I had never really even heard of this movie before, and knew nothing about it. But when it came on the television one night not so long ago, and my girlfriend sounded really excited and telling me how much she loved this movie, I paid a bit more attention.
Those initial scenes had shown a frozen world in arctic conditions. I had assumed it was Alaska, but it was evidently Antarctica. There was a base, some kind of a science base. The clips also showed dog sleds and such, and a very forbidding, harsh landscape. It looked brutal.
There are not many movies that take place in such conditions, and I had seen only one or two movies like it, off the top of my head (and I'm not including kids movies like the Ice Age series).
Evidently, this movie is based upon a true story. How loosely, or how closely, I am not sure. Obviously, there is the possibility of embellishment, whenever a book or movie or such is made about such events. But the events depicted are plausible, and it seemed worthy of making note of it.
Paul Walker plays Jerry Shepard, a young guide and transporter under such harsh circumstances. We see him assisting a scientific explorer, Dr. Davis McClaren from the National Science Foundation (played capably by Bruce Greenwood), looking for a rock, or rather a rare meteorite, from the planet Mercury, that has come to land on the base of Mount Melbourne. They finally arrive, but the timing is bad, as two severe storm fronts are fast approaching, and almost assure that the trip has to be cut short. Dr. McClaren urges Shepard to give him just a bit of time, to take a risk, so that he can get the chance to recover the rock, mentioning how difficult and rare this chance is for him. Shepard relents, against his better judgment.
Obviously, we find out that it is a poor decision, and there are consequences - strong consequences! They discover the rock, and the good doctor is content. However, they are now far behind in getting back to the safety of base camp, and have to go straight back there. But Dr. McClaren, while trying to communicate with base camp and standing a bit too close to the edge of a makeshift cliff, takes a bad fall when the ice breaks under his feet. Then, the frozen ice that he has landed on at the bottom cracks and breaks, and he is immersed in frozen water. he needs to be saved, and this is no easy task. It is then that we see, for the first time, really, the full extent of the capabilities of the real stars of this movie: the husky dogs.
They manage to save Dr. McClaren, but it has taken a strong physical toll not just on McClaren, but on Shepard, as well. It really is the dogs that wind up making the trip back to the small base, and in effect, saving the lives of both men. But when they get back, they are also both in need of rather serious medical attention, and need to get to better shelter than the small base can provide. So, it is decided that there should be a trip to a larger base, but it requires a plane ride. There are only four other people, other than Shepard and McClaren, at the small base, and so they all go on the trip, under the assumption that they will be right back. They tie the dogs up, under this assumption that they will return shortly. But when they get to the larger base, a general evacuation has been ordered, and all the resources of the larger base are stretched thin in the effort to evacuate. There is no chance that the dogs will be rescued in the approaching storm.
***Spoiler Alert***
For much of the rest of the movie, Shepard is back home in the United States, desperately trying to get back to Antarctica, willing to take risks, to do anything, really, to try to save the dogs that saved him, and that he left behind. he is so riddled with guilt, that he simply cannot go on with his life. The guilt is really tearing at him.
He is not rich, but he makes every effort to get back. He finds a way to get to Christchurch, New Zealand, where he hopes to land a ride back to Antarctica, in an attempt to get back to the dogs. That is when he runs into his old team from the small base, including Katie, his former girlfriend (played well by Moon Bloodgood), who just so happens to have broken up with her recent relationship, and just so happens to be available again.
They make it back to Antarctica, and go looking for the dogs that were left behind.
The eight dogs (from which the movie gets it's name), for their part, have broken free of the leashes (all except for the oldest one), and they manage to survive. There are seven of them left, but one falls off a cliff, and gets seriously, even mortally, wounded. There are six dogs left, led by Maya, who is the leader of the pack, and they get by, surviving off of seagulls and penguins and seals. They battle with a leopard seal, and have all sorts of adventures and close calls throughout the film. In the process of the battle with the leopard seal, Maya herself is attacked and seriously hurts her leg. She is slowed considerably, and her life is in peril.
When the scientists make it back, the other dogs all go running back to meet the truck, but Max, the new leader of the pack, refuses to go, and leads Shepard to where Maya is. She is still alive, but just barely. Shepard finally gets the chance to repay the dogs, particularly Maya, for saving his life, by saving them from the brutal cold of Antarctica.
It is a touching story, and a powerful movie, all in all. Family friendly, often cute, and even, at times, a bit scary (certainly, it could be for children, particularly the part with the leopard seal in it), it is a good movie to rent and see, and comes recommended by me. Family friendly, to boot!
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