Eight Below (Review)

I feel that Eight Below is a very good movie and I really was touched during the end when the dogs came through alive. It all started when Dr McLaren arrived at the South Pole and wanted to have an expedition to a mountain in search of meteorites for his project. This was a very risky expedition as it was coming to the stormy season and the weather may not permit this travel. However, Dr McLaren was adamant on the trip and Jerry could only listen to his boss and they set off with the sled dogs on the expedition.

Dr McLaren had successfully found a rock which he believed very much that it was a meteorite dropped from the outer space. Smarting from his excellent discovery, Dr McLaren was upbeat but his happiness was soon wiped out when he suffered a fall and broke a leg. Jerry saved him from the cold waters and sacrifice his warmth by taking off his coat for Dr McLaren to wear to keep him warm. Jerry's hand suffered severe frostbite but they made it back to camp safely with the aid of the dogs, Maya, Buck, Shorty, Dewey, Truman, Max, Old Jack and Shadow.

The team receives intel that a heavy snowstorm is approaching and they were ordered to vacate their base and fly to McMurdo for the winter. However Katie's helicopter did not have enough room to bring the dogs back to McMurdo and Jerry was furious that his beloved dogs were not leaving with him. However, Jerry relented when he was promised that another plane would come back for the dogs.

When the team reaches McMurdo, Jerry was very upset at the news that the storm has set in and there would not be any more planes airborne. Jerry tried to ask Katie to secretly fly back to base to get the dogs but Katie assured him that the dogs would do fine and she cannot do anything for him. Jerry was devastated and he knew that he would have to wait for winter to pass before he can return to find his dogs.

In the meantime, the dogs broke free of the leashes bound to their necks after a few days of waiting for their daddy. However, Old Jack did not move as he was already very old and knew that he would not make it alive and so he stayed in the snow and was soon buried under a whte blanket. The others went on and they were led by Maya, the leader of the pack, to find food and maintain survival. During this course of a few months, the dogs stayed together as one and was always bearing the hope that Jerry would return to save them.

During this time, Jerry went back to his house in California and spent his time searching for people and resources to go back to South Pole. However, all his hard work were futile and Jerry was dejected that he would not be able to see all his dogs alive when he returns back to base after the winter season.

Jerry finally finds financial aid from Dr McLaren and the team reunites and sets off to the South Pole via different transports like helicopters and snow trucks. When the team arrived at their base, Jerry was upset to see that Old Jack had died and he presumed that the other dogs also suffered the same fate like Old Jack. However, Jerry was ecstatic to see 6 dogs dashing from afar to him. It was like the dream of his life, seeing the huskies emerging from the top of the hill. During the months, Truman also died after he fell from a hill.