Ice Quake isn’t quite the disaster of a movie compared with other Syfy made-for-TV movies but it’s still not very good. It was more interesting to see Victor Garber’s lack of interest than even those whom seemed to actually try.
Ice Quake (2010)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Action
Anchor Bay | PG – 90 min. – $24.99 | January 3, 2012
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Paul Ziller
Writer(s): David Ray (written by)
Cast: Brendan Fehr, Jodelle Ferland, Holly Dignard, Ryan Grantham, Victor Garber
DISC INFO:
Features: Featurette, Trailer
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A
THE MOVIE – 2.25/5
Plot: It’s Christmas Eve in Alaska, but the holiday season is in for a rude awakening: A massive ice shelf has collapsed in the Russian Arctic. Intense shockwaves are rocking the region. Military geologist Michael Webster (BRENDAN FEHR) and his family – wife Emily (HOLLY DIGNARD), son Shane (RYAN GRANTHAM) and daughter Tia (JODELLE FERLAND) – set out for a snowy wilderness hike to cut down a Christmas tree. The trek leaves them trapped by huge ice geysers, giant avalanches and enormous cracks in the permafrost. But with the help of hard-nosed Army Colonel Bill Hughes (VICTOR GARBER) and their own survival instincts, can they now find a way to stop a monstrous methane explosion that threatens to destroy the entire planet?
Ice Quake is another cheaply make, poorly produced SyFy TV movie with minimal visual effects and lazy acting throughout. Acting wise, Brendan Fehr (“Bones”), Holly Dignard (“Whistler”), Ryan Grantham (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and Jodelle Ferland (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) as the Webster family were fine as the primary roles although they didn’t have a whole lot to work with.
However, the highlight for me was with Victor Garber. The only reason I even found this movie anywhere near tolerable was thinking how Garber looks absolutely bored and did the least amount necessary. In fact, all of his scenes took place on one set and in the majority of those scenes he’s holding a Christmas coffee cup as if he were on some coffee break and just wandered onto the set. I don’t know, it was the only thing that stood out in an otherwise forgettable movie.
The movie was directed by Paul Ziller who seems to be SyFy’s go-to guy helming a variety of science-fiction films like Metal Shifters, Beyond Loch Ness, Polar Storm, Stonehedge Apocalypse, etc. I suppose the direction is effective enough especially the material he was given.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5
The Making of Ice Quake (27:09; SD) – This is your average ‘making-of’ featurette providing behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew as they explain the plot and/or their characters.
Trailer (1:35; HD)
VIDEO – 3.75/5
Anchor Bay releases Ice Quake onto Blu-ray with a decent looking 1080p high-def transfer and a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio. The picture quality is clean and probably was shot digitally because I didn’t notice any film grain, noise or any flaws. The detail level is fine as well albeit some of it looks a bit flat.
AUDIO – 3.5/5
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is OK but nothing special. The dialogue levels come out best while the few action scenes don’t show off much depth while the generic score makes the most use of the rear tracks.
OVERALL – 2.5/5
Overall, Ice Quake isn’t quite the disaster of a movie compared with other Syfy made-for-TV movies but it’s still not very good. It was more interesting to see Victor Garber’s lack of interest than even those whom seemed to actually try. The Blu-ray doesn’t have much to offer with average video and audio transfers.
The Movieman
Published: 01/02/2012