Eight Below

I am a huge dog freak, so I was looking forward to this movie already to begin with. But I didn't expect it to be so touching. it's not just about sled dogs in Antartica, it's about survival, and the bond a person has with their dogs.

While the actors did well in the movie, the best performances in the movie came from the dogs, hands down. I know that makes me sound pretty crazy, but when you see this movie, you know it's true. This is an awesome movie for all ages. I went to go see it with my 20 and 30 year old friends, and this is now one of their favorite movies of all time (besides Dirty Dancing). I say this is a great movie for the whole family!

The acting in this movie is weak. Now that I got that out of the way, let me tell you why this film is worth watching: the outdoor photography and the dogs. This movie contains some of the most impressive outdoor cinematography that one can hope or expect to see in a Hollywood movie. This movie shows the awesome and forbidding beauty of icebergs, ice flows and glacier-covered mountains. Compared to these magnificent edifices of nature, man is rendered almost utterly insignificant, a mere dot in a wilderness of ice that is almost endless. Indeed, the scenery is spectacular. That's one interesting part of the movie. But the main part of the movie are the dogs - eight of them. This movie offers a wonderful story about eight brave and stalwart creatures that are determined to survive in the polar wilderness. Having been abandoned by their owner, the dogs must fend for themselves, and they do so, by staying together, working as a team, looking out for each other and caring for each other. They set an example for us humans to follow. That's why this is a movie that's not about us, but about those wonderful dogs.

Just getting back from seeing 8 below, i am completely blown away by several elements. Firstly, right away you get glimpes of STUNNING scenery that continue throughout the whole film. Beautiful artic landscapes frame the main story line and on the big screen, it really takes your breath away. The movie also is really able to give anyone an idea of what its like to be in the artic, and really gave a clear picture of what being an explorer was like. This added to the appeal of the movie, because its not something most of us get to experience. Although the acting has been in some cases been criticized, I believe the actors fulfilled their purpose within the movie. They were able to play their roles, without distracting from the dogs, which of course, is the most important part. Paul Walker clearly comes across as a strong animal lover, and displays this well. He becomes relatable to any animal lovers, who will utimatly love this movie. As for the others, the fulfilled their jobs, which is what matters. The character of "Cooper" gave great comic relief, and "Katie" acted out the predicable love story line well. But of course, the most important aspect of this movie was the dogs. I can hardly even begin to describe what a wonderful job they did. The tricks preformed (as a dog lover and trainer) were some with great difficulty. Ultimately, the way the dogs interact with each other and are so compassionate, you really connect with them. The only way to really experience this is to GO. the movie is AMAZING and a wonderful family film. Although a part or two may be slightly scary, its still an amazing picture for ALL to enjoy, it completely blew all of us a way.

Poetic license is some thing, but changing reality to make an absolutely impossible story seem plausible is another. The writers obviously need better advisers about Antarctic travel. Here are just a few of the errors. They show the dogs running when pulling the sled. They would kill them in short order. Real sleds dog simply walk at a very fast pace bordering on a trot. Real Antarctic travelers don't try to travel through storms. They just wait them out in a nice warm tend. Now lets get into science fiction. Bruce Greenwood falls through ice into water. Where exactly would you find water on Antarctica? The ice is several thousand feet thick. (While on the subject of water, where exactly did the dogs find any water to drink?) There are no birds in the interior of Antarctica in the winter and none even on the coast in winter. But lets get to the biggest absurdity bright sunny days in June and July. Huh? There is almost 24 darkness at that time of year. I hate it when they claim that a story is based on reality and the present something that is obvious complete and utter fiction. Am I missing the point but dewelling on these gross distortions of anything faintly resembing reality? Well, if you have a story that consists of nothing more than contrived emotional manipulation using a pack of dogs, you could at least get give the setting and circumstances some semblance of reality rather than turning the world upside down to confirm.

My wife and I went to go this flick in the theater and I would say we were the only folks there without children. We went because we are the proud owners of two huskies ourselves. I urge anyone that is interested in dogs, animals, huskies, Antarctica, whatever, to see this movie. I must say for a Disney movie, it's not as childish as one may think, and there are definitely a few tear-jerking parts for different reasons. I have already noticed the desire growing amongst folks to have huskies in the past year or so, and I bet this movie will only positively influence that. Huskies can be a handful, but they are one of the coolest/smartest breeds you'll ever encounter. I just hope folks will go to Husky Rescue groups, before shelling out hundreds of dollars for breeders. Minor adjustments I would have made are focusing a little more on the dogs survival and less on Paul Walker's mission to get funding. Also, the dogs definitely did not not "talk" as much as our two huskies do : )