Eight Below

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Eight Below's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Eight Below completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 22 April, 2006.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Eight Below contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Eight Below is a movie ‘inspired by true events’ concerning a team of sled dogs who, due to a set of unfortunate circumstances, are left behind in Antarctica to fend for themselves. The team at the National Science Foundation is visited by Dr. McLaren (Bruce Greenwood), a scientist who has come to retrieve a meteor, suspected of coming from Mercury. His destination is only accessible by sled, so Jerry (Paul Walker) has to guide him there with his team of loyal husky dogs. The route is a frozen landscape passing over treacherously thin ice. Inevitably, the sled falls through a crack with the doctor in it but Jerry manages to pull him free with ropes. Nearing their destination Jerry, receives a radio call from the base warning them of an approaching severe storm and advising them to return immediately. McLaren is intent on finding his rock and persuades Jerry to ignore the warning and continue the search which is ultimately successful.

The return journey is fraught with danger as the storm closes in on them. McLaren falls over a cliff while trying to receive a radio signal and falls heavily on the ice below. The ice cracks and he falls into freezing water but is saved by one of the courageous huskies who carries a rope to him. In the process McLaren breaks a leg which further hampers the return journey. Jerry also sustains frostbite and the whole team has to be evacuated before the weather gets worse. Jerry ties up his dogs with the promise that he’ll be back for them but that doesn’t eventuate as the weather makes it impossible to fly back. The dogs are therefore left to their own devices for a period of six months. During this time Jerry agonises at the thought of having to leave them and desperately tries to get back to Antarctica. Meanwhile, the dogs manage to free themselves, apart from one, and the story of their survival is quite remarkable.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Animals in distress

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

None

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

There are some scenes that would scare children in this age group:

• The sled falls through a crack in the ice and Jerry has to pull McLaren out of a crevice with ropes.
  
• The doctor falls over a cliff, falls heavily on the ice and breaks a leg. The ice cracks up and he falls into the freezing water.
  
• One of the dogs finds a whale carcass which it starts to eat but a leopard seal comes charging out of the inside and attacks the dog. This is quite frightening. The leopard seal then chases the dog under the ice and a fight ensues between the seal and the dogs. The seal bites the ankle of the lead dog who is then badly injured.

There are also some scenes that would distress children in this age group:

• One of the dogs doesn’t manage to break free from his chain and dies. Another dog tries unsuccessfully to make it get up.
  
• The dogs kill and eat seagulls.
  
• A dog falls over a cliff injuring itself. The other dogs come down and lay on top of it but it dies too.
  
• One of the dogs gets lost and is on its own for most of the time.
  
• When Jerry arrives back he finds the dead dog still attached to the chain buried in snow. This is quite upsetting.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children in this age group could still be upset by the above mentioned scenes, particularly seeing the dead dogs.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Most children over the age of thirteen will be ok with this movie, although some could still be upset by the above-mentioned scenes.

Sexual references

None

Nudity and sexual activity

None

Use of substances

None

Coarse language

None

The movie's message

The husky and malamute dogs in Eight Below are wonderful and the loyalty and faithfulness of the dogs is quite touching. With it's stunning scenery, the movie will be quite enjoyable for older children and adults. The main message of the movie is that life sometimes presents hard choices and that making the right decision can be very difficult.