Overview
Eight Below is a 2006 American survival drama film, a remake based on the 1983 Japanese film Antarctica by Toshirô Ishidô, Koreyoshi Kurahara, Tatsuo Nogami and Susumu Saji. It was produced by Patrick Crowley and David Hoberman, directed by Frank Marshall with music by Mark Isham and written by David DiGilio. It stars Paul Walker in the leading role. It also stars Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood and Jason Biggs. It was released theatrically on February 17, 2006 by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States. The film is set in Antarctica but was filmed in Svalbard, Norway, Greenland and British Columbia, Canada. It tells the story of a guide at an Antarctica research base who risks his life and the lives of his colleagues to save his dogs. The film received positive reviews from critics and it earned $120.4 million on a $40 million budget.
Plot
In January 1993, Jerry Shepard, guide at an Antarctica research base of the National Science Foundation, is asked to take UCLA professor, Dr. Davis McClaren, to Mount Melbourne to find a rare meteorite from Mercury. Since the ice conditions are poor, the best way to the mountain is by dog sled.
Shepard and McClaren make it, but are called back to base camp due to an approaching storm. McClaren begs for more time and Shepard gives him half a day, enough time to find a fragment of the meteorite. En route back to base, McClaren slips down an embankment, breaking his leg and falling into freezing water. Shepard uses lead dog Maya to carry a rope to McClaren and pulls him out. They battle hypothermia, frostbite and near whiteout conditions as the dogs lead them to base. Once there, the entire human crew is immediately evacuated, while the dogs are left behind. Promised that their pilot will return shortly for the dogs, Shepard tightens their collars to ensure they cannot get loose. But because of the harsh weather conditions an immediate rescue cannot be attempted.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).