I'll start with fire without matches 101
watch lenses=fire
where did Hopkins second knife come from
Man hunting grizzlies/brown bears? Nope
Did the writers ever read a boy scout manual?
Don't waste your time on this one.
Its hard as hell to light a fire with a lens. Ever tried?
But I agree that this was really crappy in terms of realism.
The worst part was how these city guys managed to instantly craft 2 full suits of leathers from the bear with no training, probably having never butchered an animal before. I almost shut it off after that.
Mamet seems to have a habit of setting his dramas in situations he knows nothing about and neglecting to have someone with expertise give input.
This is the BEST survival movie ever. BEST three characters. BEST bear attack on film ever. You are crazy, this movie rocks. I just wish more would be made like it.
shareI think you're forgetting that Charles is a guy who knows a lot. It's not rocket science to craft crude clothes out of an animal hide.
shareExactly.
Charles ain't stupid and when you manage to kill a fking massive annoying bear you probably feel on top of the world. I know I would.
Probably doesn't apply to big animal lovers though.
Also Charles, in his secret, alter ego life as Hannibal Lecter, is very adept at carving the skin off of people, so why not a bear?
shareUm, it's not really a survival movie... if you are able to get to the subtext.
sheez so friggin literal
[deleted]
Youve obviously never actually been in the woods. Using a magnifier to start a fire is one of the stupidest things you can try. It'll work if its HOT out and everything is bone dry and youre very lucky.
I'd imagine bush pilots in Alaska tend to carry things like knives and emergency survival kits.
Men have hunted bears since time began. There was actually a tribe who both worshipped and hunted them. Archeologists found huge collections of grizzly bones in their camps.
Boy scout manuals are # 234234324234 on the list of books you want to have read in a survival situation. "Local botany" is probably #2. #1 is a map.
This is rural alaska probably in the late fall. Theres water in abundance. If youre not completely citified and helpless theres food in the form of fish. Shelter is easy anywhere.. Their only two real problems are staying warm and not killing each other. Oh and not pissing off hungry grizzlys.
If it were "late autumn" in Alaska, you can be sure there will be snow on the ground. In the film, there isn't.
shareHonestly, the Boy Scout Manual isn't a bad choice to bring with you in case of a survival situation. The 'knots' section and fire building section alone would be invaluable. Another book I would recommend would be the SAS Survival Guide, but I digress. 'The Edge' isn't the greatest survival movie ever made, but its not a "bad" one. It succeeds more on a psychological level anyway.
If you love Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it copy this and make your signature! Peace.
Ask Christopher McCandless how easy it is to get food in the Alaskan Wilderness. Oh right, you can't, because he starved to death, despite having a rifle, a giant bag of rice, and other survival gear.
shareChristopher McCandless didn't starve to death, per se. He mistook a poisonous plant for an edible one, and was unable to digest food afterwards. He made a mistake. Nobody's perfect. People die.
That being said, The Edge is a fantastic movie in my honest opinion. The skills, reactions, and mistakes of the characters are realistic and understandable. They are also not the sole focus of the plot.
Christopher McCandless didn't starve to death, per se. He mistook a poisonous plant for an edible one, and was unable to digest food afterwards. He made a mistake.
Lot's of cinematic and story errors but not even in the list of worst or best for that matter.
I live in Alaska survival is never a sure thing in the woods.
We use matches gas and other tools, never lenses not hot enough as stated by other.
SAS survival guide would be way above boy scouts unless your 11..
I've spent weeks at a time in the forests up here, in fall "no autumn here" it is very cold, often snow comes late in the season.
I agree the Grey is much better but this is a decent movie.
The Grey's fake CGI wolves are no match for the peerless bear attacks in The Edge, and the Hopkins/Baldwin dynamic floors any of the dramatic scenes in The Grey. The Edge has the edge (yeah I went there).
and not letting the other guy find out you shafted his wife..
-----------------------------
I ate my twin in the womb. :<
Haha...
You don't know what you're talking about.
Starting a fire with a watch lens? Are you kidding me? It's not even a magnifying glass... That would be ridiculously hard... add to it... being wet, shaking, and freezing to death... and the surrounding area around is wet and cold from snow.
There's definitely no way any of the other three aboard the plane had a knife on them...
Boy scout manual? What does that have to do with the three New York City elite-types that are lost in the woods? Charles is a ridiculously well-read man with no practical experience.
Your critique is pretty stupid.
The Edge is an awesome movie. And it's as much a psychological exploration as it is a "survival movie"
I love when people have realism complaints and then it turns out that they don't know what the F--- they're talking about in the first place.
The result is that they're expecting filmmakers to somehow cater to their personal misunderstanding of the world.
http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies
It wasn't watch lenses Hopkins was talking about; as I recall it was a lens made out of ice. Didn't he ask Bob the riddle "How can you get fire from ice?" We never saw them try this, right? It was just a hypothetical, possibly improbable, idea.
shareI know this post is old. But that is actually a pretty good idea with some things taken into account. Youd have to already be warm enough that you could handle ice without risking increasing your risk of death. Youd have to have a basic idea of the theory of lenses.. I might actually try this to see if it can be made to work easily
shareMythbusters tested it, don't remember if they actually managed to do it, but they spent ridiculous amounts of time doing it.
Just saw this yesterday after having wanted for ages, really good. The bear-scenes were just awesome and it eating Waaaaaaaaaaaaaalt-guy wat horrible.
Um, okay. You have the choice between breaking your watch and gambling on the long ignition process of a lens ... or using a flare.
Pay attention. They did try the most direct route to fire, which was matches. But it didn't catch. So they went to the flare.
What Hopkins second knife? He gives the knife to Michael from Lost to make a spear, then gets it back when he treats the wound.
Huh? You're claiming a bear never attacked a human?
The bear clothes are stupid. Big deal. A few elements are unbelievable (like magnetizing a needle with silk). Big deal.
The 'writers' are David Mamet. He's a dialog artist. He creates situations where characters can interact. He cares less about the situations than how the characters interact in those situations. But you can't slight his attention to detail. He may not always be situationally inventive, but he is believable.
[deleted]
But you can't slight his attention to detail
I live in AK, and this movie was so unrealistic I could barely stomach some of the crap. Use a piece of ice -- or a watch lens -- to magnify the sun and start a fire...in AK in the fall?! What a joke! Agree with the OP: what's with the man-hunting bear? Brown bears are afraid of people, especially when they're in a group...of 3 men, no less! The scenery was obviously not in Alaska. I'm guessing the Canadian Rockies...? Notice the wind is blowing in the old cabin they find..but it's not blowing outside. Hmmm, very peculiar. The whole thing seemed contrived. I'm flabbergasted it rates so high on IMDB. Oh well, to each his own...
shareI'd like to start off by saying that dennjon is an idiot and a bad representative for Alaskans.
I've started many fires with a lens, not a watch lens, but a glasses lens. It's not easy to do but I've done it in the Winter with 4 feet of snow on the ground.
Brown bears are generally passive when it comes to human relations, however, if they smell blood then they are going to investigate. It is a little far fetched for the bear to track the other 2 men, but not completely impossible. The movie is made not only to entertain, but also to strike a little fear into the viewer.
As far as the movie not being shot in Alaska, how would you know, and how does that even matter? Have you seen every inch of Alaska? I sure haven't, but I know a few specific areas that look almost identical to the scenery.
The wind blowing inside of the cabin but not outside? Come on man, if you truly are an Alaskan then you should know that the weather is anything but predictable.
I'd also like to say that this is one of my favorite movies all time.
There is the foreshadowing in the start with the resort-guy telling them about bears and how they can't get enough of that human flesh when first having tasted it etc.
Realistic or not I enjoyed it a lot.
idc where you live your a *beep* idiot...as the centuries go by bears fear men less and less...passive eh? go ask that grizzly man how passive they are...they broke into his cabin lol