Customer Reviews

Whiteout

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I didn't quite know what to expect when I sat down in the theater today to watch Whiteout. The trailers led me to believe it would be some sort of supernatural type film set in Antarctica, but I wasn't really sure if it was just the weather that would be the evil force or some sort of creature. It was none of the above. Whiteout is really just a typical thriller/mystery that happens to occur on the coldest land mass in the world. It involves some murders back in 1957 and few more in present day that Kate's character investigates. Within the first ten minutes you get the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale stripping down to her undies (always a good thing), but I didn't expect that to be the films only true highlight. Other than her obvious use in that particular scene, I can't believe they casted a good looking woman only to cover her up from head to toe and in multiple layers for the last 90 minutes. Not to mention a giant snow hat on her head. Anyways, most of the acting was okay I guess. Kind of bland, but nothing noticeably bad.

Whiteout is actually pretty darn entertaining if you take it for what it is and don't expect anything special. It deserves better than all the negative reviews it is receiving from the critics, but I have to admit that without the early gratuitous scene or the atmospheric location, I probably wouldn't give this thing more that two stars. You might get a couple of shivers from this one, but those looking for some true frostbite should stick with John Carpenter's The Thing.

The studios seemed unsure on how to market this movie and the punchline of being the coldest movie ever filmed hardly inspired confidence in the Antarctica-set thriller and the movie quickly vanished from movie screens. That it did not get an audience could also be explained by the fact that the film never quite identified itself in its marketing material. Was it a paranormal thriller? Was it a horror movie? Was it a psychological thriller? The truth be told it was none of these and was probably closest in structure and narrative to a western.
The plot revolves around a research station in the Antarctic that is prepping for a hibernation period where a skeleton crew keep things runnning through the Antarctic winter. A body is discovered on the ice and it is down to a U.S. Marshall (played competently by the always watchable Kate Beckinsale) to piece together the mystery of precisely what happened. The mystery is tied to a missing Cold War era Soviet Union plane that crashed into the ice decades earlier, which is shown as the movie opens, and the mysterious cargo on board.
Many complained that the movie makers covered the lithe, beautiful Beckinsale in many layers, but this criticism was hardly a valid one. The star strips down to her underwear within moments of her appearance on the screen but the scene is not gratuitous and is not graphic. For the rest of the movie necessity has her all bundled up but this is in keeping with the nature of the frigid weather which is a character unto itself in the movie. One quickly understands why the movie is set in the Antarctic for the movie uses the inhospitable climate as a mechanism with which to ratchet up the suspense and claustrophic feeling of the production.
Overall a satisfying thriller that surprised me in how much I liked it. I had expected to be bored by it but found myself entertained.

"Whiteout" is an implausible but enjoyable thriller set at the South Pole. In its opening sequence, set in 1957, a Soviet cargo plane carrying a mysterious cargo goes down somewhere in Antarctica. In the present, the Amundsen-Scott Scientific Station at the South Pole is preparing to rotate out its summer crew and batten down for the winter darkness, just ahead of an approaching storm. US Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) is preparing to depart, along with her doctor friend (a grizzled but amiable Tom Skerrit).

The discovery of a body on the ice triggers an investigation that leads in short order to an old Soviet scientific station, another dead body, a killer, and the Soviet cargo plane, minus its mysterious cargo. Stetko is assisted in her investigation by the doctor, an aircraft pilot (Columbus Short) and a UN Security Officer (Gabriel Macht). The group, almost inevitably, becomes trapped in an evacuated station with the killer or killers.

Stetko, traumatized by betrayal in a previous assignment told in flashback, finds she can't trust anyone in her present. The action sequences inside and outside the station work well, moving the audience quickly past some plot holes and cold weather implausibilities to a twisty ending. "Whiteout" isn't going to win any awards, but manages to be moderately entertaining. Canada does stand in for the Antarctic with some stunning exteriors.

This was an entertaining and suspenseful movie and we enjoyed it. But well before the ending we both figured out who was the missing villain and what was in the plane that was so valuable.
The setting of the South Pole for this action mystery made it worth watching just for the views and conditions.
If you are looking for the ultimate suspense thriller then you will be disappointed. If you want perfect acting then you will be disappointed. If you nitpick over details or accuracy, then skip this movie.
But if you want a somewhat suspense thriller set in a very unique location then you might enjoy this movie.

this is a great suspense/thriller movie. there was great acting, and it had a very good story line. it's about a lone u.s. marshal in Antarctica, and she finds a dead body and now she has to race against time to find the killer before the last plane takes off before the massive storm. the only thing i didn't like about this movie is the fact that she was the only law enforcer there.(not even close to being true)

Kate Beckinsale, Tom Skerritt - cool setting but it adds up to near nothing. Even the basic script was decent but the execution took care of that. A lot of poorly and overdone CGI didn't help much either nor did the actual cause of everything add up. Or the storyline - which in parts was silly.

In total a really bad movie in a nice package. Kate and Tom could do nothing to salvage what was or wasn't there.

I wasnt sure about this since I had not heard anything - but it looked
intriguing - I was surprised and pleased with this film - very good work
and has its surprises in the mystery.

This is a good film. I am a huge Kate Beckinsale fan and i believe her performance in this movie was great. This movie was very suspenseful and had many twist and turns. This is a definite buy. I suggest you buy other Kate Beckinsale films because she is a great actress.

Amputation is the least of the worries as Kate Beckinsale stars as Carrie Stetko, a U.S. marshal with trust issues - a former partner backstabbed her - who is stationed in Antarctica and nearing her final departure date. That is, until someone spots a human popsicle in a remote location. A motley crew of contractors - including Tom Skerritt as a doctor, Alex O'Loughlin and Columbus Short as pilots - get tossed together in order to solve the mysterious death, dodge an ice-axe-wielding killer, and wrap it up in a nice, shiny bow before the last plane leaves and strands the group before a deadly winter storm hits.

Overall, the tension just isn't palpable. The only time my heart rate raced was the result of Beckinsale's shower scene, not the danger during a whiteout or guideline following action sequences, and the only shivering that occurred was because easily deduced foreshadowing (if you can't figure out who the bad guys are in the film, you're not trying) made the killer as predictable as in an Abraham Lincoln biography. Make no mistake, Beckinsale's the primary reason to watch this film, because the product is relatively bland, but she's dressed up like Ralphie's little brother Randy in Christmas Story the entire film, and taking her out of those clothes would be even more improbable than keeping her in them. Dilemma.

I'd give the film an A for effort, considering this subgenre of suspense (i.e. blizzards) really has only been attempted a handful of times before, but effort is not enough, and at no time was the action intense or the storyline completely engaging. For whatever reason - call it Anglo-inspired culture, language, and legends - but the attempted claustrophobic effect was not as successful as that of a dark cave, murky water, or even pitch-black openness.

Probably the best aspect of this movie was the beautiful display of scenery available at the South Pole; some of the mountainous landscape is jaw-dropping.

Jason Elin

I originally saw this film, about murder and mayhem at a scientific station at the South Pole, on HBO and was a bit disapponted. I picked it up on blu-ray and watched it again and enjoyed it more the second time. The film based on a graphic novel is interesting but does have its flaws. The fight scenes out in the cold are okay, but it is difficult to tell who everyone is and as a result the suspense is diluted. Furthermore the macguffin of the mysterious cargo that men are dying and killing for is, once revealed, a distinct disappointment. The sets are very nicely designed and the scenes at the South Pole, (actually filmed at Lake Manitoba in Canada,) are beautiful
But the really most beautiful thing in this film is Kate Beckinsale. I found her absolutely gorgeous in "Pearl Harbor." My opinion didn't change in the "Underworld" films or the disappointing "Van Helsing." I think she is one of the prettiest actresses in films and can even make a burnt-out U.S. Federal Marshal at the South Pole look good. (The writers obviously knew what their main asset was since they almost immediately have her strip down to take a shower. No nudity however.) The supporting cast is good with Tom Skeritt a standout. Alex O' Laughlin also appears and uses what is probably his normal Austrailian accent. Watching him in this film makes me realize why I have a hard time accepting him as McGarrett on the new "Hawaii Five-O."
The picture and sound quality on the blu-ray are great. There is a nice documentary on the making of the film (where Beckinsale looks more beautiful than ever.) There is also a interesting featurette comparing the graphic novel with the completed film. There are also a couple of fairly long deleted scenes.
As stated, this is a well-made film that kind of came and went in the theaters. It is not bad and not great, but a fairly enjoyable way to spend an hour and forty minutes. And, in case I haven't mentioned it, that Kate is soooo beautiful!