 Below is his worst offering.
The moral of the film is sound. McLaren says to Shepherd, “You’ve got to take chances for the things you care about.” A definite worthy sentiment. If only chances had been taken with story and characterisation.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of Eight Below for 4th September 2006.
Extras include:
- Director, Actor, Producer Audio Commentaries
- Deleted scenes
- Running with the Dogs – Making of Eight Below
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