Review of The Edge (1997) by Melvin W — 21 Jun 2012

Charles Morse: I once read an interesting bit. Most people who die in the woods die of shame. .

"What if your greatest enemy was your only chance for survival?".

The Edge is a decent and really good looking survival thriller. The landscape is beautiful, but what keeps this film from completely failing are its two stars, Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. Their performances aren't Oscar caliber stuff, but the film doesn't really call for that. Their jobs were to keep it entertaining and they were able to do that. It's just too bad that the overall film wasn't all that great. It was poorly paced and seemed a little uneven. For a survival thriller, though, it did what it needed to; it entertained. .

A billionaire goes to Alaska with his beautiful, much younger wife and her photographer for a photo shoot. While staying a lodge, he, the photographer, and the photographers assistant go on a plan trip to find an Indian from a photo. The plane crashes and the three are left by themselves in the Alaskan wilderness. To make matters worse, there is a huge, man-eating bear stalking them. So, yeah, the plot is kind of stupid. There's a lot of scenes that are unintentionally hilarious. The film hits every cliche in the survival story book along the way, which actually adds to the enjoyment on some level.

There's nothing great going on here. It's an average thriller with a great actor. That's enough in this case though, because I wasn't expecting a masterpiece. I actually enjoyed the film for the most part. It was a fun ride through the Alaskan wilderness. There really isn't a whole lot more to say on the film. You might enjoy it, you might not. It's really based on how well you can take a dumb story, because it isn't as suspenseful as you would think and it isn't as thrilling. Still an overall fun movie.