The Last Winter (2006)

The American oil company North Corporation is building an ice road to explore the remote Northern Arctic National Wildlife Refuge seeking oil. The independent environmentalists together ... See full summary »

Director:

Larry Fessenden

Writers:

Larry Fessenden, Robert Leaver

Stars:

Ron Perlman, James Le Gros, Connie Britton

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Ron Perlman	...	Ed Pollack
James Le Gros	...	James Hoffman (as James LeGros)
Connie Britton	...	Abby Sellers
Zach Gilford	...	Maxwell McKinder
Kevin Corrigan	...	Motor
Jamie Harrold	...	Elliot Jenkins
Pato Hoffmann	...	Lee Means
Joanne Shenandoah	...	Dawn Russell
Larry Fessenden	...	Charles Foster
Oscar Miller	...	Simon Marshowitz
Hálfdán Theodórsson	...	Gary
Eggert Ketilsson	...	Frozen Trucker
Jack Fessenden	...	Young Hoffman
John Speredakos	...	Weatherman
Halfdan Pedersen	...	Doctor Pedersen (as Hálfdan Lárus Pedersen)

Storyline

The American oil company North Corporation is building an ice road to explore the remote Northern Arctic National Wildlife Refuge seeking oil. The independent environmentalists together with the base leader, Ed Pollack, reach an agreement with the government, approving procedures and reports of the operation. When a team member is found dead naked on the snow, the environmentalist James Hoffman suspects that gases may have been accidentally released from the drill site provoking hallucinations and insanity in the group. After a second fatal incident, he convinces Ed to travel with the team to a hospital for examination, however, people continue to die.

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Plot Keywords:

oil company | hallucination | arctic region | oil drilling | snow | 

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Taglines:

The arctic tundra has been frozen for centuries... Untill Now.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official soundtrack site

Country:

USA Iceland

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 2008 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Az utolsó tél

Filming Locations:

Alaska, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,090, 23 September 2007

Gross USA:

$33,190

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$97,522

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antidote Films (I), Glass Eye Pix, Zik Zak Kvikmyndir

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Zach Gilford and Connie Britton both Starred in Friday Night Lights.

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Goofs

When they try and leave the scene where they discover the grader 'n tanker truck, they discover that their snowmobile won't start because it has 'lost all its oil'. That particular sled had a two stroke engine which uses mixed fuel (no crank case oil as in all four stroke engines) so this would've been impossible.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Marketing Video: Alaska. Vast wilderness of the north. Land of great natural beauty and diversity. This is rugged county, land of black gold. Alaska's North Slope has been producing oil out of Prudhoe Bay since 1968, delivering to refineries and ports 800 miles to the south through the great Trans-Alaskan pipeline. But another northern region known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has remained untapped. Only once have prospectors gained access to this barren landscape. In 1986, KIK ...

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Connections

Referenced in Cinéma 21: Larry Fessenden (2010)

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Soundtracks

The Last Winter
Theme
Composed by Jeff Grace
Performed by Flux Quartet

User Reviews

Engaging and creepy... and also plot less and pointless.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to say about this one. It's loaded with so much promise - a cast of engaging characters; a bleak, isolated setting; slow-burn direction that builds a creepy atmosphere.

But that's where the good stuff ends.

The plot (or lack thereof) seems to involve the deaths of the aforementioned characters in random, arbitrary ways with no explanations offered. A few "ecological revenge" lines are thrown but they do little to clue the viewer in to what's actually supposed to be going on. To be completely honest - I don't think even the writer and director knew what was going on. I get the feeling they said:

"Hey let's make this creepy film set in an arctic drilling station, kinda like 'The Thing'..."

"Cool, so what's the plot?"

"Ummm, I don't know, I don't think it matters. Characters can die!"

"Cool, so what's killing them?"

"Ummm, I don't know, I don't think it matters."

"I guess not. Let's get started then!"