- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
Just saw "Big Miracle" (which we all knew it by its working title as "Everyone Loves Whales"). It is LOOSELY based on the story of three California Grey Whales trapped in teh ice in Barrow Alaska. It's also the first film shot entirely in Alaska - mainly in Anchorage, AK which is WAY SOUTH of Barrow - but it was shot by outsiders. It's a very hollywood version of Alaskan politics - hey let's villify the Republicans some more, it's an election year! - and they dannced around the "cruelty" that is whale hunting by the Inupiat people. Suggesting that the only reason they helped was so that they could "keep hunting" was ridiculous. But that's teh Alaskan in me, I shouldn't even try to get people to understand how it really is.
Overall, though, I enjoyed it. There were a lot of winks to Alaskans, and I'm not sure how outsiders will react to it. There's some hokey moments, like all feel good winter movies have, and like I said it's LOOSELY based on the story. Sometimes I think they were trying to tell too many people's stories so the storyline suffered but over all a solid performance by the big names. There are A LOT of local Alaskan celebs that I enjoyed looking for, and the actual footage was integrated very well. At the very end you'll see Sarah Palin (before she was Palin) and the whole audience went nuts when they saw her. I think we all forgot that before she was political she did the news! LOL
Overall a good film. Not worth the 9.6 million our state is repaying them (1/3 of their expenses. Insane.) but overall a good movie.
Overall, though, I enjoyed it. There were a lot of winks to Alaskans, and I'm not sure how outsiders will react to it. There's some hokey moments, like all feel good winter movies have, and like I said it's LOOSELY based on the story. Sometimes I think they were trying to tell too many people's stories so the storyline suffered but over all a solid performance by the big names. There are A LOT of local Alaskan celebs that I enjoyed looking for, and the actual footage was integrated very well. At the very end you'll see Sarah Palin (before she was Palin) and the whole audience went nuts when they saw her. I think we all forgot that before she was political she did the news! LOL
Overall a good film. Not worth the 9.6 million our state is repaying them (1/3 of their expenses. Insane.) but overall a good movie.