The Film

The uplifting Disney template is applied to another story (originally a novel), which sees a Miami Dentist (Gooding Jr) searching for himself in the wastes of Alaska with a team of huskies.

The Sight & Sound

Both the picture and stereo sound are pretty good — not that you wouldn’t expect it from a company of Disney’s backing, although the whole disc was terribly quiet.

The Extras

If you like the movie, the three documentaries will interest you — on the actors, dogs and production design & locations.

The commentary by director Brian Levant and producer Jordan Kerner is lively and engaging and will help keep you awake if the movie is enough to do the opposite.

There’s a bit of interesting backstory to the production — references to actual world events make you appreciate the process (how they filmed on the tarmac of a small airport prior to September 11 but never would have been allowed to after, for example).

A game where you drive a snowmobile in search of your dogs showed interactive promise, but whether it’s a region or compatibility thing, it refused to respond despite several attempts.

The Worth

Non Disney fans know better than to watch a Disney film, so don’t watch it without being prepared to stomach the requisite swelling music, popcorn-Capra ending and inanely simplistic morals. Likewise, the extras are only if the movie interests you.

2 out of 5

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2003 at 12:00 am and is filed under DVD Reviews, Film, Filmink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.