fung0
Alistair MacLean was a writer of limited ability. His plots are repetitive, his characters pure cardboard. What he did well was choose great settings, and keep things moving at a brisk pace. Bear Island captures that essence perfectly, even if it may take some liberties with the details.I've always particularly liked MacLean's Arctic novels (especially Night Without End, for my money his best work). This movie version of Bear Island captures that setting perfectly, being shot essentially on location in the actual Arctic. Forget the tacky sets of Ice Station Zebra... Bear Island makes you FEEL the cold and the isolation. Another reviewer complained about the hoods obscuring the actors' faces. I'm sure that's because the actors were trying hard not to FREEZE their faces. It's a realistic detail that's lacking in most set-bound movies set in the far North, that have characters breezing around with suicidal disregard for the cold.The acting is exactly appropriate to the story. Sutherland is still in fine leading-man form, and the supporting cast is well chosen. The story is convoluted and preposterous, as befits a MacLean outing, but tackled with earnestness that makes it work.Until I caught up with it recently, I hadn't even known this film existed. Now, it's one of my favorite MacLean adaptations. It's a more intimate affair than Where Eagles Dare or the Guns of Navarone, but vastly superior to hollow Hollywood spectaculars like Ice Station Zebra. I'd put it on a par with Breakheart Pass: a fast-paced diversion, staffed by likable stars, and enhanced by a nice feeling of time and place.
JasparLamarCrabb
An action pic starring Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave. Who thought this was going to be a good idea? Based on the (presumably better) book by Alistair MacLean and directly by Don Sharp, this film is really just a series of badly choreographed fights & way too long chases over the frozen wastelands. Sutherland & Redgrave are part of an expedition to an uninhabited island. Their leader, Richard Widmark, may or may not be a Nazi. Others in their party clearly are. As this is based on a McLean novel, you know that there's hidden Nazi treasure somewhere. Widmark, playing a Norwegian, is shrill, while Sutherland & Redgrave do journeyman work, clearly collecting a paycheck for their time in the snow. Sharp, who managed to direct a few decent Hammer films in the 1960s, shows little flair for this type of action yarn. Things lumber along at such a snail's pace, it's sleep inducing rather than riveting. The music by Robert Farnon is so hyper it only manages to promise thrills that do not come. The unlucky supporting cast includes Christopher Lee, Lloyd Bridges and Barbara Parkins.
udar55
German scientist Otto Gerran (Richard Widmark) leads an expedition to icy Bear Island - which was also a base for Nazi U-boats in WWII - for some kind of environmental research. Included in the group are fellow scientist Frank Lansing (Donald Sutherland), nurse Heddi Lindquist (Vanessa Redgrave), Russian Lechinski (Christopher Lee) and boat captain Smithy (Lloyd Bridges) among others. When they arrive at the titular location, the group discovers one of the three folks stationed there has gone missing. Before you can say TEN LITTLE INDIANS, folks start getting offed in an effort to hide the island's secret. This is a pretty enjoyable action-mystery adaptation of Alistair MacLean's snowbound novel. The cast is all game, which is good as this must have been a hell of a production to shoot as 70% of it looks shot on location (Alaska and Canada). Director Don Sharp keeps things moving fast and, while you'll probably solve most of the mystery early on, there are still some nice twists. The production is nicely mounted, with great sets and some nice Bond-esquire snow chases. One great scene has Sutherland discovering a German U-boat and he finds the dead crew aboard it, shackled to their posts. One interesting thing my friend who sent this to me pointed out is that this totally has a vibe of John Carpenter's THE THING. Now, of course, THE THING is a remake but I'd wager that film's screenwriter Bill Lancaster or John Carpenter saw this before setting about their version. The opening - where a lone guy runs across a snow-covered plain while being chased by a snowboat - sounds exactly like the opening of Carpenter's film. Look for Bruce Greenwood in his first big screen roll as Tommy the Technician, sporting an epic beard.
ianlouisiana
"Five U.S.A." butchered "Bear Island" yesterday afternoon,the net result being not worth watching.A significant proportion was out of focus,the sound unintelligible,the effect of the flickering visuals almost stroboscopic.From the wreckage it might hardly be fair to criticise what may well have been a masterpiece of cinema for all I know although the bits I did see don't give that theory a great deal of credence. Certainly the acting didn't seem to be up to much,Mr Donald Sutherland apparently having his dialogue written by Harold Pinter,the others by the balloon filler for the old wartime action comics,being of the "Gott in Himmel,Fritz",variety. There is an early McGuffin about climate change but basically "Bear Island" is yet another 'Search for Nazi Gold',a plot that even 30 years ago was sprouting whiskers. Mr Lloyd Bridges tries hard to keep a straight face and Mr Sutherland dives into water cold enough to freeze a polar bear's chuff and comes out wisecracking. Some guy gets barbecued by a Verey Pistol and is blown clear out of a ship's bridge,floating away on his back like a holiday maker at Clacton. If these excerpts,gleaned from a confusing melange of sounds and images are anything to go by I probably wouldn't have much liked "Bear Island" anyway,but it would have been nice if "Five U.S.A." had given me the opportunity.
AD
