Eight Below: Winter Movie Recommendation

     Eight Below is an exciting, heart-warming movie loosely based on a true Antarctic tale. The story follows Jerry Shepherd (Paul Walker) as he tries desperately to get back to Antarctica so he can rescue his eight sled dogs who were abandoned in an emergency evacuation. While Jerry is fighting agencies, trying to raise money and struggling to convince friends to go back to Antarctica with him, the dogs have their own difficulties. The film flashes back and forth between the dogs, and their owner.

    There are a couple reasons this film is one of my favourite winter films. The characters are interesting and relatable, and you can’t help but pull for them. Jerry Shepherd is a guide who owns eight sled dogs and takes people on expeditions in Antarctica. He is single and clearly pours his heart into his dogs, calling them his “kids.” The relationship that he shows with his dogs from the very beginning of the movie is inspiring and seems to solidify the idea that the dog is “man’s best friend.” (Sorry cat lovers. There just aren’t movies about cats fulfilling heroic deeds or saving people.) 

     Speaking of the dogs, they are amazing characters in themselves. Without creating cheesy personification, the screenwriters suggest character traits and personalities for the dogs. The main dog, Maya, is Jerry’s favourite, and she clearly leads the pack through the difficulties they face alone in Antarctica. The pup of the bunch, Max, is a rising leader but has to learn his place in Maya’s pack. At least half of the movie dwells on the adventures that the dogs have, and without a single spoken word, the movie conveys the tensions and friendships that the dogs carry for each other. 

     The movie also has a great cast of supporting characters including a meteorologist (Bruce Greenwood and Katie (Moon Bloodgood)—Antarctican pilot, Jerry’s once-girlfriend and dog-lover herself—who works with Jerry at the base. There is room for a lot of laughs in the movie, despite the seriousness of the situation that Jerry is in.

     Another element that makes this movie great is its setting. It could hardly be a better winter movie. There are major snowstorms, towering ice-covered mountains and cutting, Antarctic winds. The white scenery that the film crew captured is stunning. Glaciers, leopard seals, and a crystal clear Aurora Borealis are a few of the beautiful, wild aspects of this film. Watching it and seeing things that I never witness in day-to-day life only makes me appreciate the vastness of God even more. It also makes me shiver and pull my blanket higher around me during the shrill whistling of the wind. 

     The themes in this movie are also inspiring. “You fight for what you care about,” the meteorologist Davis McCleran tells Jerry. This becomes the idea that Jerry relies on as it seems to become impossible to get back to the South Pole. Winter has set in at the bottom of the world—during America’s summer—and he is forced to sit back and think about what he has lost. 

     Another important theme in the movie is that of friendship. Jerry’s friends from the base, who knew how much he cared about his dogs, rally around him and eventually make it possible for him to see them again. The dogs also rely on each other (pack animals…cats aren’t😜—yes, I’m aiming to create controversy here) and make it through the brunt of their difficulties. The friendships aren’t limited to races either! They cross between animals and humans. Before the emergency evacuation (due to medical issues) Maya guides her team—consisting of Jerry, Doc McCleran and seven other dogs—home through a major snowstorm. Jerry is unable to see or issue commands so he relies completely on their intelligence and obedience. At another point, Maya saves Davis McCleran when he falls into icy water. Yet another time, the dogs pull the sled out of a gaping glacier that opens suddenly.

     If you’re looking for a family-friendly winter watch, I would highly recommend Eight Below. Dog-lover or not, this movie should inspire awe for God’s creation—both the animals and the scenery of Antarctica. If you watch it, let me know what you think! It’s been a favourite of mine for several years now. I don’t hear much about it and think more people should watch it.