In The Edge multi-millionaire Charles Morse, Anthony Hopkins, accompanies his model wife, Mickey, Elle McPherson, on a photo shoot in the Alaskan wilderness. There`s a certain amount of tension in the air, and hints that Mickey may have been unfaithful, when Charles, photographer Robert Green, Alec Baldwin, and Green`s assistant, Stephen, Harold Perrineau, set off in a light plane scouting locations. Then disaster strikes - the plane hits a flock of birds and crashes into a lake, the pilot`s killed - the three men have to find their way back to base - menaced along the way by a fierce and manhungry kodiak bear...This is the best humans vs animals story since The Ghost And The Darkness - the scenes involving the bear, who`s portrayed by a very well-trained creature called Bart in some scenes, but is the result of animatronic technology in others, are truly scary. Director Lee Tamahori has the enormous advantage of working with a screenplay by David Mamet, and Mamet comes into his own with the character of the self-made Morse, a subtle performance from Hopkins. He`s a man who has over the years filed away in his mind all kinds of information gleaned from books - the film`s working title was The Bookworm - information which now proves vital for survival in the wilderness. The irony is that the middle-aged millionaire proves far better at survival tactics than his younger, fitter companions. Don McAlpine`s camera work makes the most of the spectacular locations, but it`s those confrontations with the bear that give The Edge its powerful impact.
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