A doggone entertaining flick

It's hard to find fault with a film featuring fantastic animal actors, as is amply evidenced in "Eight Below," in which the canine thespians steal the show and the humans tread on some thin ice in their performances. It also helps when the animals' survival story--"inspired" by true events--is as gripping and engaging as the one depicted in this Disney effort. Here's our CineVerse breakdown of this picture:

WHAT DID YOU FIND INTERESTING, UNEXPECTED OR SURPRISINGLY DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS MOVIE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT IT’S A DISNEY FILM?

• The animals are beautiful, smart and cuddly, and have unique personalities, almost like human actors; yet, this isn’t a G-rated film that’s completely suitable for younger children. Some of the dogs die, and we see animals (like the leopard seal) suffer and humans in anguish about it. 
• The dogs are the true stars of the film. The dogs are arguably better actors than their human counterparts; they command more attention and give more captivating performances. 
• It lacks a central villain as a force of conflict; refreshingly, we don’t get a stereotypical “science-over-humanity” type of authority figure working against the dogs. 
• “The film lacks a human villain because the decision not to return for the dogs is wise and prudent, and not made by a mean man who hates dogs,” per Roger Ebert. 
• Thankfully, the filmmakers didn’t try to overly-humanize these canines or dumb-down the story; they could have, for example, used human voices to have the dogs speak aloud to each other, or included voiceover narration—like we hear in a film such as March of the Penguins. Likewise, the filmmakers smartly refrain from giving these dogs implausible skills or superhero-like abilities, although some of their escapes and exploits are a bit incredible. 
• Ebert continued: “Movies about animals always live with the temptation to give the animals human characteristics. Lassie, for example, could do everything but dial the telephone and drive the car. Eight Below is restrained, for the most part, in how it presents its dogs. When there are close-ups of a dog's face, absorbed in thought, anxiety or yearning, we aren't asked to believe anything we don't already believe about dogs...the dogs are not turned into cute cartoon pets but are respected for their basic animal natures.” 
• Interestingly, the quest to rescue the dogs—arguably the most important part of the plot—occurs in the third/last act; the filmmakers could have made this more of the centerpiece of the film and focused acts 2 and 3 (the majority of the story) on this quest, but chose not to. 
• This is, debatably, a rare example of a non-animated non-superhero live action drama by Disney that is well made and memorable. Disney doesn’t always have a great track record in this vein. 

THEMES EXPLORED IN EIGHT BELOW

• The struggle for survival in the harshest of conditions 
• The dogged persistence and perseverance of the human will 
• The value of animals: as beloved and loyal companions, as intrinsically intelligent creatures worthy of our love and respect, as irreplaceable members of a family or team. 
• The impartial cruelty of nature: survival of the fittest. 

FILMS AND WORKS OF LITERATURE THAT EIGHT BELOW BRINGS TO MIND

• Alive 
• Antarctica, for which this film is a remake 
• Snow Dogs 
• Spirit of the Wind 
• Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog 
• The Incredible Journey 
• Never Cry Wolf 
• Family adventure pictures like Swiss Family Robinson 
• Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang 
• War Horse 

OTHER FILMS DIRECTED BY FRANK MARSHALL

• Alive 
• Arachnophobia