When it comes to acting, the dogs are the only thing saving this movie.
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.
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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Reviews for Eight Below
Don't let the ads or the poster fool you, this isn't Snow Dogs (thank goodness) and you'd be wrong to dismiss this as just another Disney dog movie.
Eight Below is so filled with action, adventure, and genuine emotion that it's easy to ignore the few little things that don't work.
That Paul Walker is out-acted by several humans, eight dogs and a leopard seal shouldn't surprise anyone.
In 2002, the cringefest Snow Dogs stripped huskies of their dignity. Eight Below restores it.
If you thought those marching penguins were brave and adorable, wait till you see an eight pack of courageous, intelligent and captivating dogs ...
A family film that doesn't pander, preach, or poop out. That alone is a rare thing.
Frank Marshall is smart enough to know his core audience of kiddies came to see the dogs, who take center stage in many of the film's best sequences.
The dogs take the biscuit in Eight Below, an enthralling fact-based tale of man's best friend struggling to survive a harsh Antarctic winter.
It's the most touching love story about tragically separated sexy beasts since Cold Mountain.
... a shaggy-dog version of a Jack London story, enhanced with an animatronic leopard seal that looks like Charlie the Tuna.
These dogs, as it turns out, can do anything -- even make us ignore the rough patches in a Disney movie.
In the era of "Narnia." "Harry Potter" and "Kong," it's downright refreshing to watch a movie that finds Planet Earth to be an exciting place.
The film works best among the beasts. Their training is impeccable, their emotions are palpable, and almost all of their behavior is credible.
Remarkable, how in a film where we know with an absolute certainty that all or most of the dogs must survive, Eight Below succeeds as an effective story. It works by focusing on the dogs.
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.
The interaction between the dogs, some of whom have beautiful crystalline white coats, is far more fascinating than what goes on between the two-legged mammals, which is sometimes mushy (pun intended).
The film is padded out to a full two hours, which may not be quite as long as the dogs have to wait for their rescue, but it does feel like it.
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