Ice Quake (TV 2010)

Beneath the Alaskan landscape, the melting permafrost is about to drastically alter the tranquil scenery. As the permafrost thaws, underground rivers of volatile liquid Methane are created,... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Ziller

Writer:

David Ray

Stars:

Brendan Fehr, Holly Elissa, Jodelle Ferland

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brendan Fehr	...	Michael Webster
Holly Elissa	...	Emily Webster (as Holly Dignard)
Jodelle Ferland	...	Tia Webster
Ryan Grantham	...	Shane Webster
Rob LaBelle	...	Bruce Worthington
Nicholas Carella	...	Ram
Victor Garber	...	Colonel Bill Hughes
Marsha Regis	...	Carolyn
Sharon Taylor	...	Jamie
Lane Edwards	...	Reed
Kurt Max Runte	...	Wallace
Aaron Pearl	...	Cochrane
Dean Redman	...	Sergeant
James Pizzinato	...	Boy
MacKenzie Porter	...	Girl

Storyline

Beneath the Alaskan landscape, the melting permafrost is about to drastically alter the tranquil scenery. As the permafrost thaws, underground rivers of volatile liquid Methane are created, causing a succession of violent and destructive earthquakes. It's a race against time to stop the deadly rivers before they lead to a catastrophic explosion that threatens the planet.

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Plot Keywords:

earthquake | methane | brother sister relationship | husband wife relationship | geologist | 

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Taglines:

Nature unleashed.

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for disaster action and peril, and some mild language

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 December 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eisbeben - Alarm in der Arktis

Filming Locations:

Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quake Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Colonel Bill Hughes: I could really use an eggnog.

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Soundtracks

"Here We Come a-Wassailling"
Performed by Occidental Glee Club
Traditional

User Reviews

One of the better SyFy films

Two names in the film industry are known for creating bad movies, really bad movies and movies so bad they're good. The first is Asylum pictures, they are responsible for movies including Mega Piranha (2010), Titanic II (2010) and Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus (2009). These movies are often shown on the SyFy channel. The second is the SyFy channel itself. They make and distribute TV Movies such as Sharktopus (2010) and Collision Earth (2011). However both of these film companies sometimes deliver the goods. They are known to cast well known actors, many of them may be only doing the film for an easy pay check but they often put in a great over the top performance. A good example is the great Michael Madsen in Piranhaconda (2011).

Ice Quake is a SyFy movie so instantly I didn't have great expectations for this. But every now and then when watching a film you have to "slum" it. You can't watch blockbusters all the time, sometimes you need a cheesy movie night!

As I said, I had no expectations for a great movie and I was fully expecting very dodgy effects and terrible acting, however this one didn't turn out too bad.

The film starts off with two geologists investigating unexplained earth tremors on a mountain. Suddenly a crack appears and a strange gas escapes from the ground instantly freezing anything that touches it. It turns out to be liquid methane and if it escapes it will destroy all life on earth! May sound far-fetched but from SyFy, the company behind Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010), this movie is very tame.

The film stars Brendan Fehr as Michael Webster, a geologist and Holly Elissa as his wife Emily. Jodelle Ferland & Ryan Grantham play their children. The cast also includes Victor Garber, Rob LaBelle, Marsha Regis, Sharon Taylor & Kurt Max Runte. All have quite impressive film resumes and you will probably have seen most of them on something else. All the actors in this do an above average job for a TV movie, but I don't think this will be the highlight of their careers!

The setting of the film is great with the impressive scenery of the Alaskan mountains used to great effect. Speaking of effects these were some of the better ones used in the movies made by SyFy. However I guess they didn't have to spend the effect budget on crazy monsters like in Dinoshark (2010), so they had a little more to play with here. The only really dodgy effect was the supposed satellite image of the underground methane.

There are many plot holes in this but after all it is a TV Movie not a big blockbuster. These films are made to entertain you when you can't decide on anything else to watch. This one manages that, just. It is a throwaway movie but there are far worse ones out there. If it is on and you can't decide on anything else to watch, this will pass an hour and a half of your time.

As I said before, this is one of the better SyFy films. I think it is too much to hope that they will keep getting better. But with their future film "Jersey Shore Shark Attack" coming this June, who knows!?