Reviews

While I enjoyed Ava Gardner's character immensely, I was less than thrilled w/ Clark Gable, and even less w/ Grace Kelly, both of whom I normally admire greatly. But the worst of it was the normalization of terrorizing & tearing apart living being families for the thrill of $$$, circus' & zoos, where they are terrorized even further. How anyone could be so heartless as to consider this an ok thing to film is beyond heartbreaking and leads the way to animal abusers worldwide. Thankfully many actors today realize the absolute barbarism of animal exploitation. Tragic that it didn't happen sooner.

I absolutely LOVE this show, the characters, and the actors who portray them. The relationship between father and son can't be beat!!! (and let's not forget that incredible rifle!! ;) A truly blessed sight to behold - especially considering the heartbreaking state of things these days - is the absolutely shameless way they pray, read the Bible, and love learning to live the way our Lord would have them live. Truly beautiful. My most favorite episode is "The Wyoming Story - Part 2", at the end, when Mark not only speedily jumps into his pa's arms, but tearfully, fervently kisses him for pure joy of having him back home for good. Serious, heartwarming sweetness, that. Lumpy throat, teary eyes, every time I see it!!

AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF PUTTING OFF MY REVIEW...

How is it that they felt this would compliment - or continue - the STNG franchise? Incredibly enough, in the Special Features, it shows the actors saying that they were so surprised each time they were told another film was coming... and yet it is on this one that they all finally got to the point where they didn't believe it was really the end, but that another film would be coming, and they couldn't wait! So, this is the one that they hung all their hopes on? REALLY??? Talk about clueless. Up until this one, I was an avid STNG fan... No matter how far they brought you to the brink, they would always find a way to bring you back and better than before. They were pros at the roller-coaster ride that left you satisfied when all was said and done... but this one left me completely numb and stunned and mourning a once brilliant series, dimly lost. Aside from having a director that had no idea of who the characters are or how to handle them (never having watched the series or previous films), you have Brent Spiner just itching to blow Data up once and for all (his revealing). There feels to be a lack of respect for the characters and viewing audience here. Then you have them forgetting a most important part of successful film-making: BALANCE. This movie is SO dark, with very little substance or light throughout the film to balance it. All the way to the end, it's dim, dark, drama, drummed into you... DISMAL! Data is dead, everyone leaves... What a "thank you" to all the fans who kept this franchise running for all these years. :( The whole thing was insulting, rude, and unnecessary for all of us who loved this cast and crew all the years through. I can't even watch the episodes anymore, knowing that this is how they finalize the beloved characters. They try to make you believe that there's a higher message that comes out of it all... something truly inspirational that prevails in spite of everything. Perhaps if it was a true story and they had no choice... but this is Science Fiction and they most certainly had a choice in how to deal with all of this. No, this was not inspirational or courageous... This was an experiment gone terribly wrong, that was best left for some sad, shocking horror flick or a poor episode of Night Gallery. In my book, it's not how you begin, but how you end, that leaves the lasting impression of the whole. If you don't finish well, then there's really no point. The same can be said of life... It's not about how you start, even if you began brilliantly; but if you mess it all up, ruining your life, finishing it with suicide or some such tomfoolery, what is the freakin point?!!! None of it matters then. There's no honor then. On the other hand, if you started sorely, messing up throughout, yet learned and left a loving last impression, now that really counts for something. How is it that they learned nothing from all of their wonderful past experiences, not to mention their incredible predecessor and originator: Star Trek the Original??? Now they did it right, from start to finish... and a beautiful blueprint of success was left for those who followed this timeless classic, leaving no excuse for such sorrowful silliness. One of the biggest disappointment was the lack of outcry from the cast to fix the plot and storyline. In fact, it shows that they were all quite pleased with this miserable mish-mash... then they were quite shocked and confused as to why this film failed miserably, worst than any before... not making up the budget put into it, and no more reunions to follow. They just couldn't understand what happened. Unfortunately, all I could surmise from their extreme approval is that they were simply too worn, themselves, to remember the high quality performances and story lines that they use to produce... and that if this was good enough for them, then they deserved the lousy box-office flop ending that they received. Tragic, truly tragic.

PHEW! AFTER ALL THIS TIME, FELT GOOD TO GET THAT OFF MY CHEST.

Seriously pleasantly surprised!!! The last days of Jesus our Christ on this earth before sacrificing himself for our sins, shown from the perspective of the animals involved; some from Jesus' birth in the barn, all the way to that final, selfless moment when He was crucified. I would recommend this movie to everyone. Forget about criticizing the little this's-n-that's; see it for the incredible message and meaning - and the absolutely clever way of relaying this true account of our Lord & Savior. It truly tells the story very well from that point-of-view, including moments when lumps will form in your throat and your heart will feel like swelling right out of your chest! And for the budget, it really is a nicely done animation. As for all the animal lovers out there, a joyous ending (beginning!!), indeed; not only for the animals involved, but for the viewers witnessing this precious, little, hidden gem. Go see it... You won't be sorry - especially if you're in it for the reason you should be in it for! God bless. :)

The American Humane Association, which is the source of the familiar disclaimer "No animals were harmed..." (the registered trademark of the AHA), began to monitor the use of animals in film production more than 60 years ago, after a blindfolded horse was forced to leap to its death from the top of a cliff for a shot in the film Jesse James (1939). Needless to say, the atrocious act kills the whole entertainment aspect of this film for me. I suppose one could say that at least the horse didn't die in vain, since it was the beginning of the public waking up to the callous and horrendous pain caused animals for the glory of movie making, but I can't help but feel that if the poor animal had a choice, this sure wouldn't have been the path he would have taken!

From http://www.slate.com/id/2117565/: The AHA began to monitor the use of animals in film production more than 60 years ago, after a horse was forced to leap to its death from the top of the cliff for a shot in the film Jesse James. In 1980, the association publicized animal cruelty on the set of the mega-flop Heaven's Gate—where the production crew apparently decapitated chickens, held cockfights, and blew up a horse—which prompted industry groups to strike a deal with the AHA. The Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers agreed that the AHA should oversee the use of animals in films whenever possible.

The eight stars is for the incredible dogs, and the strong bond Jerry Shepherd (Paul Walker) holds with them (as well as for both commentaries on the DVD, which holds some very cool info about the dogs, and interesting facts, such as to why One's breath does not show in below zero weather, like so many tend to believe it should). They actually deserve the highest of all star ratings, but I can not even think to give this movie ten stars for all the rest of it. The rest of it deserves less than zero! This movie pulled, ripped, and shredded all my heart strings and left me absolutely drained. The only true heart through this movie was from the dogs and Jerry. No one else cared enough or tried enough, which was made abundantly clear from the very start, when they first chose to take the equipment out before the dogs, thus beginning the whole tragedy in motion. This mentality throughout the film made Jerry's declaration to his girlfriend, near the end, that he owed her for always understanding how important getting back to the dogs was, very confusing to me. It seemed that she always had this sly smile on her face, even in the beginning when giving condolences over having to leave the dogs, she always seemed to be having a happy glow on her... really disconcerting. Just felt like, "So sorry, so sad, but must move on now!" If the intention of her character was to be understanding throughout the movie, her part was sorely lacking. At best, she came off as patronizing and just barely patient through his worrying so much over something that she made very clear should be let go of, even though the dogs were at that very moment starving, lost, lonely, and dying. It wasn't a year later... or even six months yet... but this was her attitude at the beginning until they finally decided to go back. Did she not get that you don't get past something WHILE IT IS STILL HAPPENING???!!! Only after you understand that it is over, truly done with, do you even start to think about the journey of learning to live with it. But out of sight out of mind, right?!!! So, that scene, and the fact that no one ever actually apologized, or made some motion that they were responsible with their lack of previous action, made me somewhat sick at heart. Even if they couldn't go back through winter due to the impossible nature of weather or what have you, they could have -- should have! -- been a much better support system (or even any kind of support system at all!!!) to Jerry. Even when the doc finally gave in way later, it felt like he was inching his way to it, as if through guilt alone, begrudgingly doing Jerry and the dogs a FAVOR instead of finally understanding that HE OWED THEM ALL and was doing what he should have done from the start, saving them all -- as he should have Dewey and Old Jack -- as they had saved him time and again. The fact is that even if this movie wasn't based on a true story it would irk me and make my heart ache... but the sad truth is that not only was there one dog (Old Jack) that died through starvation, alone and immobile in the snow... but in real life, there were actually SEVEN -- and SIX more unaccounted for!!! In real life there were 15 dogs and only two known to have survived. So, I don't even get the comfort of, "Well, at least this was just a movie". Needless to say, this is the movie that finally outdid the one other movie that ripped my heart to shreds as a little girl -- Old Yeller -- but at least that one was truly "just a movie". So, yes, this movie is a spectacular viewing, the dogs are beyond awesome, Paul Walker is fantastic, a true hero (An avid dog lover in real life, as well!), with a considerable joyous relief in the end for the dogs that did survive... but I just can't get past the absolutely avoidable TRAGIC deaths of those other loyal, loving, trusting dogs... betrayed... and the fact that the ones that did survive were no doubt scarred for life. So many are heralding this movie as a human bonding, growing thing. While I do say that it is a lesson of the true love and loyalty that dog holds for man, and that man should hold for dog... for the rest of it, it's a painful reminder of all the dogs left behind (ex: The heroic Vietnam war dogs; the K-9 Katrina victims; the no longer interested family leaving their pup in the woods), an acknowledgment of the ungratefulness and insufferable selfishness of so many out there, and the heartbreaking destruction that too often comes from it. **View this movie so to let the haunting images fill you, and then never allow such a horrific thing to happen again. NO ANIMAL LEFT BEHIND! These dogs story needs to be told, so that their deaths are never, ever in vain and such tragedy is never allowed to ever happen again. **For those that are looking to buy the original movie that this one is based on, you can often find used copies of the video at Amazon.com. If it's not there when you look, keep checking -- under both of its titles "Antarctica" and "Nankyoku monogatari" (meaning "The South Pole Story")... It goes in and out. It's also been seen in ebay.