User Reviews

In short, the film has good acting, reasonably good drama, but bases itself on such bad science that it completely loses its credibility.

This film uses a very standard disaster movie recipe, replete with the scientist warning the people in power of the danger, mysterious deaths that have to be investigated, then thousands of people dying in a catastrophe, the people in power acknowledging the scientist was right, the scientist saving the world, and even the all important scientist-marriage-is- in-trouble-but-saved-by-the-disaster cliché. It even has a green eco-warning about pollution.

Scientifically, the movie is incredibly flawed, and this distracts greatly from enjoying it. The main premise, that the ozone layer keeps the cold air in the Mesosphere, is not the only major flaw. Many of the special effects of flash freezing at -100F, a deadly ice fog that appears to be slow enough to outrun on foot and fast enough to catch a speeding car at 100kph simultaneously, weather balloons launched from Queensland making it to 500 miles south of Tassie in 20 minutes by using a 'South Polar Jetstream' (which would have to be doing 7,700 kph to accomplish this), and even include a medical misrepresentation of the symptoms of hyperglycemia in a diabetic person. Other technical problems include the main character hacking a military satellite to obtain weather data, and being an all around genius with an unlikely quantity of giftings in meteorology, computers, and mechanical disciplines (but of course hopeless at relationships).

*Spoiler* - one scene that was particularly terrible was the main character rushing off to get insulin for the diabetic character, JUST AS the computer was finishing the simulation necessary to save the entire world, leaving a 16 year old to figure out what to do. Who would do that? And of course once she does figure it out, the diesel generators go out, thereby again requiring the protagonist to return to complete the upload. Seriously? It's the most dramatic scene in the movie, and is just as flawed as the main premise.

Dramatically, the acting is actually very good, and the storytelling plot line moves at a good pace - it's never boring or too fast to follow. There's good character development and the accent mixes are believable and explained. The locales are generally believable and well constructed.

Overall, if you can suspend your intellect for a while, it's a pretty entertaining movie and worth watching. But if you are into hard science fiction, or are bothered by scientific inaccuracy (in order to create plot devices), then you might consider choosing something else. I give the movie 3 stars purely on acting and drama, with the remainder missing due to the aforementioned technical problems.

"Arctic Blast" started out with lots of potential, though you knew right from the very beginning that there wasn't talk about a major blockbuster movie here. But still, the plot seemed promising and the CGI effects weren't too shabby.

But of course it was all flushed down the drain, when the producers started having these arctic rifts open up in the atmosphere in multiple locations around the globe. Had they kept it to the one near Tazmania, as the first one was there, the movie had been all that much better. Surely if a weather phenomena like that hits Australia, the rest of the world would know about it. But suddenly there were arctic rifts over London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and no one seemed to know about this in advance. You'd think there would be alarms going off at meteorological stations and such. But no...

Actually, the plot of the story was solid enough and truly had potential. It was just killed off by too much ambition and the need to cause too much havoc and destruction.

You would think that fog at -90 degrees Fahrenheit would be able to freeze the surface water solid, when it apparently can freeze a huge ship and people instantly. Throughout the movie there were a few mistakes and bloopers here and there. But nothing in the caliber that it really made the movie laughable.

Of course, you should take "Arctic Blast" for what it is, a fairly low budget natural disaster movie. And it is an ambitious one at that too. And the end result wasn't too bad. But of course, there was the traditional sugar-coated happy ending. Come on! Firing missiles into the rift makes it all alright? Alrighty then...

There are better disaster movies available on the market. But "Arctic Blast" is worth a watch if you got nothing better to do and if you like natural disaster movies. Just prepare yourself for a movie that wants to do big stuff but doesn't really manage to keep hold of the ambition.

An utter disaster that somehow found its way into British Netflix. A shameful attempt at continuing on where 'the day after tomorrow' left off.

The acting is beyond atrocious, you needn't look further than the 'chocolate bar' scene to see this. In the scene, a character (the names are impossible to recall through the sheer rage this film induces) states she'd like some chocolate bars. Our main character then asks her when she last checked her blood sugar which, given that it is a totally spontaneous comment, tells us there will be issues later in the films regarding her having diabetes and not being able to leave the building due to the weather. This, shockingly, is revealed a mere 20 minutes later. Oh, if you got that far, I'm impressed already. The acting when it comes to 'freezing' is so cliché that it's embarrassing. Must be seen to be believed.

The point that I turned the film off (after giving it multiple chances to redeem itself) comes after the emergency alert. All of Australia is being told that a deadly cold front that kills instantly is about to take the land into its icy tendrils... and nobody thinks to suspend aircraft from landing. As if that wasn't a poor enough blunder, when trying to tell a landing plane that they are experiencing 'dangerous weather' (which does it no justice at all), the pilot ignores the warning and lands anyway. Because pilots are well known for ignoring the instructions given by ground control right? Anyway, I turned this film off immediately following the shoddy explosion CGI. Not only is this a below freezing area which would presumably interact with flames in a very negative way, but the animating throughout is dated and poorly executed.

Kudos to anyone who managed the entire film. That's time you'll never get back, but your persistence is admirable. Among the worst films I'be ever seen (and while my views tend to be controversial sometimes, watch it and you'll see the ratings are being kind).

Do not subject yourself to this.

Edits: Autocorrect...

Yes, it has many errors but if you are getting bored nothing else entertaining to do, then you may indulge in this movie. The special effects, the acting is mediocre but then it is not as bad as it is reviewed. People who want to watch it don't expect a 2012 or a day after tomorrow but just get the message it is trying to say "Protect the Ozone layer". The story line is the old one from the sack, a hero, troubled marriage, child in danger, saves the day when the entire world is unable to bring up a good idea. The effects are very simple. Dialogues are very unoriginal. In fact the characters are very much the repeated ones. But it wont be a complete disaster to watch it. if you have 90 minutes to spare and nothing at all do, then you might as well watch it. I watched it, took the environment message the movie tries to give and move forward.

My first thoughts at the start of this movie were I was going to really enjoy it because it had nothing to do with the United States of America, but I was proved wrong from the mid point towards the end. It is always nice to see a good movie from Australia, as they are rarely over-the-top or boring. I am actually surprised by the low rating on here, I guess it must be from angry people who think this is just a cheap rip off of 2012. Maybe it is, but most movies nowadays are either a rip-off of some other movie or a terrible remake of an old movie. I was actually quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie, sure it's not a blockbuster and it has a lot of cheese but it's good cheese not cringeworthy cheese.

I read the review that shows on the front page for the movie, and the one star is totally off base in my and my families opinion.

Our whole family watched this movie, and while it won't win any Academy awards, it kept us interested, and even on the edge of our seats on occasion . Yes, there were many predictable aspects in both plot and how the characters are portrayed, and of course the science, particularly in terms of the plot resolution, was something you just need to set aside. But I doubt most people watch a movie and sit there analyzing the technical aspects. On that basis virtually every science fiction movie would be a washout.

No, they hope to pass 90 minutes and not think about anything else other then the movie, enjoy the story for what it is and if this is you, and you like your movies with a science "fiction" edge/flair (seems people forget about the fiction part) then this movie is perfectly fine.

In respect of SF genre, think Day after Tomorrow, after which is is obviously patterned, but of course on a smaller budget (since DAT has a $125MM+ budget).

Micheal Shanks of Stargate fame is the lead and of course carries off his role acceptably (he always plays the rugged braniac hero in all these TV scifi movies). Everyone else is really part of supporting cast and all are decent. Most of the cast is Australian so you won't know them in NA and Europe. The characters in the movie include both teenagers and adults, and each have contributing scenes, so it is a movie that can appeal to all age groups.

The overall budget for the movie was better then I thought it was going to be - special effects were decent, and carried out with aplomb what they were supposed to accomplish. Their was a variety of settings, shots, locations, etc. My guess is that the budget was somewhere about $3MM-5MM range, which is very good for a TV movie.

So if you are trolling the movie sites looking for a decent time waster relax, sit back and enjoy. This movie was one of Syfy network and partners better releases - some of which have been quite dreadful and really deserving of one star. Artic Blast is not one of those. You will munch your popcorn faster during certain scenes, and if you are a family oriented individual, you will appreciate them more when it is over.

I was told how BAD this movie was going to be at the 6.5-7 minute mark. Honestly, you can TELL that this movie was made BY Yanks FOR Yanks, "Temperature in Hobart is a pleasant 72 degrees ... " I don't know what moron did the research for this movie (if ANY), but WE use the METRIC and CELSIUS SCALES in Australia ... 72 degrees would be FATAL in a few minutes. (The USA, Burma and Liberia are the only countries on earth that still uses the archaic IMPERIAL unit measurements.)

OTHER major errors include the fact that Insulin is only used for HIGH blood sugar. Giving insulin to somebody with LOW blood sugar is potentially FATAL (there's a REASON diabetics carry both Insulin AND Jelly Babies, one for High and one for LOW blood sugar levels.)

The SCIENCE is also atrocious, and if you're an avid Sci-Fi fan you'll CRINGE in many places at the inaccuracy of it all. For instance the temperature was cold enough to freeze a person solid, yet the sea water around the ship was still liquid. Air that rises OR FALLS at a high enough speed will ROTATE, it won't fall straight down. ALL the Ozone Layer does is block short wavelength (<300nm) ULTRAVIOLET radiation, which is fatal to DNA and would kill most biological life (even cockroaches and surface living sea-life). Everybody's heard about the hole in the Ozone layer near Antarctica, yet the temperature is still nearly the same as usual.

The Southern Jet Stream circles Antarctica, reaching as far north as Northern Victoria, and travels at between 70-100 knots (average). There's NO WAY for ANY balloon launched in Queensland to REACH the southern ocean, let alone travel 1500 miles in 20 minutes (it's 1600 km {1000 mi} from Hobart to the Queensland border.)

Overall the ACTING was adequate, though nothing to get excited about, but it was dragged down by a poor script, overdone & fake Australian accents and VERY POOR special effects.

Oh, Michael! What are you doing in this nonsense movie? We know Stargate SG1, Atlantis, Universe, whatever, are all finished, but aren't you getting some royalty fees from all the repeat showings that are transmitted all over the world? Do you really need to earn cash from this type of film? One interesting item: the actress who plays 'Zoe' - Saskia Hampele - is now playing 'Georgia' in 'Neighbours' - the Australian soap. That's about all I got from this film. The science is rubbish, computer graphics is pretty average - apart from the plane crash, which was awful - but Michael put in a star performance.

Not quite a Stargate performance, but close.

...with neither a bang nor a whimper but another dreadful film. This is the standard apocalyptic plot, done so many times with minor variations. The world is threatened by a rogue asteroid/alien invasion/epidemic/biblical flood/change in orbit --- in this case a cold front (really!!!)--- maverick young scientist takes on the establishment --- solves the problem, saves the world --- and they all live happily ever after so humankind can make yet more dreadful movies about averting the end of the world so that humankind can make even more dreadful movies about the end of the world... It never ends. There also are a couple of standard clichéd sub plots --- a floundering marriage, a rebellious teen ager and a death defying mission to retrieve needed insulin. The movie is refreshing in one way. It was a reassuring change to watch Australian trash rather than the American variety. (Although the movie was done in Australia, it was partially funded by the Quebec film fund.Go figure! Yet among the many jumped up stock footage scenes of Rio, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London and Paris being engulfed by ice and cold, there was no Montreal scene. Hell, Montreal is regularly engulfed by ice and cold. You don't need special effects!

I am a lover of cheesy and I will admit trashy disaster movies, so when I heard about this one, I was ALL over it, imagine my surprise when the opening shot was of MY home town of Hobart, Tasmania.

I had heard nothing about this film being filmed here, and after watching it, I am not surprised that the actors would rather keep quiet about being in it.

Leaving aside the very very dodgy science, it's a play-by-numbers plot, you have your usual Scientist/specialist that no one understands, his opinions get ignored, etc etc, your usual doomsday affair.

The acting is wooden for the most part, not surprisingly since the vast majority of supporting actors are ex-soapie or current soapie actors (i.e Home and Away, Neighbours) Sad to say that usually excellent Alexandra Davies and Robert Mammone were below par in this offering. Bruce Davison turned in his usual solid acting performance, the man could phone these roles in.

What to me was the most thrilling was watching local landmarks appear on screen getting frozen in the most unconvincing way and looking to see if I recognised anybody in the extras as they lay scattered about dying of the cold.

The local Bunnings gets a look in as people scramble for supplies, I wonder if people in California feel the same way as I did, since California seems to end up being destroyed in most disaster movies.

All in all mindless and slightly irritating fun, if you can REALLY suspend your disbelief, it's a way to waste 90 minutes.

Normally you can salvage something nice to say about a movie even if it just something to watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Well, it IS a rainy Saturday afternoon and I would have preferred to nail my feet to the floor than watch another second of this ZZZ grade movie. Michael Shanks likes a bit of SciFi but he must have done this one for free. It's a no budget, badly written, badly directed load of rubbish. Science aside, the characters were a thin as the story was bad. The accents were just appalling. The genuine accents stuck out a mile. For the record, the news broadcast that first heralded the cold front mentions the cold front is moving fast=t and has hit the southern coast of Tasmania and will arrive in the Capital of that state (Hobart) in 2 hours so it is odd they didn't look at a map. Hobart is almost ON the south coast of Tasmania. You can drive from one end of the island to the other in a 3 hours. A fast moving front would do the distance from the tip to Hobart in 5 minutes. And when telling his family and friends to shield themselves from from something that snap froze an entire ship in seconds, that a few blankets and a coat in the Evac centre will be fine. The plane crash in Hobart was utterly ridiculous. It's also odd that the mere touch of the edge of the cloud froze the surfer but when dashing from the car to the research station the hero and his daughter are OK when it envelopes them just as they reach the door of the building. To summarise, solar eclipse-hole in ozone-freeezing air- no one heeds warning, lots of people die there! As usual no one listens to Jack and as usual the American authorities don't listen to the expert and do their own thing. But wait, as they decide to try and send up weather balloons more rifts open all over the world and wouldn't you know it, it's the Major cities in the world being struck. It sure is lucky it opened near Australia's smallest Capital city. Phew, we really dodged that one. Oh no what will the hero do? Oh god I can't bear to go on. It's just too horrible. It's a shame the producers didn't freeze themselves rather than subject us to this load of tosh.

PLEASE don't waste your time.

I watched this movie because of Michael Shanks. I saw it for free on a QANTAS flight, and still feel ripped off! I think they must have blown the budget on getting him, because the rest of the movie is so terrible you have to watch it just to see how terrible it can possibly be. If you watch it with that in mind, you will not be disappointed.

Acting is terrible, special effects are pre-Star Wars (Episode IV), and the basic science is just so wrong. Even the context is terrible. Suddenly Australia has switched from Metric to Imperial... ooooh, and the clue is in the title "Arctic Blast"... when it is set in the Southern Hemisphere?

Front story: after an eclipse of the sun, there is a major singularity in the Earth's atmosphere, and the drop in temperature starts. All the rest of the film as about: figuring out causation, predicting effects, and constructing a way to stop, then reverse, the effects.

Back story: Jack and his wife Emma are getting a divorce because he spends too much time at work. Of course, Emma also spends too much time at work, but Jack gets blamed for it, since Emma got to her lawyers first.

We have some of the usual themes. A few people know disaster will strike, but the people they contact will not believe them. This happens to Jack as he tries to warn of additional problems after his company's research ship has all on board frozen to death. After a while we get the 'boy who cried wolf' problem; no one will believe Jack no matter what he says. Those in power are somewhat willing to believe the predictions after plenty of damage and death has already occurred. An extra threat comes into play: the child of one of the leads (in this case Emma, Jack's ex) is in jeopardy for a substantial part of the film.

The last usual theme is: the survivors put in a perhaps successful effort to stop the threat.

This fails at first because Jack is 'out of the loop,' and the solution proposed by Winslaw, who is in the loop, is destined only to make things worse.

After the massive fail, will anyone get behind Jack? If so, will they be in time?

------Scores------

Cinematography: 10/10 Fine.

Sound: 10/10 No problems.

Acting: 7/10 Not as bad as many of these formulaic disasters. I liked Michael Shanks. The lesser known actors were were not as bad as I expected.

Screenplay: 5/10 There is nothing new here. I've seen this film at least 30 times before. The themes mentioned above are used just about every time. The only variable is the current threat: meteors, sharks, piranhas, insects, whatever. Fortunately, the movie was easy on the eye, pleasant to the ear, and the SFX were not all deadly bad, as is often the case.

Finally, after all these years came across the movie. Interest purely as I live on the beach where part of the filming was done.

I provided one star as there was no option for no stars!

Very difficult movie to watch, given the inaccuracies and poor quality.

Lost me at the point where the beach was being driven to, and it being stated "an hour away". The causeway and highway driven on are not on the way to the particular beach filming was done on, and it is also only approximately half an hour from Hobart on a completely different highway. The driving component of the film going into and from the car park was way too long given the real length of the gravel road. When departing, the turning left would take directly to South Arm, no way possible at all to get to Hobart from this direction as the location is on a peninsula with only one access point in and out which is in the opposite direction 😠

The money spent on this film would have been better donated to the homeless and disadvantaged of Tasmania.

One of those films that are genuinely so bad that you can't stop watching. I only gave it 2 stars because it made me laugh. I've seen some movies with bad scientific premise, but its usually something minor that you can dismiss or you're just willing to overlook it. This has bad science at every turn, from the basic premise, the ozone doesn't work like that. To having a wood fire somehow magically protects you from an ice fog that is that cold. Thise are the major ones, but I haven't even finished the film yet. The ame of the movie doesn't even make sense, the "Arctic Blast" begins on the opposite end of the earth to the Arctic... I have to say also, as an Australian, the accents are terrible. Surely a movie filmed in Australia could find actual Australians...