Eight Below
Marie Dixon
English/Comp. I
Mr. Steve Dalager
E.5 Persuasion
April 19, 2007
Eight Below
This is a beautiful movie that the dogs will teach us about how a family really works. At the times that the hard decisions have to be made we will be able to make them.
It opens up with two men in a sauna in the Antarctica about to jump out of a 111 degree sauna to verify that the outside temperature is 31 below 0. Then you’re flying over some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. A Geologist, Davis McClaren, is coming to go out to the research center to find a meteor that has apparently fallen from Mercury. This means the trip has to be twice as far, over some of the harshest tundra, and very late in the year. Jerry, the research survival guide,is the only one that knows how dangerous this trip is and because of the all mighty dollar, his boss and the Doc insist they make the trip. People need to listen to the other people who know the situation and quit letting other things get in the way.
Davis doesn’t care much about the danger he will be putting Jerry Shephard, and his dogs in. Davis has a family inCalifornia, if someone wanted to put his family in danger how do you think he would act? He just doesn’t realize how dangerous of a place he has come to. It could come to his death. He may never see his wife or son again, and he doesn’t even know it.
Now it’s time to meet the dogs. Davis doesn’t think this is an important part of his research but Jerry is insistent so Davis will do this to amuse him. He doesn’t yet know how important the dogs will be to his research trip. He meets the dogs by name Maya, the lady of the pack, Max, the pup, Shorty, Shadow, Truman, Dewey, Buck and Old Jack, he’s the oldest and about to retire. Now off they go heading toward the mountain. When they reach the mountain, Davis’ arrogance comes out and it’s going to get them all in trouble.They are being called back to the base camp because of an oncomeing storm. Davis is insistant that they stay another couple of hours so he can find his rock. Then he spots something, and it’s outside the saftey zone, but he doesn’t even think about that, he just goes off and by the time Jerry sees where he has gone it’s to late. Jerry flips out telling Doc to take his same steps back to where he is. Doc has the stone and it’s time to head home.
On the way back from the mountain range Jerry sees blood on the snow and needs to stop and put a patch on one of the dogs. Davis once again goes outside the safety zone, this time falling down an embankment to the river below. Before long you hear the crack of the ice, and Davis falls thru the ice. Now he’s in the river with a broken leg and the dogs need to save him. Maya the lead dog is instructed to take Davis a rope.The ignorance of such an intellegent man.is astonishing. Maya is afraid but she gets the rope out to him and around the Doc’s head. She knows he’s in trouble and she has to save him. Meanwhile Jerry is yelling instruction to Doc to save his life. Like put your arm on the ice and let it freeze to the ice, it will hold him above the water.
The dogs work hours to get Doc and Jerry back to the research center.By the time they get there the Doc and Jerry is in pretty bad shape. As soon as they arrive at camp they get orders to evacuate the center due to a mega storm moving in. Kate, Jerry’s ex, promises to come immediately back for the team. Her plane can’t take all the extra weight of the dogs and make it out in the heavy winds from the approaching storm. Jerry wants to stay with the dogs until she comes back but he has badly frost bit his fingers and needs medical attention. Again Kate assures Jerry she will come right back for the team. Cooper, Jerry’s best friend, and the cartographer, the map maker, Kate, Andy, Jerry’s boss, and of course Jerry, chain the dogs out for a short stay. This was a horrifing decision Jerry has to make to leave his team. Would you be able to make the same decision?
By the time the research team gets to the Main Camp, the Colonel in charge of the Main Camp decides no one will return to the Research Center until next spring. Jerry is going nuts trying to find any way back to the chained dogs. He doesn’t know they have found a way off their chains and out to get food. People that truly care about their loved ones will do anything they have to to get them to a safe place.
Maya is in charge but these seven dogs have some journeys to go on themselves. First Maya needs to find the team food. She finds a flock of gulls, but when Max sees them he’s so excited he starts barking, and of course the gulls fly away. Maya comes up to Max and insisted he lay down and be quiet, he does so and Maya brings him back a gull.
The dogs are alone for about six months. Max proves to be a quick study, when Maya gets bit by a seal she tries to give up and give Max the lead dog position. Max makes sure she gets food and the pack stays with her to protect and take care of her. Max appriciates what Maya has taught him and he’s going to make sure she gets out too.
It was very hard for Jerry to leave his dogs and when he couldn’t find a way back to them, he worried about what he would find when he finally arrived. It was hard on Maya also, thinking Jerry just left her and the team. Now she had to keep herself and her pack together until Jerry could get to them, if he could. She knows in her heart, Jerry will find a way back to them.
I don’t want to give away the end, but watching this movie will show children that if we all work as a family we can accomplish anything we set our minds to, even if the family is one of animals.
Some people may say this is a childs movie, there’s no sex , drugs, sluts, or shootouts but we all can stand a movie that is pure in it’s teaching that some things are just worth fighting for, and a family is one.