Iceman (1984)

A surprisingly moving film about a 40,000 year-old prehistoric man being found frozen in ice and somehow revived. This may have a plot that sounds like something out of a cheesy B sci-fi horror flick from the '50s but it's actually a very engaging, human story. An incredible acting job from John Lone is the main selling point. The rest of the cast is also really good, with even Timothy Hutton rising above being Timothy Hutton and turning in a relatable and authentic performance. It's a slow-moving film at times, but never dull unless you're the kind of viewer who needs an action scene every ten minutes. I was pretty impressed by the whole thing, going into it not expecting much given the premise. It's definitely worth a look for those who can put most of their cynicism aside and lose yourself in a movie for a little while.

If you want to know how to shoot a masterpiece, then watch this film. Not only is it well shot, but it's also has a lot of integrity for the material being shot.As other reviews have mentioned this is a film about bringing a species of man from our past, into the present day world. How much animal is in us, as homo sapien sapiens, and how much humanity is in our distant cousins the Neanderthals. And if you watch this film, and watch the interests of each party, you will truly begin to wonder who has more humanity within themselves.The film making style takes some liberties with presentation, and we get a sense that the editing glosses over some of the obvious clues that one of the main characters should pick up on in terms of his circumstances. But, if you can over look that, and accept the fact that the subject of the film is perhaps a bit dim witted in addition to being from a more primitive era in Earth's history, then you should be able to appreciate the "plausibility" of the film's premise.There were arguable two great eras in film making. The 30s and 40s as one era, and the 80s, with spikes of greatness sprinkled in the 60s and 70s. And "Iceman" comes from that era in the 1980s when Hollywood was rediscovering itself after Lucas and Spielberg had reminded the dream factory of what films were supposed to be about. "Iceman" is a creation of that re-genesis, and in terms of a style and presentation of story, it truly shines.If I had a complaint, and I'm not sure that I do, it's that I'm curious why the story necessitated a predominantly interior motif, as opposed to letting the story take place on location in a non-arctic environment. The film is rich as it is, but letting it take place elsewhere might have added a dimension to the film by allowing story possibilities. One wonders about these things.The cast is perfect along with their performances, the location has a kind of stark magnificence (as a lot of sculptured ice and snow fields tend to have), and the lensing and lighting are both without flaw. My only regret is for the ending of the story itself. It is a tear-jerker.The subject may not interest a lot of people, so buyer beware, but if you like excellent films, then do give Iceman a chance. At the time of this writing it is only currently available on regular 4:3 DVD format. Hopefully it'll see a bluray release someday.

Man has always been curious about his origins and since the days of Darwin much effort have been done in tracing back the evolution of mankind to the final link where we as animals became self conscious and began advancing rapidly in terms of how much we have modified our macro biosphere in such short span of our existence.This movie is definitive in putting the viewers in a situation where we find that we have made it extremely difficult to see things in its simple state and rather complicate it with all our cynicism and rationality. Being modern humans we like to believe that as we have gained more cranial volumes, have become more intelligent but fail miserably in explaining and bridging the differences of a few thousand years. The sense that Shepherd starts to develop in spite of all his efforts that Charlie the caveman would never actually be able to adapt to this world is the realization that the film portrays.We find that with all our modern methods and abilities Shepherd does starts communicating to Charlie though in a vague way but still the actual situation could never be properly conveyed to Charlie. It's a classic example of generation gap where the newer generation wants to learn but fails to explain itself to older generation and the older generation is just afraid of the change. Moreover the surgical team is so mechanical that they just want to cut him up for analysis. They don't even consider Charlie a human but a relic, a living fossil.This film has taken much care in addressing the topic as it is quite believable movie for such an impossible plot. It could have turned out as a jerky and plastic movie if it was not treated well on scientific and performance aspects. I don't know how many people have watched this movie but I must say it is pretty engrossing. The portrayal of a confused, depressed and angry caveman in modern world by John lone is very convincing and touching as well. This can rank among some of the best sci-fi movies of its era.

The comments made by thesnowleopard from Scotland are absolutely ignorant. Don't listen to his claims of knowledge of science and anthropology. He knows nothing about these fields, and even less about film. The film is great, and the science used in the film is well informed. Of course they take liberties, but then again it's a film, a story. Not to mention that in 1991 an Iceman was discovered, of course it wasn't alive and this plot point is dubious but again it's a movie, and similar events unfolded as in the film. I think if you suspend your disbelief for a moment you will see the strong points of the film. Enjoy the film, it's well done, and the acting is superb.