Bear Island (1979)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Don Sharp

Writers:

Alistair MacLean (novel)
Murray Smith (additional material) ...

Release Date:

August 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Below freezing and beyond fear... Will anyone survive its terror?

Plot:

A group of people converge on a barren Arctic island. They have their reasons for being there but when...

Plot Keywords:

Arctic | Island | Murder | Nazi | Gold

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Frank Lansing
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Heddi Lindquist
Richard Widmark	...	Otto Gerran
Christopher Lee	...	Lechinski
Barbara Parkins	...	Judith Rubin
Lloyd Bridges	...	Smithy
Lawrence Dane	...	Paul Hartman
Patricia Collins	...	Inge Van Zipper
Michael J. Reynolds	...	Heyter
Nicholas Cortland	...	Jungbeck
August Schellenberg	...	Marine Technician
Candace O'Connor	...	Laboratory Assistant
Joseph Golland	...	Meteorological Assistant
Bruce Greenwood	...	Technician (Tommy)
Richard Wren	...	Radio Operator

Also Known As:

Alistair MacLean's Bear Island (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

118 min | Canada:110 min

Country:

UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Norway:16 (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Glacier Bay National Park, Gustavus, Alaska, USA

Company:

Bear Island

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When everyone is outside after the generator explosion it is blowing a blizzard, but the flames are rising vertically with minimal wind disturbance rather than being virtually horizontal, revealing that wind machines are being used just on the area where the actors are.

Good movie

I read the book and saw the movie. I enjoyed both. Donald Sutherland was excellent. This is a suspense thriller and so it goes slower than a typical action flick. If you expect this to be an action flick you will be disappointed. There are a few surprises which is typical of the writer's style.

If you want an action movie MacLean is not for you as he is the Master of Suspense and writes in a way to keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going on. If you see this from the middle, you will be bored, you must see it from the start and watch with full attention. If you miss any of the plot, you will get confused frustrated and wonder why you're watching the movie.

When you watch this, don't do anything else except watch it and I assure you that you will applaud this movie along with others like unto it like Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, Detonator I and Detonator II, Satan Bug and a few more. The only one that dragged for me was Puppet on a Chain but I saw it chopped up on network TV so I need to see it again unchopped, unedited and not edited for television.