Ice : Tempête de glace aux USA

The big surprise? This is the very first "made-for-cable" movie I have ever watched start-to-finish. Granted, there wasn't much else on the other 130 channels this particular evening, but these SciFi Channel productions are generally so tedious that I'm gone before the first commercial break. This turkey DID have a few redeeming features: an attractive (physically) cast; acceptable computer effects; and spritely pacing (for a Cable feature). Yes, I know the plot holes were far too frequent and there were far too many uncalled-for characters, but I'm a sucker for "end of the world" genre and this one was only marginally worse than Armageddon. 2 1/2 stars out of 5 (5 out of 5 stars for a SciFi Potboiler).

If not mistaken I think this is a Sci-Fi Network original. A story kind of silly, but provoking. Reality is doubtful. The earth becomes a deep freeze in a modern Ice Age after the sun develops numerous sunspots. Sunny California within two days looks more like the South Pole with frigid temps well below zero. LAPD officer Grant Show with the aid of a petty criminal(Flex Alexander)he recently put in jail leads a small group of people that includes his girlfriend, son, ex-wife and her recent husband to possible safety.

Joined by the scientist(Udo Kier),who discovered this catastrophe, the small group are hopeful to find safety near the Equator region which seems to be as far south as the frigid temps reach. Snow of course is the main scenery and tempts you to grab a blanket. For some reason my favorite scene is when The President(Art Hindle) is prompted to leave D.C., but only after respecting a painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware.

Also appearing are: Eva LaRue, Audie England and Diego Fuentes. Although the story line being quite contrived, ICE none the less is able to hold your interest. Grant Show is still as bland an actor as he was on TV's Melrose Place.

Well, after the relative fail of a marketing bluff such as The Day After Tomorrow, I think it is time to concede some merit to this cheap, earlier movie that, in my humble opinion, developed a much more convincing story about a new Ice Age. Just wonder what could have be done with THIS script and The Day After Tomorrow resources? I simply must say that I felt much colder watching at this movie. The loneliness of the characters, some believable fights for the survival... all of this made the characters convincing and the whole story acceptable. Besides, this movie just was interested in COLD, and not in POLITICS. Quite entertaining. I rated it a 7

Long before day After Tomorrow, there was ice in Los Angeles and the rest of the world. A group of intrepid Angelinos, including Audie England (Julie), made the trek to find a ship hoping to escape the cold.

Little did they know that the evil Dr. Kistler (Udo Kier) lied and the ship was only coming for him. Life does have a way of balancing things, and, with Julie's ex (Grant Show) leading the group, they manage to reach the pick-up point.

Will a ship arrive? Will Audie be saved from freezing? You have to tune in to find out.

I saw Ice on June 12, 2004. Shortly after that I started seeing ads for DAT. I thought maybe DAT was a remake. Was I ever wrong! 'Ice' is much more like a rough draft, and DAT the finished product. I had the pleasure of seeing DAT August 4, 2004. 'Ice' reminds me of the good old days of disaster films, like Poseidon Adventure. Very hokey and extremely low budget! Was PA actually low budget? Who knows? Who cares? It also seemed like 'Ice' had a mixed language cast, so some people were dubbed and some people spoke English. There seems to be some made for SciFi channel/ German connection. Maybe their actors don't charge as much?

Enjoyable to watch if you have really NOTHING better to do! 'Ice' should absolutely be included in any list of disaster movies if you are a disaster fan.