Review of Arctic (2018) by Berik — 14 Oct 2019

A movie about a guy that is stranded on the Arctic, presumably after he crashed there. To make matters worse, another person gets stranded with him when they crash trying to safe him. He has made himself cozy in the wreckage of an airplane and even has a few fishing spots! Though there's a polar bear roaming around, he seems to be doing alright considering the circumstances. The woman that is stranded with him is badly wounded, but gets the best possible care from him. Though they are waiting, hoping for rescue, the guy suddenly makes some of the worst decisions out of nowhere.

See, guy found a map in the wreckage of woman which shows a seasonal station somewhere over some mountains. Even though this is incredibly far away, guy gets the bright idea to leave his safe shelter, infinite food supply and clear landmark to try and travel across the deadly landscape that has ice crevices, polar bears of death, blizzards and pink flowers that throw you under huge rocks!

In the end, guy and woman are (presumably) safed by a helicopter crew just as they think it is over. Let's hope this chopper doesn't crash, because the movie cuts away just like THAT! Fades to black out of nowhere. Well, it was pure damn luck, that's for sure.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the movie. But I cringed at the following 3 mistakes made by guy:

1) He left the safety of the airplane wreckage: This seems like a really bad move. That airplane was his protection against the elements and bears, and also his Isolation from the cold. He also has several fishing spots just outside that seem to give him enough food (protein rich) to last for quite some time until rescue could find him. Leaving just seems like a really bad idea.

2) He gave up on the short route: Now I get it. He's not a power lifter and his situation probably made him exhausted, but there's no reason to give up on a shorter route when you haven't tried everything yet. Guy has to pull woman on brancard up a hill, but it is heavy! He keeps dropping the rope, and gives up! Had he looked 20° to his left, he would have spotted a large rock that he could have used to make a 'block' around. This would have prevented woman on brancard from falling, as the knot would have held her up until he grabbed the other robe to pull and then tie down too. He choose a route more then twice the length of the safest route instead! Wtf!?

3) He burned his jacket: When he sees a chopper and lights his flare, he decides to also burn is protective jacket to make the fire big, yet less visible...

In the end they got out presumably, but I can't help but feel that guy took an unnecessary risk several times. Still, it's a good movie and enjoyable to watch. I give it a 7/10.