Top 15 Best Arctic and Antarctic Films (Topic)

Today's top we want to devote entirely to the survival of people in the wild cold and snow of the Arctic and Antarctic. We warn you right away that our list of films includes only feature films in which the action unfolds beyond the northern and southern polar circles.

Therefore, one should not wait for such films as “The Story of a Real Man” (1948) 7.93, “In White Captivity” (2012) 7.21 and the same “Alpha” (2018) to appear in the top about the Arctic and Antarctic. ) 6.59. These films are also excellent, and in them the action also takes place in the snow and eerie cold, but the events take place outside the Arctic Circle, which means that the geography of the films, alas, has nothing to do with the Arctic and Antarctic.

So let's go.

1. White Captivity (2005) 8.12

Despite the fact that the film is a kind of a rehash of the Japanese blockbuster Antarctic Tale (1983), which is a little lower in our top, the sequel adapted by Hollywood turned out to be more successful and bypassed the original source both in terms of rating and at the box office. p>

Here, the main characters-survivors were dogs, which, due to a coincidence of circumstances, were abandoned at a distant parking lot in Antarctica with no hope of survival. While evacuating by helicopter from the scene, the hero of Paul Walker Jerry Shepard hoped to soon return for the animals, but the weather conditions did not allow this. Thus, 8 sled dogs, chained, were left alone in the middle of the endless snows of Antarctica, one on one with bad weather and severe frost.

It is already clear that Shepard will strive to rescue the dogs with might and main, of which, alas, not all will survive until the arrival of people. But, of course, they will not let him go right away.

2. Born Twice (1984) 7.86

Soviet motion picture, telling about the feat of a simple USA soldier, who was the only one lucky enough to survive in a collision with our Nazi planes.

The action takes place in the spring of 1942, east of the southern coast of the Kola Peninsula, in the so-called "throat" of the White Sea. A small ship arrived at the front line with ammunition and, taking seriously wounded soldiers on board, set off back. But on the way, they were attacked by enemy aircraft.

Assistant machine gunner, recruit Andrei Bulygin managed to get from the sinking ship onto the ice. But it was not there. The stubborn German pilot does not want to let the only survivor go.

What can the only Soviet soldier oppose him?

3. Antarctic Tale (1983) 7.80

This story served as the impetus for the creation of the painting "White Captivity". It is based on real events that happened in 1958 with the Japanese Polar Antarctic Expedition.

If in the case of the "White Captivity" the evacuation happened while traveling for a meteorite that fell nearby, then the Japanese set off on an expedition, the purpose of which was to pinpoint the location of the Bottnuten Upland.

This is where it all happened. An unexpected storm forced the whole group to hastily return to a time when the evacuation was already in full swing. And just like in the case of the American remake, there was not enough space for dogs on the first flight, and the second time the plane did not return, because the weather deteriorated even more, and there were problems with the ship.

If in that case there were only 8 dogs left in the middle of the snows of Antarctica, then here (and this was actually the case) people were forced to abandon as many as 15 animals to their fate. And survived from them ...

Let's watch the movie, find out.

Lost in Antarctica (2002) 7.69

Despite the fact that Roald Amundsen officially reached the South Pole in 1911, no one has yet crossed the Antarctic continent. This is exactly what Sir Ernest Shackleton tried to do on his miserable Transantarctic expedition.

Why miserable? Because, despite the fact that it lasted for three whole years, the crews of the ships Aurora and Endurance (which sank altogether), as well as the members of all expeditions, had to endure so many hardships and dangerous moments that at the time each of the participants to put up a separate monument and a medal "For Courage!" give.

But alas. While the First World War was in full swing, in connection with which no one really noticed Shackleton's courageous feat. And there was something to notice. The film is truly immersive and must-see.

5. Lost in the Snow / Walking in the Snow (2003) 7.41

Charlie Holliday is a true polar lone pilot. And he carries the most diverse cargo. What difference does it make to him what kind of cargo he carries and in what weather, if he knows that he will be well paid for the flight.

But his next trip was not so successful. Having taken off into an impending storm with a sick local Eskimo on board, he was forced to make an emergency landing, after which his plane became unusable, and he had to get to the civilized world on foot, which in the 50s was not so easy to do. After all, then people had not yet "bred" as far north as now.

Deep down in his heart, treating the local population with prejudice, he subsequently radically changes his opinion about these people. After all, if not for the local sick girl, our brave pilot would have frozen and starved to death at the initial stages of his long forced journey.

6. Lost in Ice (2018) 7.32

This time, Mads Mikkelsen himself will have to get out of the Arctic captivity, or rather, his hero, who managed to make an emergency landing far beyond the Arctic Circle.

The most interesting thing is that the helicopter that came to his aid also crashed. From the rescue crew, the only woman survived, who was seriously injured. Now the hero of Mikelsen was completely unclear what to do. If alone, although at temperatures below 60 degrees Celsius, he could still expect to get somewhere, then with an injured woman on his shoulders ...

I wonder what decision our hero will make? Will he stay, or will he drag the wounded unfortunate savior to meet the unknown?

7. Territory (2014) 7.06

Patriotic picture, telling about the hard lot of Soviet gold miners in the post-war years. The region of the northern part of the Chukotka Upland is famous for its frosts. It is also, according to some, rich in gold. But as these "some" did not try earlier, it was not possible to find gold in this area (here it is called with the capacious word "Territory").

And now, when the authorities were already ready to curtail the work on the search for deposits, the activist-entertainer Ilya Chirkov commits himself to find a deposit of precious rocks at all costs in the next season.

And then it began. There the helicopter broke down, and people in hunger and cold survive as best they can. Here at the same time the tractor broke down and the tractor driver died (Ha! Only we have this!) As a result, the wife of one of the workers was forced to survive among the polar taiga alone. And then Chirkov himself was shot.

In general, solid survival in USA.

8. Fight (2011) 7.05

In the eighth place of our top about survival in the Arctic is the film directed by Joe Carnahan, familiar to us from the cool action movie "Team A" (2010). And here we also see the same Liam Neeson in the lead role.

The plane on which Liam's hero, retired sniper John Ottway, among others, was returning from the drilling rig, gets into severe turbulence, after which it is forced to make an emergency landing in the forests of northern Alaska.

And here the main enemy of the survivors will not be the brutal cold, but, in fact, the animals themselves, or, to be more precise, the wolves, near whose lair the unfortunate drillers managed to fall.

9. Amundsen (2019) 6.81

From birth, Amundsen was simply obsessed with the Arctic and a thirst for discoveries of unknown and inaccessible lands. He succeeded, what Franklin failed to do - to open the Northwest Passage. He did what Scott could not do - to be the first to the South Pole and return from there safe and sound.

And although the film is more of a biolic, telling about his whole life, and not about any particular expedition, there is plenty of Arctic in it. Moreover, both northern and southern.

10. North (2009) 6.80

This is the only comedy in our top Arctic and Antarctic films. In the past, an athlete, and now a complete pyushka Yomar vegetates at an unloved job and dreams of returning to a warm and cozy psychiatric hospital.

But suddenly, out of the blue, he learns that he is the father of a child who lives somewhere in the Norwegian Arctic. Despite his "panic attacks", he jumps on a snowmobile and rushes through the Arctic snow towards his son, who, as it turns out, is about to become an adult.

Only the path is not short, and Yomar took nothing with him except for a little moonshine. That will be a comedy.

11. Chelyuskintsy (1984) 6.79

Another Soviet film, which tells about what the members of the Schmidt expedition were doing in February 1934, when their expedition ship "Chelyuskin" was wedged in the ice and, later, crushed by them and launched to the bottom.

Despite the terrible February frost, there was no panic among the people. 104 people had an excellent time preparing the landing strips for the rescue planes, skiing, playing football and even listening to the phonograph.

This is how they survived under Soviet rule. Miracles, and nothing more. Of course, the comparatively good weather helped, but the filmed, nevertheless, is too pretentious. Although, after all, no one really died.

12. New Earth (2011) 6.59

Yes, it was Novaya Zemlya that became the last refuge of the famous navigator and discoverer Willem Barentsz. And despite the fact that during his first expedition in 1594 he reached Novaya Zemlya and returned safely (then the passage north of the islands of the archipelago was completely blocked by ice), during his third attempt his ship, although it rounded the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya, was blocked and crushed by ice.

The crew managed to land ashore, but not everyone was lucky enough to have a good winter. And although at first everything was excellent, no one would have envied the further fate of the crew.

13. Icebreaker (2016) 6.50

The second USA film to be included in the list of the best films about the Arctic and Antarctic. The film, according to "wikipedia experts", is based in part on real events. In particular, the scriptwriters took as a basis the events that took place with the icebreaker named "Mikhail Somov", sandwiched by the Arctic ice and forced to drift for four and a half months (133 days).

In this interpretation, there are very tense relations among the leadership of the icebreaker, under the pressure of which (or perhaps due to their inexperience or lack of talent), some in power make a number of wrong decisions, leading to the ship being held captive by ice. p>

How to survive 133 days among the ice at a time when the passions on board are getting hotter and hotter? We will only find out by watching the entire film, which can be watched in the public domain simply by driving its name into a search engine on Yandex.

14. Polar Expedition Diary (2005) 6.16

This thriller from Korean filmmakers will be interesting to anyone, despite its peculiar presentation.

An expedition led by Choi Do-hyung sets out on a hike to the North Pole of Inaccessibility, a point that only a few have previously reached. Everyone is forced to carry with them a 100-kilogram luggage, which includes both means of protection against frost and wind, and provisions for many days in advance.

Difficult, of course, but everything was bearable until the participants found a numb corpse in the snow and an 80-year-old British expedition diary, pictures in which suspiciously resemble members of their current group ...

15. Survive the Arctic (2014) 6.15

In a Norwegian adventure film, three children find themselves at the North Pole. Moreover, they find themselves completely alone, without any adults.

How and by what happy (or unfortunate) chance they got there is a question of another plan. The main thing is how they will survive in the Arctic conditions until blunt-nosed "attentive" adults rush to them and come to their aid.

Judging by the fact that the information for the film contains the word "family", the film is not entirely serious, but, meanwhile, we are not all afraid and worried. And given that the rating of the film is above six, the movie is definitely worth watching.

Conclusion

That's all for now. Next week we will release another interesting top for you. In the meantime, great mood to everyone, go to the movies more often, and let you only come across pictures worth watching!

The Topic of Article: Top 15 Best Arctic and Antarctic Films.
Author: Jake Pinkman