Ice Soldiers

Last updated
Ice Soldiers
Ice Soldiers dvdcover.jpg
DVD cover
Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
Written byJonathan Tydor
Produced by
  • Jeff Sackman
  • David Anselmo
Starring
CinematographyStephen Reizes
Edited byRoger Mattiussi
Music by Jonathan Goldsmith
Production
company
Bunk 11 Pictures [1]
Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment [1]
Release dates
Running time
95 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Ice Soldiers is a 2013 Canadian action-science fiction film directed by Sturla Gunnarsson and starring Dominic Purcell, Adam Beach and Michael Ironside. In the film, Malraux (Purcell), and a team of Canadian scientists release a group of frozen Soviet-era soldiers who attempt to complete their original mission: a devastating attack on the United States.

Contents

Plot

In 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a team of Canadian troops in the arctic discover a crashed plane containing three Soviet soldiers with superhuman abilities. The Canadian forces take them back to base for examination by government scientists but the soldiers later break free and kill many of the troops stationed in the north before fleeing into the wilderness. Fifty years later, a team of Canadian military and scientists, including Dr. Malraux, and Dr. Lobokoff, discover the super soldiers buried beneath the Arctic ice. Malraux explains to the group that the Soviet soldiers were genetically modified by political extremists during the Crisis in 1962 using aid from a captured Nazi scientist and their original mission was to carry out a terrorist attack on New York City with the intent of triggering World War 3. While examining the bodies the scientists discover to their amazement that the soldiers are still alive and gradually regenerating. The scientists then begin to debate what to do with them but fail to reach an agreement. Malraux afraid of what the soldiers might do if they awaken tries and fails to kill them by cutting off their life support. Malraux is locked up for his actions but his fears about the soldiers are later justified as they soon awaken from their hibernation and go on a killing spree that claims much of the military and science personnel including Lobokoff. Surviving their attack, Malraux breaks free and rushes into the wilderness after them, eventually encountering a troubled Cree aboriginal ex-con named Thundercloud Cardinal or “T.C” who agrees to act as a guide for Malraux, as T.C’s father was one of the few survivors of the Soviets first rampage in the 1960s. With some effort they eventually manage to track them to a small oil drilling town where the three had apparently learned from a patron in a Russian Strip club about a mine where they could acquire explosives. Malraux and T.C head to the mine but arrive too late and are mistakenly arrested for the theft of the explosives and the murder of the miners. Malraux tries to warn the sheriff that the soldiers are probably attempting to perform a preprogrammed military exercise they had previously carried out but he is ignored. That night just as predicted the soldiers blow up the town’

Cast

Production

Ice Soldiers was filmed in the Sudbury, Ontario area in 2013. [3] Director, Sturla Gunnarsson, said of the environment "Every day you’re out in the elements, making a storm with a dozen big wind machines, or doing a chase with a Hummer on tracks and a snowmobile… I haven’t seen that chase before, those kinds of vehicles on that landscape. It was a big toybox." [4] The film premiered at the College Boreal Concert hall in Sudbury on February 28, 2014. [5]

Marketing

A trailer for the film was released on November 26, 2013. [6]

Reception

Norman Wilner of Now wrote, "It's all pretty generic, and very stupid". [7] David Johnson of DVD Verdict called it "pretty much standard-issue stalking and stabbing." [8] Jay Stone of Canada.com rated it 2/5 stars and called it "a gleefully preposterous slice of B movie cheese". [9] Likewise, Dennis Shwartz of Ozus’ World Movie Reviews called the film "a disposable B-film, whose best virtue might be in how great the snow looks." [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bering Strait</span> Strait between Asia and North America

The Bering Strait is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia-United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' 37" W longitude, slightly south of the Arctic Circle at about 65° 40' N latitude. The Strait is named after Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer in the service of the Russian Empire.

<i>The Thing from Another World</i> 1951 science fiction film

The Thing from Another World, sometimes referred to as just The Thing, is a 1951 American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, directed by Christian Nyby, produced by Edward Lasker for Howard Hawks' Winchester Pictures Corporation, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film stars Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, and Douglas Spencer. James Arness plays The Thing. The Thing from Another World is based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Permafrost</span> Soil frozen for a duration of at least two years

Permafrost is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two years or more: the oldest permafrost had been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below a meter (3 ft), the deepest is greater than 1,500 m (4,900 ft). Similarly, the area of individual permafrost zones may be limited to narrow mountain summits or extend across vast Arctic regions. The ground beneath glaciers and ice sheets is not usually defined as permafrost, so on land, permafrost is generally located beneath a so-called active layer of soil which freezes and thaws depending on the season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ironside</span> Canadian actor

Frederick "Michael" Reginald Ironside, is a Canadian actor, voice artist, and filmmaker. A prominent character actor with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has also portrayed sympathetic characters. He is best known for his roles in action and science fiction films, and had his breakthrough performance in the 1981 David Cronenberg film Scanners.

<i>Ice Station Zebra</i> (novel) 1963 novel by Alistair MacLean

Ice Station Zebra is a 1963 thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It marked a return to MacLean's classic Arctic setting. After completing this novel, whose plot line parallels real-life events during the Cold War, MacLean retired from writing for three years. In 1968 it was loosely adapted into a film of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distant Early Warning Line</span> Former system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada

The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska, in addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It was set up to detect incoming bombers of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and provide early warning of any sea-and-land invasion.

<i>Firefox</i> (film) 1982 film directed by Clint Eastwood

Firefox is a 1982 American action techno-thriller film produced, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. It is based upon the 1977 novel of the same name by Craig Thomas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyramiden</span> Ghost town in Svalbard, Norway

Pyramiden is an abandoned Soviet coal mining settlement on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard which has become a tourist destination. Founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927, Pyramiden was closed in 1998 and has since remained largely abandoned with most of its infrastructure and buildings still in place, the cold climate preserving much of the infrastructure left behind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold-weather warfare</span> Warfare in cold temperatures

Cold-weather warfare, also known as arctic warfare or winter warfare, encompasses military operations affected by snow, ice, thawing conditions, or cold, both on land and at sea, as well as the strategies and tactics used by military forces in these situations and environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Kourounis</span> Canadian storm chaser (born 1970)

George Kourounis, is a Greek-Canadian adventurer and storm chaser who specializes in documenting extreme weather and worldwide natural disasters. He presents the television series Angry Planet.

<i>Rare Birds</i> (film) 2001 film by Sturla Gunnarsson

Rare Birds is a 2001 Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson and written by Edward Riche based on his novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturla Gunnarsson</span> Icelandic-Canadian film director (born 1951)

Sturla Gunnarsson is an Icelandic-Canadian film and television director and producer.

<i>Smillas Sense of Snow</i> (film) 1997 mystery thriller film

Smilla's Sense of Snow is a 1997 mystery thriller film directed by Bille August and starring Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, and Richard Harris. Based on the 1992 novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Danish author Peter Høeg, the film is about a transplanted Greenlander, Smilla Jaspersen, who investigates the mysterious death of a small Inuit boy who lived in her housing complex in Copenhagen. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.

<i>Bear Island</i> (film) 1979 British film

Bear Island is a 1979 thriller film based on Alistair MacLean's 1971 novel of the same name. It was directed by Don Sharp, and starring Donald Sutherland, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee and Lloyd Bridges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icelandic diaspora</span> Community of Icelandic emigrants

The Icelandic diaspora refers to both historical and present emigration from Iceland. The countries with the largest number of people of Icelandic descent are Canada, the United States, and Norway.

<i>The Man from Beyond</i> 1922 film by Burton L. King

The Man from Beyond is a 1922 American silent mystery film starring Harry Houdini as a man found frozen in arctic ice who is brought back to life.

<i>A Fighting Man</i> 2014 Canadian film

A Fighting Man is a 2014 drama sports film written and directed by Damian Lee. It stars Dominic Purcell, James Caan, Louis Gossett Jr., and Famke Janssen. It was released in Canada on 25 April 2014.

<i>Arctic Flight</i> 1952 drama film directed by Lew Landers

Arctic Flight is a 1952 American drama film directed by Lew Landers and starring Wayne Morris, Alan Hale Jr. and Lola Albright. It was produced and distributed by Monogram Pictures. Arctic Flight depicts bush pilot flying in the Arctic on the edge of the International Date Line, involving Soviet intrigue.

<i>Gridlocked</i> (film) 2015 Canadian film

Gridlocked is a 2015 Canadian action thriller film directed by Allan Ungar and co-written by Ungar and Rob Robol. It had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 26, 2015, and stars Dominic Purcell, Stephen Lang, Danny Glover, Trish Stratus, and Saul Rubinek. The film was purchased by Netflix and became available worldwide on July 14, 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ice Soldiers (2013)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
  2. "Sudbury-made thriller premieres Friday". The Sudbury Star. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  3. "New era in Canadian film possible; Gunnarsson laments the state of feature filmmaking in this country". Vancouver Sun , January 24, 2014.
  4. "Director Sturla Gunnarsson has a new movie adventure in arctic sci-fi Ice Soldiers". The Province. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  5. "Sudbury-made movie premieres Feb. 28". The Sudbury Star. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  6. "First Trailer for the Action Movie "Ice Soldiers" has Soviet Supersoldiers against "Prison Break" star Dominic Purcell". Filmstarts. 27 November 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  7. Wilner, Norman (2013-01-23). "Ice Soldiers". Now . Vol. 33, no. 21. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  8. Johnson, David (2014-03-05). "Ice Soldiers (Blu-ray)". DVD Verdict . Archived from the original on 2014-04-15. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  9. Stone, Jay (2014-01-23). "Movie review: Ice Soldiers is gleeful fun from the north". Canada.com . Retrieved 2014-03-09.
  10. Shwartz, Dennis (2017-02-16). "Preposterous low-budget sci-fi thriller" . Retrieved 2018-03-29.