That is, if you do cry "wolf!" at least know what you are doing.
Over and over in the course of the film, but mostly in the first half, I marveled at how dumb the people were. There appeared to be little realistic planning, and less training. But then, this film came out in 1983. Perhaps this was before people knew how to send researchers to the arctic. Either way, the film was enjoyable and had some major highlights.
The opening was stunning, visually. It set the stage and the tone for the next hour and a half. It is basically exploring the landscape and letting you know what the main character is getting himself into before he does.
The next several minutes were irritating for me. This was not because of anything technical, but it appeared the screenplay was not giving anyone much in the brain department. The scene in the plane was a little confusing and did not seem to serve much of a purpose. We are led to believe the pilot was fixing the plane but how or why is never disclosed. He just sort of bangs a wrench on the wing and the engine starts again.
As Tyler becomes more acclimated to the world around him, the scenes grow more beautiful. The landscape has always been marvelous, but the music ties in while standing out is a wonderful, complex, simple way. In one part early on he is running through fog, believing to be chased by a wolf. The image and sound worked together very well for that scene.
Other notes I have written down are, "Loads of irony & general stupidity," "Very simple, intriguing, mystifying" and "Lots of pre-production people." (Honestly, the amount of planning that must have gone into this is staggering.) Really, it is a beautiful film. Not action-film paced, but not unbearably slow. (I will give the warning that parents of younger children will want to preview for 'mature content,' but) I recommend it.
