Best movie of this year hands down!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Blistering performances.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Released in 1979 and directed by Hammer-alumni Don Sharp from Alistair MacLean's novel, "Bear Island" is an arctic thriller about an international group meeting at the eponymous isle near the Arctic Circle off the Northern coast of Norway. Several people die under dubious circumstances and it becomes clear that some of the personnel are doing the killing; and why. Donald Sutherland, Lloyd Bridges and Vanessa Redgrave play the main protagonists while Richard Widmark plays the curmudgeonly leader of the expedition. Christopher Lee is also on hand as an interesting loner.Unlike similar arctic thrillers, like 1968's "Ice Station Zebra," which was absurdly set-bound, "Bear Island" features great location shooting with Alaska substituting for Norway. There's a lot of action, including an avalanche, several explosions, a great knock-down-drag-out fist fight and a falling radio tower; there's also some good tension between the characters. But something keeps "Bear Island" from standing out. The script needed SOMETHING to make it more compelling, like a head-turning female or a steamy romance. Yes, Barbara Parkins is on hand, but her role is too small; and Redgrave's part is thoroughly academic. Nevertheless, there's enough good here to give it a marginal recommendation for those who appreciate realistic (to a point) arctic adventures, like 2009's "Whiteout." Sutherland, for instance, is excellent as the main protagonist.The film runs 118 minutes and was shot in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, and British Columbia, as well as studio work in England.GRADE: B-

"Bear Island" contains a once-in-a-lifetime cast, is based on a popular action novel by Alistair MacLean, and had a considerable budget. So you might think that the end results would be at least of some interest. However, it's anything but. There are a lot of problems I could go on for some time describing, such as the unenthusiastic performances, some murky plot details, and some surprisingly cheap touches despite the large budget. But the biggest problem with the movie is that it's surprisingly boring. Most of the movie is devoted to dialogue, and the dialogue isn't particularly interesting. The few times that the action comes, under the direction of co-writer Don Sharp, at best it comes across as utterly routine, and at it's worst is downright boring. So it's easy to see why the movie got almost no theatrical release. Only for viewers who want to see Donald Sutherland resemble Richard Chamberlain.

I like this movie, great cast, Sutherland, Redgrave, Bridges, all in one movie? You couldn't ask for more. The pace is a bit slow though. But it is common, since this is a suspense, not action flick movie. the plot is fine, although is a bit confusing at the start. The best thing is that you keep guessing who's the bad guy. You'll never know until the end of this movie. Unfortunetely, my VHS version is kind of fading away. The picture is getting blurry. I assume it's because it's been almost 10 years. I'm actually looking for DVD version, but it's also very rare. Probably the movie is not a big hit, so they don't have it in DVD version. Anybody can tell me any site which I could download this movie?Thanks!

Alistair McClean's Bear Island is a highly action packed thriller set in the Arctic circle where an international scientific team are conducting the usual experiments. all is not what it seems as some of the team are being killed in mysterious circumstances, there is a superb subplot typical of McClean which involves a hidden Nazi U-Boat full of gold! the cast is mostly all - star for starters you've heroic Donald Sutherland his love interest -Vannesa Redgrave, the ever brilliant Christopher Lee convincing as a polish scientist, comic relief and ex-navy diver Lloyd Bridges, baddie or not baddie Richard Widmark. Alistair McClean's Bear Island is criminally unseen the last time i saw this highly entertaining thriller was probably more than ten years ago! on ITV i recall watching it it probably edited for violence as most posters on this site mention, in the time that has passed several film adaptations of McClean have been released except this and it should be released it's still out there on deleted VHS format too bad it really needs to be seen in 2:35:1 widescreen it's terrible watching anything in pan and scan you are really watching one half of the frame! hopefully Columbia will release this soon