The long wait is over. AMC finally showed this on July 17, '05 after many years of legal wrangling over the rights to air it on television or give it the DVD treatment. Not quite earth shaking as a movie, it's an efficient survival tale made realistic by William Wellman's attention to detail and the crew assembled under John Wayne.
The result is a satisfying tale of men badly in need of rescue when their survival in the wilderness is at stake. Wayne is the strong anchor who keeps the whole plot firmly in place, showing the kind of strong inner strength that usually made his performances so real. But he's also a bit vulnerable, as in the scene where he must silence a crew member who becomes a bit too hysterical.
It's really not an exceptional drama at all. It was outshone by many other survival tales that came before and after. The black and white photography has a chilling effect and makes the wilderness stark enough, but it would have been nice to see this one in color since some of the shots (as glimpsed from planes) are quite spectacular.
Performances are all capable enough but there's nothing memorable about them. The plot hinges on only two factors: the mission to locate a missing plane that has crashed in the Arctic wilderness and a plan to rescue the survivors.
Nothing new here, it's all been done before, sometimes to even greater effect. It's strictly a conventional rescue story told in a straight-forward way, seldom dwelling long on flashback memories that might have slowed things down.
But for John Wayne fans, who've waited a long time just to see this again, it's probably a welcome sight.
The result is a satisfying tale of men badly in need of rescue when their survival in the wilderness is at stake. Wayne is the strong anchor who keeps the whole plot firmly in place, showing the kind of strong inner strength that usually made his performances so real. But he's also a bit vulnerable, as in the scene where he must silence a crew member who becomes a bit too hysterical.
It's really not an exceptional drama at all. It was outshone by many other survival tales that came before and after. The black and white photography has a chilling effect and makes the wilderness stark enough, but it would have been nice to see this one in color since some of the shots (as glimpsed from planes) are quite spectacular.
Performances are all capable enough but there's nothing memorable about them. The plot hinges on only two factors: the mission to locate a missing plane that has crashed in the Arctic wilderness and a plan to rescue the survivors.
Nothing new here, it's all been done before, sometimes to even greater effect. It's strictly a conventional rescue story told in a straight-forward way, seldom dwelling long on flashback memories that might have slowed things down.
But for John Wayne fans, who've waited a long time just to see this again, it's probably a welcome sight.