evil bill
Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk
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In The Grey, John Ottway(Liam Neeson) leads seven survivors oil-rig roughnecks when during a intense blizzard their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt before their time runs out.
Director Joe Carnahan is probably best known for shit like The A Team,though he did the more bullets for your money Smokin Aces,an excellent action/thriller.I remember him more for this and Narc,two films he can be proud of,and now this superb gritty survival thriller,full of thrills and genuine shocks,(well it made me jump once).It is also one of the best Wolf films made,and by that i not thinking Werewolf(though it comes up in one of the funny? moments in this tale),but more in the vain of WOLFEN,made back in the 80's where a pack of wolves are the stars.Where there's a deeper plot than you first see,dealing with equally,greed,primal fear and what of civilization if all goes wrong,where is God.The Grey in the title is not just about the Grey landscape so beautifully filmed,or the Grey wolves that attack,it is also about the grey area in life,that of death,friends,enemies,and what is morally right and wrong when it comes down to who will survive.The Grey is depressing,real,scary and without trying to preach it slips without you hardly noticing into every aspect of life,asking more questions than giving some answers to why shit happens,why are we here.This is a lot deeper than some may expect,but when you realize this is a Ridley and Tony Scott film,you are in no doubt it's also there vision of the world on screen.Man against nature,man against himself,company employees who are expendable,all theme's from so many Scott films.
It takes a big man(actor) to carry off a film like this and make it feel real,and Liam Neeson is awesome in this,like in Taken,he is phenomenal when it come to portraying deeper emotions,like loss,courage and that damn stubborn streak the Irish seem to have in bucket loads.All these feelings and more are all on show and not just from Liam,but the rest of this great supporting cast,who are a real mixture of working people who just want to get home,to lovers family or just the next bottle of bourbon.They all help make this picture feel and look real,as do the wolves,who seem to reflect at times the fight in camp between the survivors,but in the end are the hunters who's land has been invaded.
Some have felt the action scenes are badly handled, just because the camera pulls away from showing throats being ripped open,i felt is wrong.There's enough blood and gore on show,and the attacks on a number of the men showed enough,with out resorting to full on blood pumping,flesh tearing horror.Like all good horror films,it's not always what you see that scares you,or makes you clutch at your stomach for fear of wreaching.Saying that there's plenty of sharp teeth on show,and ripping sounds to keep you on edge but still glued to the show,and the attacks are well filmed,visually striking, and jaw-dropping in fact with some truly creepy moments to add to the chills also.The wolves are horrifying, yet never made to look evil or bad just simply nature at it's most real and vicious,and again stunningly filmed for maximum impact.The scenes of them attacking reminded me very much of the BBC documentary Frozen planet,where a pack of wolves out for food bring down a deer.Yes it's that real looking and why i belive this director and his producers got the mix of horror and realism just about right,and there will be those i'm sure will pick holes in the script.Me i just sat back and let this film take me on a journey,and was well rewarded with everything on screen,and yes i stayed right to the very last title to see,the real end of the film??8/10
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"You listen to me now,i will find you and i will kill you!"
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THE GREY - 
) at first I wasn't going to go and see this film, but based on some strong reviews and Neeson in the lead role think I will give it a go after all. 
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