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Eight Below
A Buena Vista release of a Walt Disney Pictures presentation in association with Spyglass Entertainment of a Mandeville Films production.
 Produced by David Hoberman, Patrick Crowley.
Executive producers, Todd Lieberman, Masaru Kakutani, Frank Marshall, Roy Lee, Christine Iso, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum.
Directed by Frank Marshall.
Screenplay, Dave Digilio, styled loosely on the Japanese 1983 Nippon blockbuster "Nankyoku Monogatari, (Antartica)" inspired by the real-life events of a 1958 Japanese expedition.
Jerry Shepard — Paul Walker
Davis McClaren — Bruce Greenwood
Katie — Moon Bloodgood
Charlie Cooper — Jason Biggs
Dr. Andy Harrison — Gerard Plunkett
Mindo — August Schellenberg
Eve McClaren — Wendy Crewson
Rosemary — Belinda Metz
Camera (Technicolor, widescreen), Don Burgess; editor, Christopher Rouse; music, Mark Isham; production designer, John Willett; supervising art director, Ross Dempster; art director, Jeremy Stanbridge; set decorator, Peter Lando; costume designer, Jori Woodman; sound (Dolby Digital), Kirk H. Francis; animal trainer, Mike Alexander; assistant director, Luc Etienne; second unit director, C. Mitchell Amundsen; casting, Deborah Aquila, Tricia Wood (U.S.), Coreen Mayrs, Heike Brandstatter (Canada).
Rating: PG. Running time: 120 MIN.
Column Rating: Definitely See.
With Your Children? Yes!
 DOG LOVERS TRULY enjoy this film. For that matter, so can all animal lovers. Also, if you love stunning cinematography, as I do (the consummate armchair traveler), then the wide-screen capture of the splendor of Antarctica is both breathtaking at times, and ominous, as well. Such a spectacularly icy and rocky land, the continent is the top of down-under, all blinding whiteness punctuated by chill hues of grey. The film unspools, depicting an inland remote science station, nestled in the snowy vastness, manned in the early '90s by a National Science Foundation team. The choice of year was relative to the last year sled dogs worked the Antarctic.
Of course, if you love contemplating setting foot in snowy, wide-open icescapes, rushing headlong into bitter winds and risking the very real hazard of frostbite (read bye-bye fingers, toes and possibly your nose)—then hey—you will definitely love the footage (never mind the locations are actually shot in Canada, Greenland, and a brief scenario requiring a trip to Svalbard Norway—as they all share the Antarctic capacity to reach 30 below, never mind the wind chill factors). Given the promised icy eye candy, Eight Below should hold the adult viewer's attention, even if fantasy-ilk, animal heroics aren't your cup of tea.  Kids seem to universally identify with these dogs, especially when they appear distressed, trying to survive nearly insurmountable threats.
OK, now…about the dogs, 'man's best friend' for some twenty thousand years. The characterizations for Eight Below unilaterally filled all dog lovers notions of the nobility and loyalty, the friendship and dedication of all dogs everywhere. (Dogs Rule!) To depict eight canines going through the action of this script, some twenty-eight dogs (and their trainers) were employed. Eight pairs of 'actors' for each 'character' did the 'acting scenes' with considerably better acting skills than the Lassie or Rin Tin Tin sets of dogs. Training of animal actors has been considerably fine-tuned. Rarely could these dogs be detected looking to their trainers for cues.
 Then there was another set of dogs to perform in the sledding and 'stunt' scenes, each matched according to their best talents. Knowing this by no means detracts from the scenes with the dogs, which were plentiful. They dominated the film. For that reason, I found the mid-way point of the script to be tiresome, as the script called for the upright bipeds to ponder the fate of their abandoned canine co-workers—for the better part of six months, from the safety and comfort of summertime in the northern hemisphere. Well, their sled master, Jerry Shepard, was mostly morose. His behavior was suitable, given that common sense dictated he should actually be in mourning, as everyone to whom he spoke of the dogs' plight rather bluntly suggested the dogs were likely not awaiting rescue.
 6'3" actor Paul Walker (Fast & Furious franchise) was toned down to nearly boy-next-door good looks for this Disney main protagonist role. His usual spiked, blonde-highlighted total fox typecasting was not really in evidence. Walker will be seen in five more movies this year, all of which are now in post-production. We'll see if he still has the look. He portrayed the science station's expedition specialist and alpha Dad of his canine family…and connected very nicely with the dog ensemble. His acting was minimalist, especially when it came to conveying Shepard's feelings for his dogs, or for his on-again, off-again ex-girlfriend Katie (Moon Bloodgood), a bush pilot ferrying teams in and out of Antarctica and wishing for Shepard to 'grow up' while she attempted to move on. As a good many men have an extremely difficult time with emotional issues, let alone being comfortable displaying them, Walker's low-key Shepard was therefore somewhat believable, if he was doing it on purpose.
Jason Biggs had no trouble turning in another engaging performance, this one as Shepard's best friend Cooper. A cartographer whose resume included a 'friendship' of his own, he had access to equipment that proved pivotal to the rescue attempt. His winning personality was a perfect match to this minor role. Biggs, on a release tour, appeared on 'Ellen,' revealing that there were 'a lot of dogs—like twenty or more'—certainly more dogs than the movie's web site discusses. Odd. No matter. Bruce Greenwood did a great job as the meteorite-hunting geologist who insisted  on the trip to even more remote Mt. Melbourne. Because of its top-secret classification, the expedition's destination was news to Shepard, who because of the lateness in the season observes, "There is only one way we're going to make that trip and that's with the dogs." "Dogs?," Dr. McLaren responds. His insistence on attempting to find an important meteorite before the expedition season closed increased the odds against success…and the sled team was his only option.
Days out from the station, Shepard received radio orders to return, as an unexpected killer storm was building, aimed their way. McLaren, frantic to persist in his search declared, "You gotta take chances for the things you care about." Shepard relents, "the southern slope in the morning…I want to be underway by noon." McLaren smiled his gratefulness and got his last window of opportunity, which nearly ended in disaster. Luckily, he got his specimen rock…and a broken leg. Not good, doubly so as the 'worst storms in 25 years' were beginning early for the season and the sledding expedition was suddenly in harm's way. In addition, the Antarctic was in for one of the most intensely storm-battered, seemingly endless, dark winters the region had ever endured.
 Shepard's dog team, gentlemen heroes all, are mostly Huskies offset by two smaller stature Malamutes, 'shorter, but just as strong.' Old Jack is 'retiring' in a few weeks at the end of this summer work season, and Max the 'pup' is the youngest. Shepard is expecting 'great things' from him. Maya, a female alpha leader nicknamed 'my girl' by Shepard, beautiful Shadow, Shorty, white as snow but not too bright, the 'family twins' Truman and Dewey, and lastly, Buck who will forevermore be remembered as the brawn, not the brains, of the Eight Below team.
The animal cast had to be the most enjoyable bunch of working animals ever. Some brought their experience from their roles in Disney's 2002 canine romp 'Snow Dogs'! DJ, who is a 'Birds and Animals' star now, played Max. DJ's 'stunt double' was Timba, just over a year old for this role, who has gone on to her own dog-sledding career in Canada. Max's character had a true 'acting arc' through which DJ masterfully portrayed several growth situations, from the pup at the back of the team, to heroic alpha team leader. Koda Bear, the princess, and Kalista, her sledding stunt double, and real life alpha female sledding team member,  played Maya. DJ and Koda Bear were in 'Snow Dogs'! Old Jack, famous poker player, was played by relatively young four year old Apache, whose stunt double was Buck, a pure white dog 'dyed to match.' Buck as his white furry self was also in 'Snow Dogs.' These dogs were the 'A' list dog actors.
The rest of the Eight Below team, though with 'less lines,' were every bit as notable. The silvery beauty, Shadow, was portrayed by Noble, and Troika, who both acted and did their own stunts. Noble is known for his ability to 'get into' the role, and Troika is famous for her lovely howling voice. Truman was played by Sitka, a pound puppy rescued and trained for her current movie stardom. Rags to Riches, and all that. Chase, the big 'goof ball' was another stunt double that underwent a non-toxic color job to resemble Sitka. Floyd, who also appeared in 'Snow Dogs,' played Truman's 'twin' Dewey. Floyd's stunt double was Ryan, a real life jump-the-gun sled dog. Huge, red Buck came to life with performances by fast on the acting uptake Conan, and Flapjack, the heaviest dog on the set, weighing in at 120 pounds! Finally, Shorty, was played by snow-happy Jasper and doubled by the tireless Yukon. Obviously, gender is not a problem for dog actors with lots of fur…great! Steady work.
 If it wasn't for the bitter cold life-threatening locations, this dog lover could think of few better places to be if it had been my fate to work alongside this passel of gorgeous dogs. What a kick! The scenes featuring the canine crowd were the best, and plentiful enough in the movie. There were the necessary non-dog scenes of the aforementioned characters. All of them center around Shepard seeking aid to retrieve his dogs as promised, punctuated by scenes which kept us abreast of what the dogs were doing. They lunged out of, chewed through or shrugged off their dog collars, after four days of waiting. Off they went, scouting far and wide for food, getting a handle on hunting as a pack, catching birds on the wing, scrounging packaged food from the long term food storage sheds and fighting a huge leopard seal for the remains of a beached dead whale. A playful bunch, on the good days they saw fun at odd moments. They chased and lunged at the skittering lights playing across the snow from the southern lights. They cheered each other through the dangerous times, which were myriad, as the days blurred into months.
 The pace of the movie picked up again as soon as the rescue mission was underway. Jerry having persisted with no positive results decided to take the counsel of the dog's breeder, a Native American, Mindo (August Schellenberg, recently as Powhatan in The New World) who helped him with his decision to go south, working his way back to his dogs. Before he leaves the country, he stops in on McLaren's victory speech about his meteorite find. When McLaren suggested the folly of Shepard's decision, stubbornly pursuing a reckless course, surely to no good end, Shepard smiled, "You gotta take chances for the things you care about." McLaren was disturbed by his determination, all these months later, until he tucked his son in that night. On the headboard shelf, he found a child's depiction of dogs drawn by his son. He had labeled it, 'my hero: the dogs who saved my Dad's life.' Well that cinched it. McLaren is on board. Anchors away.
 One very impressive bit of footage that managed to raise the audience anxiety levels was of the powerful ice-breaker that plowed through the ice pack…not something you see all that much footage of, given they are just utility ships to most filmmakers. Remarkable scenes.
Happily, there was a slamming ending to the movie, for the bulk of this team, unlike the opposite number of losses suffered on the real life 1958 expedition. This is just a movie to see and enjoy viscerally, not intellectually. The awesome and daunting wilderness fills the screen, overwhelming mostly, with the harsh implications for survival during the Antarctic summer, to say nothing of spending the winter. However, you can take pleasure in the viewing…these dog actors bring on a performance to 'warm the cockles' and all that…one for your DVD library as well.
Notes:
The conditions these people call home for their summer jobs in these frosty southernmost regions includes this movie's admonitions of sleeping 'with anything you need until the heat comes back on in the morning, including your water bottle, if you wish to be able to drink the water in it—the heat is turned off at lights out! " Everything about their jobs, for this desert rat, seems inconceivably treacherous, certainly unreal. Just watching these depictions of their workdays gives me a sense of admiration that someone is willing to accomplish this necessary work in such a climate. Apparently, as the summer peaks, the temperature rises (warms) to -36 C, which is such a ridiculous number, it is irrelevant what it is in degrees Fahrenheit. Scene after scene simply furthers the suggestion of feeling a draft down your collar, of frozen ground making your feet numb, of always being cold. Their cool, high-tech sub-zero gear and excellent glare-preventative sunglasses just seem to be no match for the actual conditions.
Antarctica is twice the size of Australia in summer. In winter, the ocean near shore freezes, actually doubling the landmass. Incredible. Whenever I re-visit these stats, I always retain a nagging feeling, today's troubles loom, and everything seems a bit strange and ominous. Jokes of greenhouse effects aren't funny, loudmouths popping off about these subjects some people devote their entire lives to read between the lines, analyze and carefully draw conclusions that don't draw fire from said ignorant folks…who really knows? The scientists know. They are not down there on holiday. They are down there to gather more stats, their findings valuable hints for analysis, important to all of us.
Apparently, sled dogs are no longer enlisted. Although they are much better suited than their human co-workers to the rigors of such a demanding environment, their inclusion was discontinued by the mid-'90s to lessen exposure to indigenous seals to distemper. In this film, the first time the dog's heads bob up from under what appeared to be an empty, snow covered expanse, shaking off the layer of snow accumulated while they slept, gives you pause, and a good laugh. These dogs were bred to live and thrive in these surroundings. Amazing. That they can also have a good sense of humor and work is admirable. That they could survive such an ordeal as depicted in this story, and as reported by Japanese explorers about their expedition dogs is quite believable…sufficient to provide the inspiration for this movie. 
Photos copyright Walt Disney Pictures.
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