The Edge (1997)

Great survival movie and wonderful scenery. But in reality, they have not had a chance in that rough environment. For example there would have been much harder to make a fire of wet materials. Their clothes had taken a long time to dry.LAST BUT NOT LEAST: THEY HAD NOT HAD ENOUGH WITH FOOD.

'The Edge' Directed by Lee Tamahori, is An Interesting Survival Drama, that is served with a consistent pace & effective performances. Its never razor-sharp, but it holds you for the most of it.'The Edge' Synopsis: An intellectual billionaire and two lesser men struggle to band together and survive after getting stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a blood-thirsty Kodiak Bear hunting them down.'The Edge' is about two men fighting it out in the Wilderness. The Bear, of course in the main antagonist, but 'The Edge' is more about the fight between its two strong leading men & how they are as unpredictable & fierce as the Bear. I was engrossed for the most part. The only glitch, lies in its final-act, which drags on for a bit.David Mamet's Screenplay is interesting & successfully captures the violent & unpredictable journey of two strong men. Lee Tamahori's Direction is excellent. Donald McAlpine Cinematography's is a sheer delight. 'The Edge' is a visual marvel, as it captures the wilderness & the beauty of it, without ever looking overdone. The Late/Great Neil Travis's Editing is well-done. Art & Costume Design are superb. Make-Up merits a special mention.Performance-Wise: Sir Anthony Hopkins & Alec Baldwin are in great from. Hopkins excels as the billionaire with a strong will to survive, while Baldwin oozes subtle menace as well as induces some nice comic touches. Both of the terrific actors work superbly here. And of course Bart the Bear, who's contribution here is tremendous. R.I.P, dear Bart.On the whole, 'The Edge' is definitely worth watching.

Anthony Hopkins, a man with Bloomberg like wealth and without a Trump like personality his wife supermodel Elle MacPherson, her photographer Alec Baldwin and Baldwin's assistant Harold Perrineau are off on a rugged wilderness vacation in Alaska where they will stay at L.Q. Jones's hunting lodge. During the course of things the men go down in a plane crash in the wilderness.For a man who you would think would be money and investment focused, Hopkins has stored up an incredible amount of trivial knowledge. Some of it turns out to be quite useful for his and Baldwin's survival. But there's a lot unspoken that eventually comes out as they try to walk out of the Alaskan forest.Most of The Edge is centered around Hopkins and Baldwin and the spectacular landscape photographed in various Canadian locations. The two are quite an acting duel, a lot like Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine in Sleuth only not quite so civilized. The Edge is quite the film for conservationists and nature lovers. The various Canadian National Parks is quite a tribute to that country's commitment to the environment. The scenery competes heavily with the human players and a ferocious Kodiak bear who plays a big part in the plot.

I first saw the TV version of this film while at a family gathering about a couple of years ago. To cut to the chase, this film had my entire family (myself included) laughing hysterically throughout its entire running time due to its cheesy and unrealistic story plot. There are so many areas of this film that are so unrealistic that it leaves you wondering how the writers of the script even got away with turning in such mediocre work. Yes, I'm talking about a bear so vicious that it rips through large, old, and sturdy trees like an army tank, Charles' knife that never loses its sharp edge despite how many times he has used it throughout the film, the ability to start quick fires during a snowstorm, and the ease of lighting said fire with watch lenses. Oh, and why did the Director and/or writers feel that it was necessary for everyone in the film to say Charles' name over 80 times? Is this man of high honor or something without us, the audience, knowing? In any case, if you're looking for a good laugh with a totally unrealistic story plot, then go for this film. You will be laughing for hours!