Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Leofwine_draca BEAR ISLAND is one of those tough '70s thrillers with an all-star Hollywood cast and a novel behind it (this time by the then-popular thriller writer, Alistair MacLean). It's a virtual reprise of Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, with a group of characters assembled on a remote island and whittled down one by one by a mystery villain.Of course, with such productions half of the fun comes from seeing all of the familiar faces and there are plenty here. Lloyd Bridges and Richard Widmark head up the older generation, while Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave are the fresher faces. Christopher Lee has a minor role as a character whose sole purpose for existing in the film is as a red herring, and Barbara Parkins looks lovely.Unfortunately, BEAR ISLAND turns out to be a rather dull and stodgy production, despite the cast and the suspense inherent in the premise. In essence, there's a stash of Nazi gold hidden somewhere on the same island as the characters, and some of the group members are secret Nazis out to get their hands on it. What it all boils down to is a lot of talking, a lot of walking, and one of the dullest ski chases ever put on film. Director Don Sharp cut his teeth in the Hammer stable with the likes of KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, but unfortunately this is one of his weakest productions; the crisp Arctic photography is about the best thing in it.

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.

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.

Paul Andrews Bear Island starts as various scientists of differing nationalities head towards the icy NATO owned Bear Island, a small island in the Artic, where they intend to study the effects of climate change on the melting glaciers. Among them is interested American Frank Lnsing (Donald Sutherland) whose father Captained a German World War II U-Boat & since Bear Island was the last recorded position of his father's boat he wants to see if he can find it, however all is not well as various other parties in the expedition have more sinister motives. Why did team leader Otto Gerran (Richard Widmark) designate certain areas as avalanche risks when they were not? What is he trying to keep people away from? Who sabotaged the radio mast? Who deliberately started an avalanche that killed one scientist & almost killed Lansing? Just what watery cold secrets does Bear Island hide & why does it appear certain people will kill for them & just who is the mysterious Zelda?This British Canadian co-production was co-written & directed by Don Sharp & was based on the novel of the same name published in 1971 by Alistair MacLean although I have not read it so cannot compare the two but this film adaption differs greatly from it's source novel in many ways, as a film I quite liked Bear island & thought it was a fairly watchable espionage thriller with hints of James Bond style action all set on an isolated cold Artic island cut off from civilisation which adds tremendous atmosphere to the film. The set-up is quite good & there's definite intrigue here but it shoots it's load a little too early on although the actual identity of Zelda is kept secret until the end the reasons behind everything is a little predictable. The action adventure scenes are good if a little understated with a lengthy snow mobile/hover-boat chase at the end & two skiers trying to out run a huge avalanche the two main action set-piece highlights. At almost two hours long some may lose patience with it but I thought the time flew by which is always a good sign & I was fairly gripped by it even if things turn out a little underwhelming at the end. The character's are alright although I would have liked more motive for some of the lesser ones to have been the villain & a few more red herrings, basically I would have liked some slightly stronger mystery elements but I still liked it overall.Bear Island seems to be fairly obscure with few user comments & no external reviews on IMDb, it has certainly never been released on DVD anywhere & only issued once on VHS here in the UK during the mid 80's although it does occasionally turn up on telly every so often. The film is well made & has a really icy isolated atmosphere, I almost felt the Artic chill while watching this at home although the version I saw was horribly pan and scanned & you could hardly tell what was going on in certain zoomed in grainy as hell shots that surely would have looked so much better in it's proper aspect ratio. The action scenes & fights are nice enough & there's a few decent explosions as well.Filmed on location in Alaska, Canada & in the studio in London, England this looks good with good production values although it apparently bombed big time at the box-office which is probably why it's not more well known or more widely released. There's a good solid cast of pros here including Donald Sutherland, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Lloyd Bridges & Lawrence Dane although some of the accents are a bit poor.Bear Island doesn't have much in common with it's source novel but as an action adventure with a sprinkling of mystery you could do worse & I did like it, worth a watch at lest if you can find a copy or catch it on telly.