The Edge

Anaconda. Bats. Birds. Jaws. Cujo. Jurassic Park. Ghost in the Darkness. Just a short list to name a few. Some classic, some that should not of even been made, all about when animals attack. (I know Jurassic Park is a little more on the fantasy side because dinosaurs no longer exist, but I added it because it stands as one of my favorites and its somewhat similar to the rest.) The Edge is a movie that could be classified with one of these, this time around though, it’s a bear that is out for blood. Here a Kodiak bear is out for Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin who are lost in the wilderness in Alaska. How ironic for Anthony to be on the run from a man-eater…

Directed by Lee Tamahori and written by David Mamet we have the brilliant Anthony Hopkins playing Charles Morse, a book loving billionaire and Alec Baldwin playing the sly and arrogant Robert Green. The movie opens up with the Charles and Robert landing onto a lodge in Alaska with a photo shoot crew, including Charles model wife Mickey, played by Elle McPherson.

We find in the first ten minutes of the film that Charles is an extremely brilliant man on the outside who finds himself on the edge of paranoia of those around him. He believes Robert to be sleeping with Mickey and he finds himself believing that all those around are there for his money and no his friendship. On a plane ride to a near by lake, a freak accident happens when a flock of birds fly into the small jet and send it crashing into a freezing lake.

Here Charles, Robert, and their friend Stephen (played by Harold Perrineau) find themselves cold, lost, scared shitless, and hungry… not to mention a Kodiak bear is out to have them for a warm meal. As the story unfolds, we see Charles almost becoming a mentor type character and Robert as the student type figure as Charles keeps reminding Bob that men die in the woods from shame. With one man fighting to live by his knowledge and wit and the other hoping for sheer luck we see two interesting and realistic characters, on opposites of the characteristic spectrum be put to the test.

The Edge, without a doubt, goes down as one of my top favorite movies of all time. I fully recommend this movie to anyone who seeks adventure in the great outdoors and loves a good action flick. A movie filled with adrenaline and an introspective look at intelligence when all things are stripped away and a man is put to the test in the wilderness.