Review of Eight Below (2006) by Eric L — 30 Jul 2011

A MUST SEE!

This dramatic movie tells a chilling (literally and figuratively) tale of eight sled dogs that are left behind at a research station when the humasn are forced to evacuate in a hurry. Paul Walker plays the musher/guide who is expecting to return immedaitely with another plane to take the dogs to safety, so he chains them up nice and tight outside the station. Unfortunately, he is not permitted to return for his dogs and nobody will be allowed in until the following spring.

So, the story is about the 8 dogs who are "below us" in Antarctica and how they must try and survive by first getting off their chains.

Now, I'm not giving anything aaway here because we know a movie in which all the dogs freeze and starve would not be made, so we know at least some dogs survive. Even with knowing that however, this movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the dogs and feeling their isolation and pain. We also keep seeing what guide is going through back in the states. He tries again and again to try and get back down there to his dogs, but he is continually thwarted. Imagine that frustration, that helplessness, the depression. Can you imagine trying not to think about your dogs chained up and freezing to death? Paul Walker gets that feeling across. It's very unsettling as we see numbers displayed on the bottom of the screen, telling us how long the dogs have been on their own....5 days, 50 days, 155 days, etc.

Equally awesome in this movie is Bruce Greenwood, who plays the Dr. McClaren, the scientist that hired the dogsled team to help him recover a piece of a meteorite. The dogs save his life early in the movie in a very action-packed sequence that I won't disclose. Bruce Greenwood's character is critical for the climax (as I see it) of this movie. Back in the states, he looks over what money is left from his research grant and then looks at a photograph of the dogs that saved his life and made his expedition a success. He owed his life and career to those dogs and makes a key decision.

The dog sequences are amazing. The dogs are shown as animals that need to rely on their animal instincts, not as "Lassie types". Incredible restraint was used here to not depict the dogs as humans in dog suits. But, the way the dogs interact will hold you to the screen; it's tearjerking in one sequence how the dogs stay with and try to care for one of their their critically injured team members.

The end of this movie is incredibly powerful. The guide (Jerry) eventually makes it back down early in the following spring due to the decision made by Dr. Mcclaren (Greenwood). They reach the research station and there is no sign of the dogs. Jerry sees the post to which he chained the dogs. Fearing the worst, he starts to dig in the snow and finds the body of one of his dogs. He slumps, tells the group it's "Old Jack" and then moves down the line to dig up the next body. However, what he finds is an empty collar. As it dangles in front of him, you can see the spark of hope that comes across him. Then, in a perfectly shot scene which will make you cry, he grabs the chain and jerks it out of the snow, showing a series of empty collars. Seconds later, in an amazed whisper, Jerry simply says "They got off." I'll leave the rest of the details for you to see. It is worth it.

This is based on a true story, but in the true story, only 2 of the dogs survive the long, cold winter.