Ice Quake (2010 TV Movie) User Reviews

Entertaining, Even If It Ignores Plenty of Common Sense

[gavin6942 · 4/10 · 9 January 2012]

Geysers of ice are erupting in Alaska near the city of Fairbanks. They seem to be moving, and if not stopped could cause great peril for the families on Christmas.

I could make lots of complaints about this film (and will shortly). But I want to say that despite all the bad things, it was still enjoyable and used far less CGI than typically seen in a SyFy film. I appreciate that they seem to know the film will be cheesy and try not to make it more than it is. I see too many films that take themselves seriously and just end up being boring (most recent example -- "Don't Let Him In"). This one is a fun movie.

That being said, it has some questionable aspects. You have a father far too young to be the parent of a teenager. You have methane gas causing people to die just by touching it. You have Alaska, on Christmas Eve, with bright green grass. Methane apparently does not dissipate after causing cracks to the surface and can be directed by explosions...

As far as preparation, Brendan Fehr explains, "We have about two weeks max and usually about a week before the whole thing gets rolling." So it is a very quick process from landing a role to filming. So you have to give a little bit of credit to Fehr and co-stars for picking up the characters quickly, knowing the lines, working against events that are not really there... and not getting paid much to do it.

I would still recommend this... to a point. It is not award-winning, it is not the best film of the year (or even the month). But it is a good party movie. This is the kind of film you can enjoy with a friend, a beer and a pizza. You do not have to pay close attention to grasp the plot. And sometimes that is okay.

Nothing great but has its moments

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 27 May 2011]

While I do not like most of Syfy's movies, I do watch them to see if there are any decent ones or any with novelty value. Ice Quake isn't a terrible movie and Syfy have certainly done much worse. The scenery is quite striking, the story was interesting in concept and to start with, Brendan Fehr is cute, charming and does show at least a bit of charisma and the female didn't grate on me or strike me as too bland. However, Ice Quake isn't particularly good either. The acting, excepting the leads, is nothing to rave about, and I also couldn't connect to most of the characters, so much so towards the end I honestly didn't really care about whether they lived or died. The effects are rather generic, the film does have some dodgy flashlight technology and while it is not as bad as other Syfy movies there are many inconsistencies and errors, the one regarding the methane is just one of these. The direction and pace are both uneven, there are times when the direction is tolerable but others when it is sloppy and hackneyed and in regards to the pace the middle drags and the end feels rushed, while the script is really quite poor and clichéd. Overall, Ice Quake has its moments but it is nothing great. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Kill the caves!

[rgcustomer · 4/10 · 10 January 2011]

This is a remarkably bad movie, and I'm annoyed I watched it. For me, it ties with Stonehenge Apocalypse as the worst film of 2010.

You can tell almost instantly that this is a film by, for, and about Canadians, dressed up for some reason to look like they are part of various US organizations and locations.

Actually, I will give them credit for having no obvious Canadian landmarks or signs (other than the terrain itself). But then why are the taxpayers of Canada paying to help make this film, through tax credits? Shouldn't it at least be set in Canada, to earn that funding?

Also, I am hopeful that it isn't really the goal of Canadian filmmaking to make US people look like morons.

Predictably, as in most Canadian films, and in most disaster films, these are some of the worst special effects seen in a film this century. Mostly it's the same effect over and over, as people dive and dodge not to have to share screen time with it. Who can blame them? The Colonel and his staff are ... inexplicable. When Ram figures out that the "anomalies" (what is this? Star Trek?) are along a network of caves, I fully expected the Colonel to order something like "Kill the Caves. Warp Factor 5. Red alert. Don't let them get away" and then sip some coffee, looking Deeply Concerned.

This is probably the worst use of cold in a film since Batman & Robin (1997).

I'll agree with another comment that this is certainly the worst use of flashlight technology I've seen in any film I can remember. It might sort of work that way, but your chances are exponentially better if you actually aim the light at the people you want to see you.

Also, if there's a methane leak into your air, breathing through a cloth isn't going to help. Methane is not a solid like soot. Just like nitrogen (78% of our atmosphere) in regards to human health, methane is a non-toxic gas, only harmful to our breathing when there's so much that it pushes away breathable air.

It wasn't totally awful. There was a sort of family story there. And Brendan's still cute. But really, it's just not worth it. This film should be tossed down a chasm, and ignited.

Iced in the mountains

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 10 May 2015]

Ice Quake is another SyFy Channel film so as always keep expectations low.

Two geologists (one dressed as Santa) investigate tremors on a mountain when a deep crack appears with some shimmering effects indicating some kind of gas escaping which freezes one of the geologist jumping over the crack. The mountain is releasing sub zero methane gas via earthquakes which causes avalanches placing nearby towns in danger.

Brendan Fehr is up in the mountains with his family looking for Christmas trees but ends up battling for survival as ice geysers spew and quakes occur unleashing avalanches leading him to deal with various problems. Victor Garber lends respectability as the Colonel trying to locate Fehr.

Its a rather poor film, quickly shot, below average special effects and some bad science.

Ouch

[jimmerw · 1/10 · 30 December 2010]

Awful, just bloody awful. It is difficult to decide what negative aspect of the movie to discuss as there were so may. In fact, I would speak of a positive aspect if I could find one.

I am a Canadian and cringe whenever I see that I am about to watch a Canadian movie as I have rarely seen one that did not leave me constantly saying "Oh, come on, really?"

What bothers me the most is that movies such as these are funded, in part, by tax revenue in the form of government film grants. We have people living on the street, children going to bed hungry at night, and the government feels it is more beneficial to put money into dismal productions like this.

I am not one who turns off a movie once I start watching one. Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment as this movie (using the word loosely) left me feeling like I threw away the portion of my life that was devoted to watching this. It is as if it was a class project done by students from a high school film class.

I honestly do not understand how it is that people can produce a work like this and feel that it is good. Spend the money needed to create something of this calibre and release it on the unsuspecting public.

I seldom write reviews, but I am so tired of seeing my tax dollars going to make such horrible movies that I had to vent. If given the opportunity to watch this movie or scrub toilets in a subway station, go for the toilets. It will surely be far more rewarding and enjoyable.

just in time for the holidays!

[davidm-14 · 11 December 2010]

a new sci-fi channel (don't you hate calling it sy-fy? i sure do.) Christmas adventure set on a potentially volcanic Alaskan mountain that spawns earthquakes, endless, bottomless fissures and avalanches, as well as spewing uber-cold gas that freezes things instantly. will the brave scientist and his family (who just happen to be out getting their Christmas tree at the time) get out in time and find a way to stop the chaos before the town is destroyed? we sure hope so. this would make part of great night of icy movies with "frozen" and then "ice spiders", which was the CGI sci-fi channel movie from last year around this time. i actually kind of liked this one; they don't really get around to telling you what the problem is right away, and there aren't nearly enough scary movies full of death and destruction set during the holidays.

This is NOT a science fiction movie for flashlight geeks

[Pro Jury · 2/10 · 12 December 2010]

This contains spoilers.

ICE QUAKE is NOT a movie for flashlight geeks.

I am not sure if I have ever seen such poor and unrealistic use and handling of flashlights in a TV show or movie anywhere close to as bad as the flashlight handling in ICE QUAKE.

The actors "aimed" the flashlights at least 90º away from where any normal person would find it helpful.

Often in rescue movies actors are seen yelling at distant search planes or at helicopters thundering over head. This silly behavior is seen often in movies and TV shows. Sadly, ICE QUAKE finds a new level of unrealistic behavior.

Even when the actors are waving the lights around with spastic thrashing arm movements, the beams of light do not once even accidentally point in a useful direction.

Perhaps cast and crew were all suffering from 100% snow blindness during the filming of this movie???

Ice Quake total joke

[doodle121458 · 1/10 · 11 December 2010]

This movie is so full of errors it was funny to watch. We've been to Fairbanks, the supposed city this movie was set in and the scenery and setting was so false. For one thing Fairbanks, AK in December is almost totally dark other than 3 hours of dusk. This movie had dark areas as well as full sun light. The town itself barely had snow other than what was placed around the Christmas tree. The mountain ranges around the town are non-existent in real Fairbanks. The mountain rangers were way to high and the roads did not have snow on them. Having been to Fairbanks many times in 12 years this town was definitely NOT Fairbanks. By the way there is no lush ski-slope area near Fairbanks- a few gold mining areas yes. Fairbanks is set in the bowl of a valley not at the bottom of a mountain range. There was no visual for the Tanana River which runs along Fairbanks southern edge. We could have written a more accurate plot line with more accurate scenery. This made-for-TV 'disaster' film had us laughing for 2 hours at all the errors.

Barrel scraping nonsense

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 7 May 2015]

ICE QUAKE is an extraordinarily poor SyFy Channel disaster movie that sees a river of liquid methane causing the very landscape to split and shift in Alaska. Inevitably, a scientist and his family happen to be caught up in the natural disaster and must fight to survive nature's onslaught.

So far so ordinary for the SyFy Channel, but this one is exceptionally poor compared to most of their movies in this sub-genre. There's not one distinguished cast member here, just a bunch of no-name actors giving boring performances. The characters are underwritten to the point of non-existence and there's way too much crying and screaming going on.

The entire narrative consists of repetitive scenes of people trying to flee when the ground splits and cracks open to emit clouds of boiling methane. The CGI effects are horrendous beyond belief and there's something mind-numbingly repetitive in the way the same incidents befall the same characters over and over again. Even fans of these low rent disaster flicks should avoid it...

This will be noticed

[zombie-32 · 1/10 · 25 April 2012]

When this movie is discovered by aliens races they will take notice. Opinions will be created. Discussions will be made. Wars will be fought. Cults will unify multiple species.

Because of this movie waring species will join together in peace. They will form an alliance unified with one goal- the total and complete extermination of the Human species. Not only will the human species that created this movies be exterminated they will decided to sterilise any planet the humans are on in atomic fire just to be sure.

Just to be sure.

The glowing planets will be left as a stark reminder that some species truly deserve not enslavement, not consumption as food but the total and complete erasure from the universe

Put your brain on cruise control

[PALADIN12640 · 4/10 · 23 January 2013]

After 20 minutes or so, I was ready to take the DVD out. It picked up slightly so I watched to the anticlimactic end. Unbelievable science and situations. Totally predictable, although I don't remember what happened to some of the soldiers. I must admit what kept my attention most (I couldn't take my eyes off it) was the colonel's drooping American flag patch. It seemed at any moment as if might fall off. Compare it to the female non-com's flag which was totally squared away. Didn't any of the crew notice that damned thing? The family also built an ice shelter above ground. I doubt they could do that with out any tools other than their hands (which would have quickly frozen). Compared to the below ground ice shelter as built by Tom Berenger's character in "Shoot to Kill", I think the Webster family would have been in a hurt locker.

A Beautiful Science Fiction Saga

[dianerpessler-46164 · 10/10 · 27 August 2015]

Every so often a motion picture touches your heart and enriches your life. This is the case with this humble science fiction film and the magnificent story of human survival it tells. Beautifully directed and with a script that sensitively observes humanity at its most vulnerable, a powerful saga of endurance and courage unfolds before a rapt audience. One can not help but be moved and perhaps even changed by what we witness. With a superb cast and stunning special effects, Ice Quake is so much more than a sci-fi extravaganza. It is an intimate tale of everyday people struggling for existence upon a landscape of overwhelming brutality, before a formless and unforgiving act of nature. In the end, it is one of the finest stories of mankind being tested to its limits and ultimately its triumph.

One of the better SyFy films

[WilderMovieReviews · 6/10 · 19 March 2012]

Two names in the film industry are known for creating bad movies, really bad movies and movies so bad they're good. The first is Asylum pictures, they are responsible for movies including Mega Piranha (2010), Titanic II (2010) and Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus (2009). These movies are often shown on the SyFy channel. The second is the SyFy channel itself. They make and distribute TV Movies such as Sharktopus (2010) and Collision Earth (2011). However both of these film companies sometimes deliver the goods. They are known to cast well known actors, many of them may be only doing the film for an easy pay check but they often put in a great over the top performance. A good example is the great Michael Madsen in Piranhaconda (2011).

Ice Quake is a SyFy movie so instantly I didn't have great expectations for this. But every now and then when watching a film you have to "slum" it. You can't watch blockbusters all the time, sometimes you need a cheesy movie night!

As I said, I had no expectations for a great movie and I was fully expecting very dodgy effects and terrible acting, however this one didn't turn out too bad.

The film starts off with two geologists investigating unexplained earth tremors on a mountain. Suddenly a crack appears and a strange gas escapes from the ground instantly freezing anything that touches it. It turns out to be liquid methane and if it escapes it will destroy all life on earth! May sound far-fetched but from SyFy, the company behind Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010), this movie is very tame.

The film stars Brendan Fehr as Michael Webster, a geologist and Holly Elissa as his wife Emily. Jodelle Ferland & Ryan Grantham play their children. The cast also includes Victor Garber, Rob LaBelle, Marsha Regis, Sharon Taylor & Kurt Max Runte. All have quite impressive film resumes and you will probably have seen most of them on something else. All the actors in this do an above average job for a TV movie, but I don't think this will be the highlight of their careers!

The setting of the film is great with the impressive scenery of the Alaskan mountains used to great effect. Speaking of effects these were some of the better ones used in the movies made by SyFy. However I guess they didn't have to spend the effect budget on crazy monsters like in Dinoshark (2010), so they had a little more to play with here. The only really dodgy effect was the supposed satellite image of the underground methane.

There are many plot holes in this but after all it is a TV Movie not a big blockbuster. These films are made to entertain you when you can't decide on anything else to watch. This one manages that, just. It is a throwaway movie but there are far worse ones out there. If it is on and you can't decide on anything else to watch, this will pass an hour and a half of your time.

As I said before, this is one of the better SyFy films. I think it is too much to hope that they will keep getting better. But with their future film "Jersey Shore Shark Attack" coming this June, who knows!?

Science? What science?

[TepesTheImpaler · 1/10 · 8 April 2021]

Why do all these disaster movies ignore the real science?

There are so many university graduates, who for a few hundred units of their local currency, would sit down and proof read these piles of crap and correct all the factual mistakes.

It would still leave plenty of room for artistic license and would definitely make for a better story.

Slightly below average

[mosquitocyn · 4/10 · 2 November 2022]

The plot is ok though you will have to accept lots of loop holes and try not to think too much. Just accept it is a straightforward no deep thinking kind of movie to easily pass time. Acting is so so. The father is too nonchalant in a disaster situation even if he may be putting a front to calm his kids. I think the 2 children acted more believably. The ending is very rushed and not believable at all. One man saves the whole situation kind of thing. You wonder where's all the back up and army when it's time for the big ending. The ice mountain scenery is very nice especially with a touch of Christmas feel. Don't watch unless you run out of movies or watch if you just don't want to think too much.

Merry Quake Mess.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 13 December 2021]

One day, there will be a disaster movie that doesn't involve a family we could care less about with cliched characters and hideous acting. This is the type of film where I don't feel the need to even mention the actors because I probably will never see them in anything again outside of the always dependable Victor Garber) and I am very tired about the Trope of a family trying to remain together in a serious situation where the Earth is threatening to swallow them up. We've seen this since "Volcano" and "Dante's Peak" (one of the few of these that I can actually watch over and over again without cringing), and it was shoved down our throats in "The Day after Tomorrow" and "2012". At least those to me are guilty pleasures because of their ridiculousness, but this one, a Sci-Fi TV movie on par with the hideous mock busters released usually directly to video by Asylum, the worst production company ever to make films.

I had to suffer through the entire thing just to see how it unfolded, but it was tough. You've got the mother who treats her husband like a kid, the two kids who are disrespectful to their father, and plenty of vocal fry from the daughter. An impressive scene of the earth cracking and sudden snow geysers does give me some hope, but these scenes are few and far between, with a lot of the action surrounding on the family element. You can clearly see the blue screen when the family is running as the big quake hits. It's proof that the old Hollywood way of special effects was much better than the new technology.

Predictable

[nangulo12 · 2/10 · 17 July 2013]

Im in the middle of watching it. The people in this movie are so stupid they deserve to die (but of course they won't) first they leave the area where the avalanche was (the first place the team looks for them, since they called the team from the cabin) then they leave the area where the chopper went down (their last known location) THEN they send a GPS signal and leave the area where they sent the signal from only to stop and 'dig in' a short time later somewhere else on the mountain when the storm hit! Also, it's predictable. I knew they would do all those things, and I knew who was going to live and not live. So far I've been correct every time. However, it's not as bad as other movies I have seen, just predictable and difficult to believe that a geologist who has been working in Alaska on the mountain would have no idea of basic survival skills and tactics. I mean, the first thing you learn if you are lost, is stay where you are, especially if someone knows where you are!

Rainy Day Boredom Rescue

[PartialMovieViewer · 8/10 · 29 December 2014]

I am so thankful for the crew at "SyFy Channel." You met this Christmas Season head-on, stepped up to the challenge, and stoked the dwindling Holiday-Spirit-flame to a roaring inferno. Bravo! Excellent job. The addition of "Ice Quake" to your line-up proves you guys have guts – and that is what this world needs – guts. Where other channels sniveled off to Slackerville, SYFY ramped up its game. What is Christmas all about anyways? Is this the season for twinkly starry stories about gilly-gilly girls and massively metrosexual half-males singing songs about tortured hormones? Is it? Is it? For - you maybe - but not for me - and definitely not for the "SyFy Channel." All kidding aside…wait…the IS a movie titled "Ice Quake" – so let's not put kidding aside. I must begin by saying something that sounds bad. I am so glad I did not pay for this flick. It is not worth standard admission prices just to witness painful pre-movie commercials. With that being said, there are plenty of mega movies gorged with mega stars (and their mega-egos) I am very sorry I ever spent money on. With "Quakes" I would not have felt that strongly. This was a nice little story with helicopters falling out of the sky, dangerous ivy snow and people blowing up. How this all connects, I don't know and I don't really care. This story was not very thought-provoking, but it wasn't offensive nor very pretentious. Everyone did what they had to do pretty well - they took a story and saw it through to the end. CGI did not take center stage, I appreciate that. Honestly, I actually really liked 'Ice Quake'. This does not mean I am going to pay to see it at a theater though.

Entertaining

[frivolousfate · 7/10 · 4 July 2011]

This movie reminded me of 'The Day After Tomorrow' from the get go;It is a natural disaster movie. The setting/environment is a cold climate, covered in snow. The plot is different, but the basic idea is similar. Sure, the plot is quite predictable and it's not entirely 'believable' but no more so than most movies. The special effects were pretty good. The characters and acting were descent as well. No real complaints. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you are the type of person who will scrutinize over how plausible every detail is in reality you might not enjoy it as much. If you enjoy disaster movies, with good scenery, and go into it just looking for a little entertainment I suspect you won't be too disappointed.

SyFy just made the north freeze over...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 10 April 2011]

For a SyFy movie, then "Ice Quake" took me by surprise and gave me a good, cold shake. This movie, unlike so many other SyFy movies, had a solid story, that you easily emerged yourself into, and it had good characters.

The movie boasts a couple of good actors as well, which help to bring the overall enjoyment up. These are Brendan Fehr (playing Michael Webster) and Victor Garber (playing colonel Bill Hughes). These two were the ones carrying the movie. But there were other good performances as well, the two children did good jobs as well; Jodelle Ferland (playing Tia Webster) and Ryan Grantham (playing Shane Webster).

As for the story, then it was a captivating and interesting story, as SyFy movie stories go, anyway. Subterranean methane in gas and liquid form are wrecking havoc on the snow-clad, frozen north. As as always in these type of disaster movies, it is up to a very small group of people to save the day. We have all seen these story lines before, so there is nothing new to be seen here. But still, it works well enough for the movie.

The effects in the movie were actually quite good for a SyFy movie. I liked them and they, for most parts, seemed real enough. And having good effects does help to elevate the enjoyment of a movie.

If you like natural disaster movies, then you should give "Ice Quake" a chance, despite it being a SyFy movies. SyFy does put out a lot of well-below average movies, but once in awhile they do come out with something good. And "Ice Quake" is one of those good movies.