DVD | Eight Below

Rating: PG
Duration: 116 mins.
Genre: Family Adventure.
Actors: Paul Walker, Wendy Crewson, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood, August Schellenberg, Moon Bloodgood, Gerard Plunkett.
Release Date: Available Now.

Eight Below is defiantly a family movie. If you have sensitive children, you won’t want to make our mistake of letting the kids watch Eight Below with out first having a family screening. Half way through watching it, our middle daughter came in to see us with tears running down her face, informing us that the dogs had died. Of course her emotions had gotten the better of her, as at this stage of the movie, only one of the dogs had died.

It took a lot of convincing a week later for her to sit down and watch the movie as part of a family movie night, but in the end she did, and saw that not all of the dogs do in fact die.

Eight Below is adapted from a Japanese film (Nankyoku Monogatari) which in turn was inspired by true events.

When a fierce storm requires the prompt evacuation of a remote Antarctic base, additional human visitors mean that there isn’t room on the plane for the team of sled dogs. Jerry has to tie his dogs securely with the promise that they will be back on the next flight to pick them up.

The only problem being is that the storm is so severe that there is no next flight as the storm is so sever that almost everybody is being evacuated off the ice altogether. Jerry returns home heartbroken that his ‘family’ have been left behind to die.

But Jerry doesn’t give up on them, and as they fight for survival, Jerry fights to get a team back on the ice to look for them.

Beside some great artic scenes, it’s the dogs (and probably a whole heap of subtle cgi manipulation) that make Eight Below such a lovable survival story. The dogs all have their own personalities, and must learn to respect their leader, work as a team, and cope with loss and loneliness to survive the harshest of winters ever.

In the end, the story has a predictable happy ending – hey this is Disney! – and ends up being a great family movie, one that I can recommend for any family movie night!

Food for thought:
Should we let children watch a movie alone that we (as parents) haven’t already seen?

Rent or Buy?
Eight Below for all its lovable dogliness is one to rent. The kids may want to watch it again, but numerous viewings are doubtful as the story will quickly get boring for even the most die hard dog fan!