Wizard-8
This Canadian movie is one of a rare breed where the action takes place in Canada with Canadian characters. Aside from that fact, and maybe also with Adam Beach's somewhat likable performance as a Native who helps the main protagonist, there's nothing good to say about this entire package. How this got a decent review in the Canadian newspaper "The National Post", I cannot say. The first half of the movie is almost entirely deadly dull, taking forever to reintroduce the threat that first reared its head in the introduction. The second half of the movie is not that much better, with a still sluggish pace and action sequences that are slow and clumsy at best. It's actually a miracle that we do get some action sequences, because a number of key moments either take place out of camera range or were simply not filmed at all. When Michael Ironside (who is in less of the movie than you might think) cannot give himself or his surroundings any life, you know that something is very wrong.
TdSmth5
During the Cuban missile crisis a plane crashes in the Canadian arctic. Folks from a nearby station arrive and rescue 3 survivors. They are all blonde and tall. The physician there is a girl and she's attracted to the sole conscious survivor. Next, he breaks free and kills everything in sight.50 years later an oil expedition arrive to the area. Part of it is a scientist named Malraux and his Russian sidekick. In charge of the oil exploration is some mean lady called Frazier. Some paramilitary team lead by Col. Trump is also involved and they mostly join Malraux, whose goal is to find the 3 guys from the intro. They could be the result of a Nazi experiment or just Russian soldiers trying to take over NY. He and the paramilitary team set up camp near a mountain. When bad weather threatens to end the operation, Malraux explores a cave and finds the three bodies. They are transported to the station and put on life support. Then their hearth start beating again. When Malraux tries to kill these guys, he's placed in custody. Then the guys wake up and ravage the camp.Malraux survives with an injured leg and starts limping after the three guys. He runs into an Indian who offers to take him to the next town. On the way they stop at a camp where the three guys have just killed everyone. Malraux and the Indian manage to survive and make it to the town where the Russians are enjoying drinks and strippers. That's when Maulraux confronts the guys and we learn some secrets.Ice Soldiers starts out pretty well. The part at the exploration camp is pretty good. Things start going downhill when Malraux goes ofter those guys. Direction is pretty good. Acting is also good. Purcell, Ironside, Beach, Branzea, Sullivan are all solid. The problem is with the dialogue of the script. Very little is said and when something is said it's either confrontational, or unclear. The overall story has some interesting ideas. But it gives up these ideas or doesn't explore them to turn into an ordinary chase/action movie. Several things that happen are completely unbelievable and should have been handled better. Had this movie stayed at the camp for the entire length of it, it would have turned out better. Still, it's different and enjoyable.
Tony Heck
"It's imperative I find these three soldiers, extract DNA and verify once and for all whether or not Steinke had genetically modified human beings." After years of speculation Malraux (Purcell), a scientist, finds a hidden bunker that has been holding three frozen genetically modified Russians. Hoping to study them and figure out their make-up he decides to thaw them out. This act reawakens them and the soldiers continue their original mission. I have to admit I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this going in. The beginning "back-story" part of the movie was both interesting and cheesy. The Russians send a group of genetically modified soldiers over here in order to win the Cold War during the Cuban Missile Crises. After that is where the movie starts to go down hill, I can't say its a horrible movie because it wasn't that bad but really just flat. This is the kind of movie you forget what is happening as you watch it and by the end you wonder what made you keep watching. Overall, nothing horrible but not that good either. Very OK and good for a background movie. I give this a C.
paulfmemoli
Seems like the Russians were working on their own Captain America-like super soldier program during the 1950s. 3 of these ubermench, looking suspiciously like Hitler's concept of the Aryan blonde haired, white skinned superman, are on a mission to attack sites in America during the pre-occupation with the Cuban missile crises. Their plane crashes, they go into a form of suspended animation, some scientific exploration team stumbles upon them, wakes them up and all suffer the final fate... except the lone female scientist. The Russian superman who rapes her lets her live, no doubt so that he can come back for seconds....The film now jumps 50 years to the present day, in which events seem to repeat themselves.... with a few twists...It's not a terrible movie. I've seen worse acting, worse plot-lines etc. At the same time it is nothing to write home about. If you're bored and want to see some mindless mayhem, a few strippers, and a little Greek tragedy, this will do the job...Or to put it another way, Michael Ironside's SCANNERS was an original masterpiece compared to this latest film.You say: toe-mah-toe; I say toe-may-toe!