Paul Walker and the dogs star in Walt Disney Picture’s Eight Below, Copyright 2006

I’m a big dog fan, as well as a lot of other animals, but I grew up with Disney movies featuring talking animals. A personal favorite of mine is Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey a film featuing two dogs and a cat, directed by Duwayne Dunham, released in 1984.

I seem to recall a film with a similar premise, Disney’s Snow Dogs released in 2002, directed by Brian Levant. This film featured a Miami dentist (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who inherits a team of huskies. This film was a comedy and had a very light, almost weak, feel to it.

This new Disney film, Eight Below is based on the Japanese film, translated from the original title, Antartica released in Japan in 1983. Antartica was inspired by a true story of a group of scientists who bonded with their snow dogs and had to leave them behind because of a storm. They then made an effort to retrieve them, but were unable to for a very long period of time.

The National Science Expedition Team is working in the frozen Tundras of Antartica, the bottom of the world. At the moment Gerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is prepared to assist Dr. McLauren (Bruce Greenwood) in an expedition to find fragments of Mercury believed to have crashed to crash at the very, very bottom of the world. The dogs, Jack (an older dog), Max (a younger one), Maya (Gerry’s “best girl”), the twins, Dewey and Truman (those two have fought quite a bit when they were young, like the presidential candidates), Shorty (snow white fur), Buck (all braun, no brains), and Shadow.

While on their quest, they have an accident or two, involving the Doctor, that’s not the worst of it, they still haven’t found anything and Gerry’s former sweet-heart (Moon Bloogood) radios them from the compound that a storm is approaching. The following day, the doctor convinces Gerry to continue searching, but after finding what he was looking for soon after, he has an accident. The storm is approaching faster and Gerry needs to race himself and McLauren back to the compound for their lives.

After returning, Gerry’s friend (Jason Briggs, a funny guy, who’s worst fear is flying) is waiting alongside his bed in the compound. Unfortunately, the team has to leave now, and must leave the dogs behind. Convinced they would have been able to retrieve them earlier, he’s now a mess, learning no one can go back. And so for over a hundred days the huskies must survive, in the cold hell of Antartica.

Understanding this is a kid’s film, I think the screenplay, written by Dave Digillo was the weakest part of the film. Paul Wallker’s role was heavily underwritten. I know this because I have seen Paul Walker in many other films, and surely his dialogue has not been as cheesy as this. His acting was decent, most parts were, nothing special but still decent. Though… Not to mention the fact that during winter of Antartica there would be eternal darkness. Because of the tilt of the earth on its axis, during winter in Antartica, no part of the continent can be reached by the sun.

Easily the best performers in this film were the dogs, many of which appeared in Snow Dogs. Obviously these dogs have been heavily trained, they are able to do what they are supposed to and able to work with other dogs all around them. I’m really beginning to get tired of films with live-action talking animas, especially with CGI jaws to make it appear they are speaking. There are a few points when the dogs act in personification, but atleast they don’t look at the camera (…Jimmy Falon…).

It indeed takes a lot of hard work, to be able to handle these dogs and make them do whatever on cue. For films like this, and many dealing with animals that are actually good movies, the handlers/trainers should be given a lot of credit for their work. Which obviously takes impressive skill.

This is a much better Disney film than many we have seen a little long time, the writing is somewhat flawed, but it caries that heartwarming feel. Survival is important to all these dogs, and you are routing for them just to stay alive one more day so Gerry can find them.

Director Frank Marshall, also the director of Congo(yuck) has sort of revived my faith in him as a filmmaker. He does a fairly decent job with this film, especially in getting many sequences right and casting for the most part. He’s currently producing Indiana Jones 4, as well as Jurassic Park IV, which I hope will be good films, I’m a fan of both franchises.

Eight Below is a moving story of eight dogs, that will please the kids and adults with edge of your seat entertainment and hopeful feelings. Though the writing is somewhat dry, a majority of the film focuses on the dogs survival which the sequences are very interesting to watch. This film could have just as easily been titled March of The Canines.

Rated PG for some peril and brief language. Running time 120 minutes.
MAXimum Warning: One sequence may be too scary for younger children.