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Eight Below

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Eight Below (2006)

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Reviews Counted:138

Fresh:98

Rotten:40

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: Featuring a stellar cast of marooned mutts, who deftly display emotion, tenderness, loyalty and resolve, Eight Below is a heartwarming and exhilarating adventure film.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some peril and brief mild language.

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Feb 17, 2006 Wide

Box Office: $81,593,527

Synopsis: Inspired by a true story and the hit Japanese film NANKYOKU MONOGATARI, Frank Marshall's (ALIVE, CONGO) EIGHT BELOW captures a rugged world of ice, snow, and threatening weather that few will ever... Inspired by a true story and the hit Japanese film NANKYOKU MONOGATARI, Frank Marshall's (ALIVE, CONGO) EIGHT BELOW captures a rugged world of ice, snow, and threatening weather that few will ever experience in person. As a guide for a National Science Foundation Research Base in Antarctica, Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is perfectly content to spend his time exploring the wilderness with his sled dogs and goofing around with his best buddy, cartographer Charlie Cooper (Jason Biggs). Then UCLA geologist Davis McLaren (Bruce Greenwood) arrives at the camp with plans for a risky expedition: treacherous ice fields make his target destination accessible only by dog sled so late in the season. Soon Shepard, McLaren and the sled dogs--Maya, Max, Old Jack, Buck, Shorty, Dewey, Shadow, and Truman--are on their way in search of McLaren's prize: a meteorite from Mercury. Unfortunately, an approaching storm forces Shepard and McLaren to return to base early. The return trip proves life-threatening, but the dogs pull through, saving both Shepard and McLaren from certain death. The storm also forces the scientists to leave the research center earlier than planned, and there's no room on board bush pilot Katie's (Moon Bloodgood) plane for the dogs. With the promise that someone will return for them immediately, Shepard leaves his beloved dogs behind. Soon, however, it becomes apparent that the weather has made a return trip impossible. Can the dogs survive in the Antarctic wilderness on their own, or will Shepard get back in time to save them? The dogs emerge as the most intriguing characters in the story, each exhibiting a distinct personality and fierce loyalty. The other major player is the wilderness itself, a beautiful, mysterious world that is rarely depicted on film. [More]

Starring: Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs

Starring: Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs, Gerard Plunkett, August Schellenberg, Wendy Crewson, Belinda Metz, A. James Ryan, Adrian Noble

Director: Frank Marshall

Director: Frank Marshall
Screenwriter: Dave Digilio
Producer: David Hoberman
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures

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Release:

Nov 19, 2006

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Reviews for Eight Below

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Perhaps you have to be a dog owner to be reduced to the blubbering mess that I found myself in by the end of Disney's Eight Below.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment 1 Comment
03/18/06
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

A paint-by-numbers family adventure, nothing less, nothing more.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
02/17/06
E! Online
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
03/11/06
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
05/06/06
Sydney Morning Herald

It's lucky for human actors that canines can't win Academy Awards, because, if they could, the dogs in Eight Below would sweep next year's Oscars.

Full Review Source: Juicy Cerebellum | comment Comment
02/05/06
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

Eight Below is the Brian's Song of dog movies: schmaltzy, feel-goody, inspired-by-a-true-story-y. It's formulaic and frequently over the top, 30 minutes too long and altogether too slow.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
02/17/06
Allison Benedikt
Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune

Basically, what we have here is a stranded-animal movie in which the stranded animals are forced to split screen time with a mopey human character and his annoying, redundant friends.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
02/17/06
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
05/06/06
Andrew Pulver
Andrew Pulver
Guardian [UK]

"Eight Below" is exciting, and the arctic photography stunning but it's too long, and perhaps a little scary and too realistic at times for youngsters.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
02/24/06
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

The eight canine stars of Eight Below pull their weight literally and figuratively in this lively dog-in-jep adventure from Disney.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
02/16/06
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

A pleasant re-imagining, thanks mostly to the great performances of eight beautiful dogs.

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
02/28/06
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

I wish 'Eight Below' had spent more time showing those wonderful dogs instead of including so many uninspired segments with human actors.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/18/06
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Eight Below takes a lot of liberties and blows even more opportunities, but it remains a steady, fulfilling adventure.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
02/17/06
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com

A cut way above. A nearly perfect family movie.

Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | comment Comment
03/14/06
Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

Following the success of last year's March of the Penguins, and now Eight Below -- an equally triumphal processional of dogs across the bottom of the world -- Cinema Antarctica is suddenly sizzling hot!

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
02/16/06
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Emotive, great-looking and physically nimble, the principal actors in Eight Below are born movie stars. The human actors are ok, too.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
02/17/06
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
Sacramento Bee

Q: How can a movie set in icy Antarctica be all warm and fuzzy? A: When it's a heart-warming survival adventure that manages to transcend its cutesy-poo Disney pedigree.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal | comment Comment
02/17/06
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

It's a great dog story told in traditional Disney fashion.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
02/17/06
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

There are human beings in this movie and they are fine, but it is the magnificent four-legged actors who give this movie its bite.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
02/16/06
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

[Frank Marshall] isn’t exactly a cinematic poet, but he does a fine job delineating each individual dog’s personality, as well as the shifting hierarchy of power within the pack.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
02/16/06
Chuck Wilson
Chuck Wilson
L.A. Weekly
 
 
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