Eight Below (2006)

Starring Paul Walker and a bunch of talented dogs

Eight Below is a thrilling, exciting adventure film about Antarctic survival and the loyalty a man feels toward his canine helpers. It starts with a star-crossed expedition in the Antarctic (the bottom of the world; the Arctic is on the top of the world). A scientist journeys to a remote Antarctic outpost, looking for a meteorite from another world. But a sudden storm bears down, and the remote outpost must be hurriedly evacuated along with all the other Antarctic outposts. Behind the storm the long Antarctic winter is approaching, during which no flights will be possible to or from this remote and inhospitable region.

During the rush to evacuate, a string of sled dogs has to be abandoned, staked out in front of an outpost. Their handler is stricken with guilt and remorse at leaving them; half of the film shows his seemingly futile efforts to get transportation back to the Antarctic to rescue or at least honor and bury the dogs he knows and calls by name. As their handler he knows each dog's personality, experiences, strengths and weaknesses.

The other half of the movie shows how the sled dogs handle their situation. The movie gives wonderful silent voice to why people e love pets, and dogs in particular, so much. Dogs mirror our emotions and our thinking, and have the gift of communicating to us what's important.

The situation of the dogs is bleak. Unlike the penguins in March of the Penguins, dogs are not native to the Antarctic. This makes the movie all the more thrilling. Can eight dogs trained to pull sleds find ways to survive? (These dogs are the "eight below" of the title; the temperature is far colder than that.)

Eight Below is stark and beautiful. Enormous vistas of ice and snow stretch from horizon to horizon. The viewer can feel the sharp winds cutting to the bone. The night shots are unutterably moving, with sharp cold stars spread out in the sky as falling stars streak across the immensity, or the eerie glow of the Northern lights (or should we call them "Southern lights?") plays upon the snow.

This movie is a timeless classic. It tells a gripping story, and is suitable for all adults as well as most children, as long as the kids are old enough to absorb a touching and sometimes scary and sometimes sad story of survival against the odds.