Sir Anthony Hopkins is billionaire "Charles" who finds himself stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash leaves him, his friend "Robert" (Alec Baldwin) and his assistant "Stephen" (Harold Perrineau) in the middle of nowhere - and a fairly hostile nowhere at that! Fortunately, he was a boy scout as a kid - he knows how to light a fire, to make a compass from a leaf and so armed with a somewhat optimistically stoic attitude they set off to find civilisation. Not long into their journey, they pick up an unwanted guest - a 1,200lb Kodiak bear - and it is as hungry as they are lost. It will take all of their ingenuity to outsmart this hunter and reach safety. Along the way, we also discover there is just a little bit of a personal grudge running between the two friends, adding an additional tension to their already fraught predicament. It's a good looking film this, and "Bart" the bear turns in quite a ferocious effort as he provides such of the menace in this drama. Sadly, though, neither lead actor offers much by way of a performance, the dialogue is all a bit basic and though the grand scale photography is great to look at, the action stuff struggles to look real or plausible. The ending really lets the thing down quite badly, and though I didn't mind watching this film, I can't say I could recommend it nor that I would watch it again.

In a nutshell: A vastly underrated thriller / adventure with great performances from Hopkins and Baldwin. After about a third of the way in, it's a two man show with excellent pacing, you will not be disappointed...

Yes, it's unrealistic. Yes, it's corny. But then the plot twist happens. And it hit me hard. I felt like I was watching a much better movie during than the last twenty minutes or so. Without spoiling anything, if the first part of the film had been like the last twenty minutes, it would have been considered a gem.

That being said, it's an oddly nostalgic product of it's time with surprisingly witty dialogue, excellent, excellent special effects - mostly due to the fact that they used live animals during the filming process. This movie has none of those CGI abominations we have today - it looks realer than even Jurassic Park. The theme, though repetitive, is beautiful and somehow manages to not be intrusive, even during the most dramatic and heart wrenching scenes. Anthony Hopkins is on his A-game as usual, and he manages to make a somewhat bland character likeable, though the talent if the scriptwriter does aid in this at least somewhat. Alec Baldwin is surprisingly loveable as well, and eventually, you become quite attached. Additionally, the sets and locations are beautiful and the sound design is excellent.

In conclusion, this is an unrealistic yet heartfelt survival movie that works well as simple entertainment while delivering some heartfelt moments. Definitely worth a watch.