Arctic Blue

Arctic Blue is as eccentric and loopy as I'd imagine such unique climate conditions make people behave up there. Indeed, instead of a straight up action adventure, they've gone for something a little more meandering and amusing, sort of like Midnight Run under the midnight sun. In a sea of direct to video flicks that Rutger Hauer has done, it's tough to weed the gems from the turds, but this one is gold, especially if you're a fan of him, as well as gorgeously photographed scenery. As Ben, he's not quite hero, not quite antagonist, a wildman of a trapper who functions on instinct and has no use for the rule of law. When an altercation with a park ranger leads to murder at his own hand, Ben is set to be escorted to judgment by a local sheriff (Dylan Walsh). Walsh is green around the ears though, and Ben is determined to escape, aided by his familiarity with the land and climate, as well as his bawdy fellow trappers, who are hot on their trail. what follows is almost genre defying; it's just this side of adventure, with the slightest hint of buddy comedy and even a few mournful notes to Ben's backstory that give it that dramatic weight. I love an ambiguous character, one who makes real choices and has capacity for both compassion and viciousness in their spirit, seemingly free from the constriction of conventional plot development. Ben is his own man, and approaches both his environment and his fellow man on his own terms, which granted can lead to trouble, but is an endlessly attractive character trait to have. I think having grown up in such a rugged, untethered corner of the globe, people like Ben run on their own clock, and hum with the delirious atmosphere of such a far removed existence. The entire film has that going for it too, like everyone involved is running off of no sleep and whatever is in the water way up there in the north. A true undiscovered gem of a film, if you can find it anywhere.

Anything with Rutger Hauer is better than average thanks to his presence, and no exception here. In this one he's the bad guy, but good guy, character, meaning the misunderstood individualist. However, this aspect of the story is left unexplored. Hauer's a trapper in Alaska with a gang of moronic sidekicks who stumble upon a group of hunters and threaten to take some of their pelts. Hauer kills, with a thrown knife, one of the hunters who draws a gun, then his gang leave the others in the wild after destroying their truck motor, and of course the hunters die from exposure. So the local lawman is determined to get Hauer. In a situation where self defense could have been shown, the trappers let matters get way out of hand, then are determined to free Hauer from the grips of the law. During the escapades of getting Hauer to jail in Fairbanks, Hauer protests that he is only a misunderstood individual who's one with the wilderness. And the young man who takes the duty to deliver Hauer is conflicted about doing this. It seems that there were plot elements cut out because it would have been much more believable if Hauer had told his side of the killing to the lawman, which he never did. No explanation and no remorse just make him a bad character and it's tough to see why the lawman feels sympathy towards him. There's a whole subplot about evil oil company dealings that is unexplored and tough to figure out, and that's more of what was probably cut out, and somehow Hauer is involved against the oil company but that's also a missing plot piece. The producers needed to have had somebody with fresh eyes look at the film before they cut out certain plot developments that left the story less coherent than it should have been. Still it's above average and if you can fill in the holes yourself as I did, it will be a fine evening of viewing, and there's some really beautiful scenery.

Cinematography of the Alaska wilderness is a real plus, and a couple scenes standout, but for the most part "Arctic Blue" is a mess. Rutger Hauer is never going to advance his "B" movie career with these types of roles. Here he is nothing but a cardboard character, almost blending into the snowy landscape. The script is never believable, and there appear to be parts cut out that would have helped connect the dots. The ending seems to be sending some type of ecological message, but it is meaningless with the nonsense that precedes it. The two things that I will remember about "Arctic Blue" are the above summary "grapefruit" quote, and a flying pickax. Other than that the film is very forgettable. - MERK

There are so many holes and incongruities in this movie, I was considering hiring a private investigator to find the plot. One minute the hero and his prisoner (Rutger Hauer) are snowed in with wolves baying, the next minute they are basking in sunshine near a clear, crystal stream. Combine this with bodies being inexplicably hung in trees, shot bad guys suddenly recovering to their joke cracking best, Rutger athletically striding through the snow 5 minutes after being savagely stabbed in the leg and the apparent disinterest of the police in a trail of corpses littering the Arctic landscape and you have the most poorly directed, written and acted pieces of cinematic effluent ever to have polluted my TV set. I know what Elvis would have done to his TV set if he had ever watched this.

Since SOLDAAT van ORANGE where was uncovered by the still unknown Dutch fellow country director Paul Verhoven, the all-around Rutger Hauer went to America to make history, which indeed he really did, although the money spoke louder when he starts making pictures in industrial scale likewise in Artic Blue, a fine storyline on a contrived plot mixing about a couple of scientists Eric (Dylan Wash) and Anne Marie (Rya Kihlstedt) in an ecology area of environmental protection it planning a future oil extraction, when they face a kind of Neanderthals hunters raised in Alaska, the upcoming clash seems unavoidable due such enterprise will reduce the hunting place.

Within such a paradigm, the human life loses its essential value, so this trio-hunters led by Corbett (Rutger Hauer) one of them Lemalle (Johnny Cuthbert) a sort of wacko behavior shot a small group of tourist by hunting there killing at cold blood one of them without mercy making damages at their Pick-up letting there to die by freezing, therefore the veteran local Sheriff Sam (Richard Bradford) is willing arrest the killer, sadly he would be the next victim, thus the newbie scientist Eric takes yourself the assignment to deliver the leader Corbett in another town by plane, aiming for escape Corbett forced the small plane falling down, both survive in the nowhere at snow landscape.

Apart the far-fetched story concerning all those mishaps the movie allowed a valuable character study regarding the inexorable advance technology upon the old homesteaders that refuse these improvements that nothing appends at their lives, it's hardly focused on the offering, instead this the director enforces a matchup and vengeance as the mostly awaited, no so bad!!

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First watch: 1996 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 6.5.