...
An amazing unforgettable journey of humanity.
--tagline for the film Iceman, source: IMDB.com


What would you do if you went to sleep and awoke 40,000 years later ...in a strange environment, surrounded by creatures foreign to everything you know..??

This is the challenge facing the Iceman.

Found while drilling in the Arctic ice, the body of a frozen 'iceman' is quickly transported to a nearby science station. Thawing the body to begin scientific studies scientists soon realize the frozen man is still alive. Quickly stabilized, the question becomes whether to study his body for the clues to how he survived his frozen state ...or to study the iceman for what he can tell us about our own evolution. While medical experiments continue under the direction of Dr. Brady (Lindsay Crouse), anthropologist Dr. Stanley Shephard (Timothy Hutton) befriends the iceman (John Lone) ...and the struggle begins.


John Lone and Timothy Hutton carry the water in this film. Lone's portrayal of a primitive man lost, confused, and alone in this modern world is the focus of the story. While Hutton struggles to learn to communicate with this primitive and to understand his journey interrupted.

Interacting with the iceman in the habitat where he is temporarily housed Hutton quickly becomes the outspoken advocate of "Chaaaarrooooo", as the iceman voices his name ...or Charlie as Shephard nicknames him.

We soon realize Charlie has/had a wife and children that he feels he has abandoned. Introducing a female (Dr. Brady) to Charlie just seems to strengthen his resolve to return to his family, to complete his journey interrupted. Dr. Brady also comes to 'know' Charlie and to understand the real human emotions and pain he is suffering.


So do you keep a unique specimen that may help science learn the secrets of cryogenics, freezing cells, organisms, humans, and bringing them back to life. .?? Or do you recognize the man inside the body you want to study..?? Do you see his needs and his pains and understand how your needs conflict with his..??

While some reviewers/commenters elsewhere on the web *cough-IMDB-cough* wax eloquently about Lone's acting skills . . .I will not go quite that far. He does do 'ignorant and confused primitive man' well . . .but I think many might do it just as adequately. Hutton is young and scraggly-bearded and all around adequate as the humanist/scientist who sees the man first and body second. A pre-Lethal WeaponDanny Glover has a bit role as does James Tolkan, who plays an atypical nice-guy character.


The Bottom Line
So is it worth your 100 minutes watching..?? Well, on cable TV (as I watched) and even on the recent bare-bones DVD it is a fullscreen conversion of its original widescreen format ...which is noticeable at times.

But Iceman does pose an interesting scientific and moral question. It sort of resolves itself in the film (as you will see, no spoilers here) but it never really challenges viewers to answer the 'big question' for themselves. If you like 'bumped-out-of-time' stories it is probably worth your time. It probably will not 'wow' you ...but it is an interesting storyline adequately told.

How is that for a weak endorsement..?!?



Certified 'lean-n-mean' review.


Happy Birthday to Epinions..!!

Ten years ago today, September 9, 1999, Epinions dot com went officially live to the world. I was not here for that first day, nor the first celebration. But I was officially registered by the second and have been actively contributing since December 2001.

There have been a helluva lot of fun times . . .and a few trying moments ...or months.

I am proud of everything I have shared on Epinions and am grateful to see so many readers here and out there on the Intertubes find my humble offerings 'helpful'.

I am also enriched by the many fine people I have met through Epinions, some of them in real life ...most of them online only. I have had my minor squabbles here and there but most peeps have remained my friends and I theirs. May those friendships (and many more to come) continue for another ten years.


Please check out all the other celebratory reviews on this 10th birthday here ...well, as soon as I get 'em all linked up..!!


So again, !!..Happy Birthday Epinions..!! I hope it has been as much fun and as rewarding for you as it has been for me, for us..!!


...tom...
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Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older