HECK BELOW ZERO

REVIEWED - EIGHT BELOW: Astonishingly, the true story of the survival of some number of dogs left alone at the Antarctic for some number of months has, despite its being patently unfilmable, managed to form the basis for two whole films. The first was Nankyoku Monogatari from Japan. The second is this passable Disney picture.

The film-makers' unease with their material is revealed through their decision to hold off starting the core story until close to an hour into the movie. Shortly after arriving at a polar encampment staffed by kooks and cards, Bruce Greenwood, a dedicated scientist, announces that he needs to be transported to some dangerous mountain where a little lump of the planet Mercury awaits collection.

Paul Walker, whose dedication to his huskies knows no bounds, reluctantly agrees to act as guide. They have many adventures on the way there and back. Then a storm closes in and, eventually, they are forced to flee the camp and leave the dogs behind.

Now, Eight Below not being the kind of Disney film where dogs play the piano or share meatballs in Italian restaurants, we are then treated to endless shots of the unfortunate animals staring at the Northern Lights, growling at penguins and chasing seagulls. Meanwhile Walker sits in his caravan in Oregon torturing himself unduly.

The pack's encounter with a leopard seal is so spectacular partly because the computer-generated predator is quite nicely rendered and partly because the fight is just about the only thing that happens in the second hour.

Never mind. Eight Below, a harmless film in every way, should play nicely to the sort of child who, while watching westerns, cries for the stumbling horse rather than the cowboy with an arrow through his head. They may even agree with the poster's claim that it is the The Most Amazing Story Of Survival, Friendship And Adventure Ever Told. I'm not so sure.