Review of Eight Below (2006) by Brucefur F — 08 Apr 2009

This movie was designed to pull at the heart strings of dog lovers for the epic effort of Jerry Shepard to reunite with his dogs, but all it has done for me is made me incredibly angry. The fact that it based on a true story only makes it more aggravating to me, because the truth of the matter here is that none of those dogs should have been staked out and left to die. The entire staff of the NSF deserve nothing but vilification for their actions, most especially the pilot who failed in her promise to return and then spends the remainder of the movie trying to assuage her own conscience.

The ONLY good I can see in this movie whatsoever is the fact that it shows how truly cavalier people are with lives that aren't their own. All 8 of those dogs could have been put on that first plane out if some of the gear was left behind instead.

I would not have left, period! I would not have bought the logic that I should leave, only to be flown back 3 days later for the dogs; otherwise why would they have wanted Jerry Shepard to have gone with them in the first place, other then that they knew there was a chance they couldn't come back for the dogs? Jerry should have known that too, unless he was a colossal moron.

At the VERY least, KNOWING that there was the mother of all storms coming in, those dogs should have been placed in the shelter; not staked like prisoners to the ice and left to freeze to death.

The only heroes in this story are the dogs. Every person that lived it deserves to die a long, painfully slow death. Personally I'll pray for it.