From ‘Chasing Ice’ to ‘Never Cry Wolf’: Our Arctic film tips
Disaster movies, science fiction and nature documentaries. The Arctic has been the setting for all these and many other genres, and with good reason. The stark, beautiful land- and seascapes that dominate the Far North are often as dramatic as the movies themselves – if not more so.
The sheer variety of films on offer mean that ranking them is a fruitless exercise. So instead, we’ve put together – in no particular order – a selection of our favorite Arctic movies going back to the 1950s. In each case, we’ve included their Rotten Tomatoes score.
Arctic (2018)
A man stranded in the Arctic after a plane crash must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown.
Why you should watch it: “There’s plenty to admire in this trim, nearly dialogue-free 97-minute drama, not least Mads Mikkelsen’s raw performance as a downed airman waiting for rescue in the Arctic wastes, and the widescreen majesty of the Icelandic landscapes that stand in for the film’s polar setting.” Lee Marshall, Screen Daily
Tomatometer score: 91%
The Thing (1951)
Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote Arctic outpost.
Why you should watch it: “It sounds like a silly B-movie, but the fact is that the performances are all top-notch, the story exciting, and the suspense almost unbearable.” At a Glance Film Reviews
Tomatometer score: 87%
Chasing Ice (2012)
National Geographic photographer James Balog uses time-lapse cameras to capture a multi-year record of the Arctic’s changing glaciers.
Why you should watch it: “This amazingly beautiful, and amazingly frightening, documentary captures the immediacy of what climate change is doing to the Arctic landscape.” Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
Tomatometer score: 96%
Never Cry Wolf (1983)
A government researcher is sent into the Arctic wilderness to investigate the effect of wolves on the caribou population.
Why you should watch it: “What is special is that this is the kind the movie that clears off all of the predictable elements found in most films about nature – such as the singular villain who wants to dump toxic waste – and just lets the environment tell the story.” Jerry Roberts, Armchair Cinema
Tomatometer score: 100%
The Arctic Convoy (2023)
A true story about the heroic efforts of the Norwegian Merchant Marines during World War II.
Why you should watch it: “This is not a gung-ho rah-rah-rah action flick with love interests, but instead a mature and subtle look at a group of people under extreme stress.” Ard Vin, Screen Anarchy
Tomatometer score: 100%
Under an Arctic Sky (2017)
Six surfers set sail along the frozen shores of Iceland as the worst storm in 25 years approaches.
Why you should watch it: “A sequence of events scripted by no one but Mother Nature formed this story, which they managed to tell in a very compelling way.” Magnus Ekermann, surfears.com
Tomatometer score: n/a
