Eight Below (2006)

It is always a more than pleasant surprise when a movie that one does not expect to be any great shakes turns out to be a stunner -- and this is the case here.  The human leads are all more than adequate, but the real stars are the immaculately trained sled dogs whose story it really is.  Paul Walker, whom I usually find to be among the blandest of modern young leads, plays a dog team handler and guide who spends six months of the year in Antarctica; his humourous sidekick is Jason Biggs of "American Pie" notoriety, and an interesting-looking female called Moon Bloodgood is the local pilot and love interest.  When Walker and the doggies are transporting visiting scientist Bruce Greenwood who is searching for a rare meteorite, the latter breaks his leg and Walker and the dogs save his life.  However when they both move out for hospital treatment, Walker must leave the chained team of eight dogs behind, and because of unusually fierce weather is unable to keep his promise to come back for them.  However he can not rest until he knows their fate and spends the rest of the film trying to get back to the abandoned base.

Meanwhile we are given a privileged look at how most of the team managed to survive in the stark (and magnificently photographed) arctic landscape for the best part of half a year.  Apparently this is inspired by a true story originally told in a 1983 Japanese film called "Nankyoku Monogatari" and the writer of that film is also a writer on this Disney production.  True or not, it is a wonderfully inspiring story and any dog lover will probably find himself moved to tears.  By and large it is also a more than suitable movie for the kiddies, although there is one scary bit involving a leopard seal which is just about on a par with the first time Jaws raised his ugly head.

Tags: Eight Below, doggies