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Eight BelowMovie Reviews

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Metascore®64 out of 100 | Generally favorable reviews

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    There's something invigorating about this unpretentious dog tale. And if a penguin drops by to promote his own movie product, well, there's room on the frozen continent for all. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    Disney may have written the book on live-action animal adventure stories, but it has been quite a while since there has been a chapter as terrific as Eight Below. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Walker is adorable, but gives a one-note performance. Greenwood, a charismatic and unsung character actor, has the most noteworthy human performance as a somewhat arrogant academic whose decency keeps him from becoming a stock villain in a formulaic story. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Remarkable, how in a film where we KNOW with an absolute certainty that all or most of the dogs must survive, Eight Below succeeds as an effective story. It works by focusing on the dogs. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    An easy watch, thanks to the splendors of frosty scenery and furry canines. Read full review

  • 67
    The Onion (A.V. Club) | Nathan Rabin

    Longtime Steven Spielberg collaborator Frank Marshall is smart enough to know his core audience of kiddies came to see the dogs, who take center stage in many of the film's best sequences, especially a jolting leopard-seal attack that's as terrifying as anything in "Jurassic Park." Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Tribune | Allison Benedikt

    It's formulaic and frequently over the top, 30 minutes too long and altogether too slow, but oh when those gorgeous, graceful pups tilt their heads just so … love. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Nathan Lee

    Eight Below is Grade A pooch porn, an orgy of canine cuteness. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    This family adventure about a team of sled dogs abandoned in Antarctica naturally invokes the traditional shout of "Mush!" urging the canines to go faster, but it's also an apt descriptor of both its shameless sentimentality and ineptly structured story. Read full review

  • 50
    Village Voice | Peter L'Official

    A gorgeous art film full of snowy silences and spare, gestural performances threatens to break loose (the most inspired acting comes courtesy of the canines), though the plot's slavish schmaltz proves as oppressive as the harsh winter that descends upon the dogs. Read full review

Avg. Fan Rating:
Average Rating = 3.9 out of 5