The plane carrying wealthy Charles Morse crashes down in the Alaskan wilderness. Together with the two other passengers, photographer Robert and assistant Stephen, Charles devises a plan to help them reach civilization. However, his biggest obstacle might not be the elements, or even the Kodiak bear stalking them -- it could be Robert, whom Charles suspects is having an affair with his wife and would not mind seeing him dead.
Acting
Hopkins somehow makes 'billionaire who reads survival books' completely believable.
Practical Effects
That's a real trained bear, and Bart the Bear deserved an Oscar nomination.
Writing
The 'what one man can do' speech is unironically iconic cinema.
Director
Lee Tamahori
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bart the Bear was a 9-foot, 1,500-pound Kodiak who starred in Legends of the Fall and Doctor Dolittle. He died in 2000 and has his own IMDb page with 38 credits.
David Mamet's script was originally titled 'The Ghost and the Darkness' before that name went to the 1996 Val Kilmer lion movie—Mamet basically wrote two different 'men vs. nature' films in the same era.
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