Borealis

I just read all the reviews on IMDb and I have to say that from the people that gave it a 1 to the people that gave it a 10, I have to agree with most of what they say. This is a movie with good points and bad points. I gave it a 6 because of the fact that all the components were OK. That is hard to explain so let me give you a couple of examples. The acting was good - in some cases very good, but it was not great as the characters were not intended to be great. There were no real famous stars, but you felt you were watching very professional actors. The dialog was not exceptional, but it was very normal and normal is not bad. There are parts that are problems as said in the many of the reviews. My last example is that many people did not like the ending. I, on the other hand, will also say I did not like the ending, however, as ending's go these days it seems that for every good ending there are 10 that are not good. So to have one that one would not classify (at least in my mind) a bad ending, then it is again, OK. The movie was entertaining and yes at times you thought it might be an old western and at times really good science fiction. There are parts that if one would just watch that little bit, might end up thinking it was an adventure film, or a wilderness documentary, or a murder mystery, and yet, it was pretty much none of these to any real extent. I have never written a review like that as I have never seen a movie that fits into this category (which I can not think of a name for right now). Even basic terms seem not adequate to describe it. It is not a FEEL GOOD movie, but for sure not a TEAR JERKIER. It's not all that HAPPY and not all that SAD. I guess I might say that it was entertainment on a different level than most movies. I think that people that look for the big block busters and great stars and awesome special effects, have a hard time with this type of movie.I believe us older folks that have went thru silent moves up to the fantastic super movies of today, can appreciate both ends of the spectrum. So for all you older folks out there that can appreciate just a plain ordinary good movie - this one is well worth watching. Probably the most prominent thing I got from the reviews was that this would be one super pilot for a series. I believe that 100 percent. One last note: If I had read the reviews first I probably would not have watched the movie. And that would have been a loss I do feel.

Yes, I really was thinking writer/director here but, no, apparently not.

It's a good semi-who-dun-it type of movie right up to the ends when it just stops! Yep. Nothing more to say but a total waste of 2 hours. Whether the writers thought they were being clever or the director thought it was artsy, who knows but all of them fail miserably in any attempt at story.

Or maybe we've just missed the sequel. Yeah, let's assume there's a sequel. Somewhere.

But really, WFT!

I watched this 'movie' on a Saturday evening when nothing else was on, and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. The script is good, the characters develop well, the complexity of the story starts moves along at a nice pace without rushing ... and then suddenly with absolutely no warning it just stops!

This was clearly made, and made well, as either a TV series pilot or as the first in a TV movie series (think Jesse Stone in a slightly sci-fi futuristic Canadian wilderness). But not having that warning going in left me hugely disappointed at the total lack of a conclusion. Obviously this wasn't picked up for some reason, but then it makes no real sense to have released it in its incomplete format.

As a stand alone movie, I can see how "Borealis" may be slightly disappointing. As the pilot for a new series though, it's awesome. Why? It leaves one wanting more.

In an all-too-near future, the arctic icecap has melted, opening the way for new trade routes, oil fields, mining operations, and other untapped resources for the international community to squabble over. At the center of it all is Vic's bar. Owned by a former cage fighter and now the customs agent for the Canadian government, the bar is the center of life in an emerging frontier town.

Like many sci-fi shows, "Borealis" owes much to the genre of Westerns. The characters include a likable town drunk, a good-hearted prostitute, native Inuit, and a couple characters vying for the role of lawman, including Vic. But, it comes with a definite 21st century spin, including an American archaeologist funded by the Russians, an activist biologist determined to protect and document what remains of the arctic ecosystem, and an enigmatic international diplomat.

While the premise relies on climate change, the show doesn't get bogged down in preaching about the global warming we are currently causing. It moves along at a fast pace, with murder, fights and intrigue as nations, corporations and Vic all try to establish dominance in this new frontier. And since it's in the near future, advances in technology are evident, but not distracting or far beyond our current comprehension.

What really sets this apart from other Canadian sci-fi and fantasy is the acting and writing. The cast is excellent, and the main characters are entirely believable. Ty Olsson's understated energy really carries the pilot, but I also found myself wanting to see more of and know more about the characters played by Bryan Dick, Michelle Harrison, Greyston Holt and Christine Horne.

To me, fiction is most successful when the characters come alive in your mind and you want to continue their stories. In that, "Borealis" completely succeeds. And I sincerely hope that a network such as Space or Syfy feels the same way, and will use this movie as the pilot of a series, as it seems intended to be.

SURVIVAL CODE was a TV movie originally conceived as a pilot episode of a new show, BOREALIS. The show was never picked up so the viewer is left with this oddly lightweight film that takes a great deal of time setting up various characters in a specific location and then just randomly ends having only cleared up one or two sub-plots. It's an unsatisfying viewing experience, one which made me wonder why I'd bothered when it came to an end.

This low budget effort is a Canadian movie set in the icy Canadian wastes. The story is about various factions fighting over land rights. Although it is set in the future, the science fiction aspects of the story are kept to a bare minimum, no doubt due to budgetary restraints. The characterisation is okay even though the movie lacks big name or even recognisable stars. Bizarrely, some random scenes of cage fighting have been inserted into the mix in order to 'up' the action quotient. It's not an entirely successful choice.