L'urlo dell'odio

I vaguely remembered The Edge from a trailer on an old VHS from when i was a kid and it would pop in to my brain from time to time over the years as "That Anthony Hopkins bear movie" but i never actually watched it. I just picked it up today on DVD and i really enjoyed it. It's well acted, has satisfying plot twists and the scenery is beautiful to look at. It starts off a little slow but once the pace picked up i was on the edge of my seat during the scenes where the characters have to fight for their lives against a massive man eating bear and it looks great as a real trained bear was used in the scenes. Another thing i liked was the story and action felt more grounded and based in reality, it was exciting but no one did anything which regular humans wouldn't be able to do and it made it seem more realistic and convincing. Highly recommended if you're looking for some old overlooked movies or something a little different, it's a good time.

A billionaire, his younger "supermodel" wife, and her photography crew travel by plane to the north wilderness for a photo shoot.

While Charles (the billionaire), Stephen (the photographer), and his assistant are out scouting for new shooting locations in the plane, the run into a flock of birds and crash in vast wilderness more than dozens of miles away from the rest of the party (right in the middle of bear country). Can they survive in the wilderness long enough to get rescued, or will the have to fight what the wilderness has in store for them?

This is a great, edge of your seat thriller from the late 90s. I'd give it a 7.2 rating.

Boy, here's an intense film, a survival-in-the-wilderness adventure/thriller starring the unlikely duo of Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. It's not hard to guess who's the villain, in addition to a man-eating bear who stalks the two of them after their plane crashes in the woods of Alaska.

The sophistication of Hopkins, playing an extremely smart man, battling the crude Baldwin, who is insanely jealous of Hopkins' possessions, including his gorgeous wife (Elle McPherson), is intriguing to watch. So is the great scenery and best-of-all, a great action story that has you focused intently for the full two hours.

A human characteristic so often ignored in films the past half century is put on display here: compassionate forgiveness. Seeing forgiveness demonstrated instead of revenge is almost shocking to see. Kudos to the filmmakers, too, for not going overboard on the brutality in this adventure.

The Edge is an original movie. There have been movies with stranded people, fighting for survival and movies with jealous lovers trying to kill the rich spouse, but how often has there been such an adventurous story combining them both? It seems Hopkins has befriended Bart the Bear with multiple appearances with the new star. The scenery in Alaska is magnificent. It's almost as if the viewer is there on the plane. I wonder if Charles Morse did start a new life.

I enjoyed this film the first time I saw it and purchased it solely for the Hopkins character. The more I watch it, the poorer The Edge seems overall, and the more impressed I am with Mr. Hopkin's character and his performance.

I do have to agree about the Lit. 101 symbolism. It struck me that Mamet probably saw the Indian paddle or some similar trinket and based the entire screenplay on the idea this gave him. I suppose that's OK, if rather conventional.

The film was shot about an hour away from where I lived at the time, so I'm biased in that regard. But it is an incredibly beautiful area in Alberta.

Though I hate it when people say this, I do like the Hopkin's character because I can identify with him in some ways. His ability to maintain his humanity throughout all of his trials, natural and relational, is inspiring, and in my view, well worth taking the time to watch. His performance carries this otherwise ho-hum movie.