Auf Messers Schneide – Rivalen am Abgrund (1997)

Auf Messers Schneide – Rivalen am Abgrund: Directed by Lee Tamahori. With Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Elle Macpherson, Harold Perrineau. An intellectual billionaire and two other men struggle to band together and survive after getting stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a blood-thirsty Kodiak Bear hunting them down.

“The Edge is a very effective movie on several counts and is a blast to watch. Sporting a terrific A-list cast most notably Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin (his character is a real POS in this) and others. This suspenseful film is tightly crafted and will provide you with plenty of thrills, in light of the movies real star – a relentless man-eating bear. A u0026quot;Mr. Kodiaku0026quot;, if you will. Itu0026#39;s presence is very, very, menacing indeed and the attack scenes more or less put you right in the action, because thatu0026#39;s just how vivid they are (and the bear attack in u0026quot;Revenantu0026quot; (2015) dials up the intensity and brutality even more). One of the best aspects of this film is itu0026#39;s grand scenic setting (scenic photography) which shows off the glorious splendor of the Canadian (?) wilderness ever so effectively. The greatest of film maestrou0026#39;s, Jerry Goldsmith, composed a notably effective score for this film and his music really drives home the u0026quot;bear elementu0026quot; quite marvelously, with lots of powerful brass, thundering percussion and recurring low-end piano punctuations – thank you for very punchy sounds, Jerry. All in all though not perfect, The Edge is very solid all the same. But as far as criticism goes for this film Iu0026#39;d have to say that Baldwinu0026#39;s acting can be a grating (verging on embarrassing once or twice), some scenes in particular his over-acting is, well, youu0026#39;ll see. The Edge is a total pro-production in every aspect and is potent in itu0026#39;s delivery, trust me when I say youu0026#39;re bound to be entertained – to say the least. There really should be MORE wilderness epics like THIS (itu0026#39;s a breath of fresh air to get away from all the strip joints, gas stations, apartment buildings, military bases and parking lots – to say the least), but that never seems to happen. Lastly, am I imagining things or is this film a bit under-rated.”