Iceman (1984)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writers:

John Drimmer (screenplay)
John Drimmer (story)

Release Date:

13 April 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

HE'S 40,000 YEARS OLD. Deep within an Arctic glacier they found him, preserved by a miracle of nature, brought back to life by a miracle of science. Now medical science wants to exploit him in the name of research. One man wants to stop them...in the name of humanity. But he'll need more than a miracle to survive...he'll need a friend.

Plot:

An anthropologist who is part of an arctic exploration team discovers the body of a prehistoric man who is still alive...

Plot Keywords:

Prehistoric | Arctic | Language Barrier | Frozen In Ice | Ice

Cast

Timothy Hutton	...	Dr. Stanley Shephard
Lindsay Crouse	...	Dr. Diane Brady
John Lone	...	Charlie, the Iceman
Josef Sommer	...	Whitman
David Strathairn	...	Dr. Singe
Philip Akin	...	Dr. Vermeil
Danny Glover	...	Loomis
Amelia Hall	...	Prof. Mabel Chapman
Richard Monette	...	Hogan
James Tolkan	...	Maynard
Stephen E. Miller	...	Temp Doc
David Petersen	...	Scatem Doc
Judith Berlin	...	E.K.G. Doc
Paul Batten	...	Technician
Lovie Eli	...	Nurse

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-8 | Germany:16 | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Iceman was a project linked to director Norman Jewison for several years throughout the 1970s. It ultimately emerged under Fred Schepisi but Jewison was still attached as producer.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Charlie is looking upwards to the helicopter, his open mouth reveals a large number of silver fillings. Such dentistry, obviously, wouldn't have been available during the stone age.

Quotes:

Charlie, the Iceman: [Charlie brings a dark object to Brady]
Dr. Diane Brady: What's that?
Doctor Stanley Shephard: An offering. He wants you to eat it.
Dr. Diane Brady: I was afraid you'd say that.
Dr. Diane Brady: [She eat it and then gags]
Dr. Diane Brady: What was that?
Doctor Stanley Shephard: A beetle. What did it taste like?
Dr. Diane Brady: A beetle. I think I'm going to throw up.
Doctor Stanley Shephard: Don't! He'll take it as a bad omen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Andromeda Strain (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Heart of Gold

Cult Movies 8

8. ICEMAN (drama, 1984): A team of arctic-research scientists uncover the body of a Neanderthal man frozen in a slab of ice. He is brought to life by Dr. Brady (Lindsay Crouse). The Iceman (John Lone) is placed in an enclosed artificial wilderness housing. Dr. Shepard (Timothy Hutton) is brought in to study the man. However, he goes one stop further by making face to face contact. With the help of Diane, their struggle to identify with the Iceman becomes a personal, and moving experience.

Critique: A visual as well as a 'sound' delight, Iceman is a touching film that brings the 'environmentalist' in all of us. It is that rare film lore which feeds our emotions and our intellectual curiosity.

Australian director Fred Schepsi provides the lush, snow-covered landscapes with a rich musical tapestry to reside on. Schepsi makes us feel close to the Iceman by placing him in the position of stranger (which is where we, as audience, also are), and surveyor of truth. Although it has the same plot overtones of a Frankenstein's monster(should a creation be exploited), it does sway from this by giving us an insight into the Iceman's past.

Actor John Lone's debut as the Iceman is wholly potent, as a rendition of our 'shadow side'. While Lindsay Crouse for once plays a sensitive scientist. The best moment of the film comes when the Iceman, at last happy, plummets through the Arctic air and comes full circle in his quest. With the film's beautiful soundtrack guiding him.

Quotes: Iceman: "Pita!"