The plane crashes (boy, does it crash) in the remote Alaskan nowhere, and the rough-and-tumble oil wildcatters who survive must fight their way to safety. That in itself might be enough from which The Grey could fashion a suspenseful thrill-ride, but the movie has one more ace up its sleeve. Wolves! A pack of them, starving and considerably irritated that these outsiders have blundered into their territory. And while it is true that most real-world wolves are hardly man-eaters, director Joe Carnahan and cowriter Ian Mackenzie Jeffers are really not all that interested... in reality. Despite some hair-raising moments and a healthy spattering of gore, The Grey is an existential action picture, and the wolves function only as all-purpose predator (being computer-generated, they never really look real anyway). What's really at stake are the souls of these men--how they get along together, and how they face death. Yes, there is always something faintly absurd hanging around this movie; it's like a Jack London story adapted by Luc Besson. But out of its pulpy mash, Carnahan extracts something gutsy. It certainly helps that he's got the mighty Liam Neeson on board as the most capable of the survivors; Neeson exudes the kind of authority that the average action hero can only play-act. Dallas Roberts and Dermot Mulroney add colour, and Frank Grillo jumps off the screen as the most belligerent of the desperate crew. It's possible for a movie to have an absurd premise yet carve something unexpectedly philosophical out of that: The Incredible Shrinking Man and Rise of the Planet of the Apes come to mind. Add this one to that oddball list. --Robert Horton [show more]
Its Liam Neeson versus the wolves in director Joe Carnahan's gripping thriller that quickly gets down to brass-tacks and doesn't let up until the end. Liam Neeson plays a traumatized tracker employed to protect oil drillers in Alaska. He's there to keep the wolves at bay (literally) but after a deadly plane crash leaves him and a handful of survivors stranded in the frozen tundra, the tracker will have to use all his skills against the elements, in an vicious clash between man and beast.
'The Grey' marks a return to form for 'Narc' and 'Smokin' Aces' auteur Joe Carnahan, after his rather disappointing venture into big budget blockbusters with 'The A-Team'. Liam Neeson, a dab hand at this sort of thing (see the underrated 'Seraphim Falls' for details) is on the ball from the get go; hurtling from one seemingly impossible task to another, all the while fending off a ferocious pack of wolves who're picking off the survivors one-by-one. Carnahan follows a simple but effective narrative style: male bonding, wolf attack, male bonding, wolf attack, for there's no doubt that 'The Grey' is a manly, well paced, old school movie about all things 'Man'. And notwithstanding one absurd scene where the team manage to defy the laws of physics, is realistic, gritty fare that doesn't pull it's punches and still has time for some gallows humour like Neeson's conversation with God and a mildly amusing, Wolverine-esque battle between the tracker and his canine nemesis.
Wolves, in real life, are magnificent creatures of wild beauty but in 'The Grey' they're depicted as ruthless p****s, that's because these wolves represent our struggle with inevitability: darkness, uncertainty, isolation, pain, death, the fear that we may be forced to look into the abyss only to be unable to overcome our weaknesses when it matters the most. 'The Grey', though somewhat over familiar in places; is an entertaining, well written, acted and directed film with great cinematography and strong existentialist-survivalist themes. See it.
We will publish your review of The Grey [Blu-ray] on Blu Ray within a few days as long as it meets our guidelines.
None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.
Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play. In The Grey, Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt before their time runs out. Actors Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Nonso Anozie, Joe Anderson, Ben Bray, James Badge Dale, Anne Openshaw, Peter Girges, Jonathan Bitonti, James Bitonti, Ella Kosor, Jacob Blair & Lani Gelera Director Joe Carnahan Certificate 15 years and over Year 2012 Languages English Duration 2 hours (approx)
Joe Carnahan directs this survival drama starring Liam Neeson and Dermot Mulroney. When their plane crashes in the remote forests of Alaska, a group of oil drillers find themselves stranded in the harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Not only must they find a way to eat and keep warm, the men must fend off a pack of angry wolves who see them as intruders on their territory.
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy
