What makes it different from others?

Good idea lost in the noise

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The way movies should be made. No loud obnoxious music to where you can't think. Enjoyable characters. Nice plot.

This movie stinks.Donald Sutherland can't get through one day without screwing up and taking somebody with him when he crashes and burns. Lots of celebrities sprinkle the cast. This film seems to be made up of many other films like Death Ship and The Thing. A slow-moving script doesn't help.Ultimately episodic with boring digressions into the personal lives of some of the scientists. You start to wish a meteor would land right on top of the research station -- or maybe a ship in the icy waters would get attacked by a giant octopus wearing a parka... that would be cool.Another movie where the film-makers had too much faith in their lousy script.

1)Buy UK version from Amazon, 2)rip video to PC removing region code (free software), 3)compress with DVDShrink (free software), 4)burn to DVD (free software)...I love having a high quality copy of this! My VHS copy was dying a static death.I mean, flare gun fights, amphibious snow mobiles... this great flick needs a sexy remake (and please, no CGI).

This has an interesting cast but that does not unfortunately, make it a good film. 'Bear Island' is based on a novel by Alistair Maclean, a popular writer from the sixties whose novels were consistently on the bestseller lists. The story is set on a boat cruising around the Arctic Circle, and is a strange amalgam of stilted action juxtaposed with a lot of endless talk about whose side everybody is supposed to be on. The ships passengers include Russians, Germans and Norwegians. They're all talking as if World War II is still going on, when the film appears to be set in the present day. The purpose of all this talk is to find a secret stash on the North Pole previously hidden by some- very- nasty- people, so it becomes a chase between the good guys and bad guys to get the loot and there is a lot of talky moralising on the part of the good guys about the virtues of looking for it at all.The luminaries in the cast include Donald Sutherland looking vague and bored, Vanessa Redgrave talking very softly (the good guys), and Richard Widmark and Lloyd Bridges (the bad guys). The only other notable thing about this film is that it includes a very bruising bareknuckle fistfight between Sutherland and how shall we say it, - an Aryan, which has something to do with – well I just don't remember but I think that Donald wins the fight and the good guys have at last something to cheer about.There are a number of meaningless chases across the snow and ice and a couple of explosions where a few minor characters get killed off but it all turns out right in the end. Vanessa Redgrave looks attractive in her fur lined anorak but doesn't have much to do. The scenic background of icebergs and endless floes of ice is effective and the only remotely fun thing about watching this film. Unfortunately none of it amounts to anything much, and the story is too dreary, old-hat and repetitive to be of any interest whatsoever.