Ice

If you've seen the Day After Tomorrow then you've seen some of this. Much of this has echoes of that film but its a cheap imitation.

It's not awful but it's not great either.

I've watched a lot worse and it is entertaining.

For a start it's way too long. Couple this with some ham acting and a dodgy plot and it's easy to start to lose focus and let your mind wander. That said the production isn't bad, some of the SFX are a iffy but for a TV movie they've not done a half bad job to be fair. Overall though it's all very implausible so that causes it to lose credibility. It's a poor mans 2012 I guess.

If you're at a loose end for 3+ hours, knock yourself out. If you like dodgy tv moves, knock yourself out. If you have the attention span on a goldfish or detest cliches and cliched storylines then you're gonna struggle.

Effectively two movies masquerading as two episodes of TV, 'Ice' is not terrible and at times close to being good. It has all the right ingredients - big beautiful and well detailed sets, plenty of CGI of various qualities and a brisk energetic pace. At no point was I offended by its stupidity as the director Nick Copus emits an aura that he understands the purpose behind such entertainment.

What lets it down hugely however is its casting. Richard Roxburgh is terrible, and deliveries his lines like he has just stumbled into the studio after a thirty mile run. Frances O'Connor fares better and shows substantial better acting chops. Sam Neil is pathetic and forgettable. Ben Cross is passable and carries the scenes he is in along with the fantastic Brooke Williams and Claire Forlani.

The dialogue overall is the huge let down - overall it's some of the worst I've seen, largely because it is delivered so poorly. There was no talent in communicating with the actors/actress and the whole performance is compromised because of it. However it is difficult to deny that what remains of this is quite good fun if you focus on the eye candy and the visual splendor.

I really wish I could give this more stars. It does start well but totally loses its way in unrealistic events and actions. Sam Neill is not convincing in this role, he simply grins, smirks and tries to look dastardly but it's classic cardboard cut-out stuff. Stephen Moyer is more convincing.

I'm doubly disappointed because I was an extra in this movie shot in NZ. I wanted it to succeed. For your information this was shot as a movie, but clearly the studio thought it was so bad it could only be released as a TV mini-series in the US and then straight to DVD. Extremely limited release as it doesn't work as a film.

Report for the director: needs to do a lot better and I agree with the previous reviews.

Well, with this being a TV movie in mind, then "Ice" wasn't actually all that bad. But it was no "The Day After Tomorrow" either, although it essentially is the same.

Storywise, then "Ice" did prove to be entertaining enough, although the movie was somewhat suffering from being predictable and stereotypical. But take it for what it is, and the movie is fun and enjoyable in itself.

Effect-wise, well then "Ice" doesn't impress. The CGI were adequate enough, but what made the movie suffer was the horribly fake movie snow that was used in almost all scenes that involved snow, and the equally fake ice walls shown in the crevasse. It was so fake that even a blind person would point a finger and laugh. Seriously, despite being from 2011, the effects were better than such even back then.

As for the people on the cast list, well they did good enough jobs with their given roles. People brought a good amount of enthusiasm and energy to the movie and their characters, which made the movie turn out to be more enjoyable.

A lot of the scenes towards the end of the movie was starting to become too much, especially the amounts of snow that apparently had fallen in record time, and the degrees that they said were outside, yet the main characters were able to withstand that cold in thin clothing, and not a single hint of ice on their bodies. It was like time was running out and they had to wrap up the movie fast and efficiently. And that just made it seemed rushed and not believable in any way.

"Ice" does manage to raise something interesting to think about, such as man's constant quest for fossil fuel, man's disregard for the ecology of the world in which we live, and the heartless nature of the corporate giants. If you are one of those environmental concerned people, then this movie does manage to plant a seed for thought. So "Ice" does entertain and leave you with something once the end credits start to roll.