FICTION FILMS |
| Pole | Year | Title | Comments | Topic |
| N |
1912 |
Conquest of the Pole |
France; George Melies |
online |
| S |
1929 |
The Lost Zeppelin |
early talkie about trip to South Pole |
 |
| N |
1930 |
Arctic Antics |
Disney Cartoon | |
| S |
1931 |
Dirigble |
directed by Frank Capra, with a pre-King Kong Fay Wray,
loosely based on the crash of the Italia |
|
| N |
1933 |
S.O.S. Iceberg |
Germany/USA; with Leni Rieffenstahl | |
| N |
1935 |
She |
Underground kingdom in Russian arctic ruled by ruthless ice queen |
 |
| S |
1937 |
La Femme du bout du monde |
France; ship seeking radium ore on lost Antarctic Island finds an inn
run by woman and her insane husband | |
| N |
1941 |
Mutiny in the Arctic |
US; with stock footage from SOS Iceberg | |
| N |
1942 |
The Arctic Giant |
Superman Cartoon | |
| N |
1944 |
Return of the Ape Man |
Bela Lugosi;
mad scientists revive the frozen body of a prehistoric caveman found in the
Arctic |
 |
| N |
1951 |
Thing from Another World |
Aliens at North Pole |
 |
| N |
1951 |
Tales of Tomorrow: Blunder |
TV; advanced nuclear reactor in Arctic |
 |
| N |
1953 |
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms |
nukes in Arctic thaw out carnivorous dinosaur,
which heads south and destroys Manhattan |
|
| N |
1953 |
Back to God's Country |
Rock Hudson defends himself against two
villains in Alaskan wilderness |
|
| N |
1953 |
Islands in the Sky |
John Wayne crash lands in Labrador |
 |
| S |
1954 |
Hell Below Zero |
Murder on a whaling ship in Antarctica |
|
| N |
1955 |
Science Fiction Theater |
TV, S1 ep 22:
Trouble befalls an Air Force flight crew and their passengers en route to
the Arctic. |
|
| S |
1957 |
Land Unknown |
prehistoric world in deep Antarctic crater |
|
| N |
1957 |
Deadly Mantis |
Arctic iceberg breaks up and releases giant praying mantis |
 |
| N |
1958 |
Terror in the Midnight Sun |
Sweden; Monsters/aliens in Lapland |
|
| N |
1958 |
The Blob |
it gets dumped in the Arctic at the end |
|
| N |
1959 |
The Atomic Submarine |
Ships mysteriously disappear on the Arctic Sea;
a specially-equipped submarine is sent to investigate |
 |
| N |
1961 |
Reptilicus |
Denmark; frozen prehistoric creature found in
tundra of Lapland |
 |
| N/S |
1962 |
The Day the Earth Caught Fire |
Americans test a nuclear weapon at the Earth's South Pole
just as Soviets explode a device at the North Pole |
|
| S |
1962 |
Yosei Gorasu |
Japan;
Powerful jet engines installed across Antarctica, to push Earth out of the way
of a giant killer planet. Original version had a giant walrus attack
the Antarctic base. |
 |
| S |
1964 |
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea |
TV series;
some episodes have Antarctic sea monsters, Antarctic tropical oases, etc |
|
| S |
1964 |
Quick Before it Melts |
Reporter and
photographer and Russian in Antarctica, `light romantic comedy' (awful) |
|
| S |
1966 |
The Navy vs the Night Monsters |
Mamie van Doren, unusual trees in Antarctica which turn
into killer acid-secreting monsters |
|
| N |
1966 |
Gammera the Invincible |
Nuclear blast unleashes giant fire-breathing flying
turtle from hibernation below the arctic ice. Many sequels. |
|
| S |
1966 |
Dr Who: The 10th Planet |
BBC TV, ep. 29 (1st Dr); Cybermen arrive at the South Pole.
4th episode `missing'. |
|
| N |
1968 |
Ice Station Zebra |
Rock Hudson, Oscar nominated North Pole cold war tale |
|
| N |
1969 |
The Red Tent |
Italy/USSR; about 1928 airship
expedition to Arctic, Sean Connery as R Amundsen |
|
| S |
1971 |
Mr Forbush and the Penguins |
US title
`Cry of the Penguins', starring John Hurt and Hayley Mills |
 |
| S |
1973 |
Scott of the Antarctic |
Monty Python vol 21 |
YouTube |
| N |
1974 |
The Final Program |
Scientists head for abandoned underground Nazi fortress in the
Arctic to run a program designed to create perfect, self-replicating human
beings |
 |
| N |
1974 |
The White Dawn |
in 1896, 3 whalers are
stranded in Arctic and teach their bad habits to the Inuit |
 |
| N |
1974 |
The Island at the Top of the World |
Disney, secret Viking tribe in Arctic | |
| N |
1974 |
Night Stalker: Primal Scream |
TV, arctic drillers find murderous ape-man |
|
| N |
1975 |
Distant Early Warning |
TV movie; Aliens at Arctic research station |
|
| S |
1976 |
Dr Who: The Seeds of Doom |
BBC TV, ep. 85 (4th Dr); alien pods found in Antarctica turn
humans into giant carnivorous plants. Digitally remastered
DVD set released in 2010. |
|
| S |
1976 |
Seventy-Two Degrees Below Zero |
USSR TV film; Midwinter trek between Vostok and Mirny stations |
|
| S |
1977 |
Cosmos: War of the Planets |
Italy, UFO appears above Antarctic Sea |
|
| N |
1977 |
Nanook Taxi |
Inuit comedian hires on to drive a taxi |
|
| S |
1977 |
The People That Time Forgot |
Antarctic expedition finds primitive warriors and prehistoric creatures |
|
| N |
1978 |
Superman |
young Superman finds his crystal palace at the North Pole |
|
| N |
1979 |
Bear Island |
accidents and murders in a group of people on a barren
Arctic island |
|
| S |
1980 |
Virus (Fukkatsu no hi) |
Japan/USA; Antarctic residents only survivors of
biological apocalypse (why not the Inuit?). Depressing! |
 |
| S |
1981 |
The Intruder Within |
TV, oil riggers
in Antarctica find murderous prehistoric creature |
|
| N |
1982 |
World War III |
TV movie, Rock Hudson, Soviets try to
take control of Alaskan pipeline |
 |
| S |
1982 |
The Thing |
Aliens at remote Antarctic base. Classic! |
|
| N |
1982 |
Flight of the Eagle |
Swedish, with Max von Sydow. Engineer S. A. Andrée sets out to become
the first man on the north pole in 1897 |
 |
| S |
1983 |
Antarctica |
Japan: "Nankyoku Monogatari"; dogs left at Antarctic base |
 |
| N |
1984 |
Iceman |
Prehistoric man found in Arctic
Glacier |
|
| S |
1984 |
Brass Monkeys |
Australian TV series; female
doctor joins Australian Antarctic base (13 ep.) |
|
| N |
1987 |
Count Duckula |
British, adventures of
cartoon vegetarian vampire duck, some episodes in Arctic (1.6, 2.9) |
|
| N |
1993 |
Captive in the Land |
Sam Waterson and Russian survive plane crash in Arctic |
|
| N |
1993 |
Salmonberries |
k.d. lang as an androgynous Eskimo |
? |
| S |
1993 |
The Forbidden Quest |
Netherlands; trip to Antarctica, with some 1910 footage |
|
| N |
1993 |
Ordeal in the Arctic |
TV movie; plane crash |
|
| N |
1993 |
Map of the Human Heart |
Australia; Inuit to WWII Dresden and back to North,
excellent Arctic weepie |
|
| N |
1993 |
X-Files: Ice |
TV; X-files does `The Thing'. (season 1, ep 8).
Stick with the movies |
|
| N |
1994 |
Iron Will |
Disney Arctic |
|
| N |
1995 |
Zero Kelvin |
Norway; European aspiring writer and psycho
trappers in Greenland |
|
| S |
1995 |
Super Atragon |
Japan, anime;
UN team sent to investigate microwaves being generated at the South Pole
|
|
| S |
1995 |
Neon Genesis Evangelion |
Japan, anime; TV series 95-96, 2 movies, 11 vols of Manga.
Antarctica hit with mysterious explosion in 2000, 15 yrs later its ice
has evaporated, sea levels rose 60m, half of humanity died, etc |
|
| N |
1997 |
Insomnia |
Norway/Sweden, filmed in Nyksund and Tromso, Norway |
|
| N |
1997 |
Smilla's Sense of Snow |
Denmark/Germany/Sweden; mysterious death of Inuit boy. Arctic, meteorites, etc!
|
|
| S |
1998 |
Stargate |
TV series, various episodes about
Antarctic Stargate, aliens, etc. Eg Solitudes (S1), Frozen (S6), Lost City (S7)
|
|
| S |
1998 |
X Files movie |
incl. Aliens in Antarctica |
|
| N |
1998 |
Heart of Light |
Greenland/Denmark; `The first feature film shot totally
in Greenland' |
|
| S |
1999 |
Sometimes They Come Back for More |
TV movie; terror at CIA outpost in Antarctica |
|
| N |
1999 |
Survivor |
TV movie, Canada; oil rig crew finds ancient murderous monster |
|
| N |
2001 |
Trinity |
UK;
in a remote arctic research station, government agents discover mysterious
genetic scientist |
|
| S |
2001 |
Boa |
100 foot snake terrorizes the staff and prisoners at
the world's highest-security prison, in Antarctica. Princeton
paleo-biologist to the rescue. |
|
| N |
2001 |
No Such Thing |
Foul-mouthed, fire-breathing misanthropic monster from
Iceland brought to New York. Starts slow but the monster is great! |
|
| N |
2002 |
The Fast Runner |
Canada; Inuit epic
(Atanarjuat, first film ever released totally in the Inuktitut language) |
|
| S |
2002 |
Dead Ringers: Weakest Explorer |
UK, parody of The Weakest Link with Scott et al. Series 1 ep 4 |
YouTube |
| N |
2002 |
The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear |
Denmark/France; animated, fabulous |
|
| S |
2002 |
The Ice Crawlers |
monsters at Antarctic oil drilling facility |
|
| N |
2002 |
Relic Hunter: Under the Ice |
ancient Indian mummy found at Arctic base | |
| S |
2002 | Yukikaze |
Japan, anime. Aliens invaded
Earth through dimensional portal over Antarctica |
|
| N |
2003 | The Snow Walker |
Canada; white pilot and Inuit woman survive plane crash |
|
| S |
2003 | Alien Hunter |
Aliens at South Pole |
|
| N |
2003 | Star Trek Enterprise |
TV, ep 49, arctic research team on Earth discovers debris from
an alien vessel |
|
| N |
2003 | Deep Shock |
giant killer eels spawning under North Pole
| |
| S |
2003 | Angels in America |
HBO TV film version of Tony Kushner play, one character dreams of Antarctica, (frozen hearts) etc |
 |
| S |
2004 | Stargate Atlantis |
TV series spinoff,
secret base, abandoned by the original builders of the Stargates, is
found buried in Antarctica |
|
| S |
2004 | Debiruman (Devilman) |
Japan, accidental release of a demonic species from
Antarctica, whose numbers spread via an infection |
|
| N |
2004 | Deep Evil |
TV, alien microbe in Siberia and Alaska |
|
| S |
2004 | Uncle Scooby and Antarctica |
TV, (on Vol 10, Monstrous Tales);
gang flies to the South Pole to look for amphibious menace
| |
| N |
2004 | Frankenstein |
with a Polar ending... | |
| S |
2004 | Retrograde |
Dolph Lundgren time travels back 200 years to the Nathaniel Palmer
icebreaker in Antarctica,
to prevent meteoritic off-world bacteria from killing off humanity
|
|
| N |
2004 | True North |
artist Isaac Julien; short film inspired by Matt Henson story | |
| S |
2005 | Antarctic Journal |
Korea: "Namgeuk-ilgi"; filmed in New Zealand | |
| S |
2005 | 9 Songs |
British glaciologist in Antarctica recalls rock concerts
& explicit sex with his girlfriend. R Ebert `as an idea the
film is facinating, but as an experience it grows tedious, the concerts lack
closeups, the sex lacks content, and Antarctica could use a few penguins'.
| |
| S |
2005 | Madagascar |
brief funny scene when the penguins reach Antarctica |
|
| S |
2005 | Alien vs Predator |
in Antarctica. As bad as it
sounds |
|
| S |
2005 | The Wild Blue Yonder |
Alien planet visuals
include footage of divers under Antarctic ice cap |
|
| S |
2006 |
Eight Below |
Disney version of 'Nankyoku Monogatari' |
|
| S |
2006 | Happy Feet |
Dancing Penguins, humans are the
`aliens'
|
|
| N |
2006 | Dr Who: Terror of the Arctic |
PODCAST,
8 part audio drama.
The Doctor and Christine find themselves with the crews of the lost 1847-1848
Franklin Arctic Expedition.
And aliens, of course. |
|
| S |
2006 | Time Warp Trio: Break an Egg |
kids TV show, 3 boys time-warp to RF Scott's expedition
| |
| N |
2007 | 30 Days of Night |
Vampires (speaking Klingon?) terrorize Barrow, Alaska. All
those long nights and NO ONE ever watched BUFFY???
| |
| N |
2007 | The Last Winter |
director Larry Fessenden;
Arctic thriller; "The Thing meets An Inconvenient Truth"
|
|
| N |
2007 |
The Golden Compass |
Arctic
|
|
| S |
2008 | At the Mountains of Madness |
MP3: Dark Adventure Radio Theatre,
website ,
also on CD
|
|
| S |
2008 | Antarctica |
Israeli, group of young gay friends in Israel, one wants to to go Antarctica
to free her frozen heart, etc. & aliens. (no actual Antarctica) |
|
| S |
2008 | Frozen |
episode of the TV series House, the team remotely treats
an injured psychiatrist (Mora Sorvino) at the South Pole. |
|
| S |
2009 | Watchmen |
based on 1986-87 graphic novel; VERY COOL Antarctica CGI
(including a Dome)
|
|
| S |
2009 | Whiteout |
Based on graphic novel. Story moved from McMurdo to new South Pole base,
female British agent (& possible love interest) changed to male UN agent, & just not a great film.
Good `long-eye' by Tom Skerritt. |
|
| N |
2009 |
Fool Me Once |
episode of TV series `Castle'. Con-artist pretending
to be a Polar Explorer is murdered. |
|
| N |
2009 |
Dead Snow |
Norwegian; Nazi zombies loose in northern mountain town |
|
| S |
2009 |
Chef at the South Pole |
Japan; `based on a true story', the chef at Dome Fuji Station
in Antarctic cooks fancy food for the 8 men there |
|
| N |
2009 |
The Fourth Kind |
Blair Witch Project style 'documentary' about psychologist
whose hypnotized patents claim they have been
abducted by aliens in Nome, Alaska. Then her daughter vanishes. African writer/director Olatunde
Osunsanmi. Not convincing! |
|
| N |
2009 |
Dear Lemon Lima |
13 year old Yup'ik girl wins scholarship to snooty prep school
in Anchorage |
|
| N |
2010 |
Frost Giant |
TV movie on SyFy. Descendant of James Clark Ross finds the
sunken HMS Fury and releases a nasty alien trapped inside of it. Bad! |
|
| N |
2010 |
South Park |
TV; eps 'Coon 2: Hindsight,' 'Mysterion Rises,' & 'Coon vs Coon & Friends'.
BP accidently drills into another dimension & releases monsters;
they drill on the moon to fix it & oops, they release Cthulhu (the
nasty alien from Lovecraft) |
|
| N |
2010 |
How I Ended This Summer |
Russian; 2 people at an isolated arctic science station
face its impending closure |
|
| N |
2010 |
Arctic Blast |
Australia/Canada. Solar eclipse sends blast of chilled air towards the Earth (!!!) which sets off new Ice Ahe |
|
| S |
2011 |
Ghosts of Antarctica |
TV; episode of Destination Truth on Sci Fi channel about paranormal activity, online
here |
|
| N |
2011 |
On the Ice |
teenage boys and an accident/murder during a seal hunt in Northern Alaska. Won the best First Feature award at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival.
| |
| S |
2011 | Mr Poppers Penguins |
film adaption of children's book, with Jim Carrey.
Businessman fantasizes about exploring Antarctica & receives penguins as a gift. |
|
| S |
2011 | The Thing |
Prequel to 1982 film. Funny & mean reviews call
it an alien copy. Might not have the
cultural resonance or the academic analyses of the earlier films.
But it did evoke
memories of watching the earlier film at Pole in 1985. & the young female
Columbia Univ. paleontologist got to kick a&s. Prequel e-comic
here .
|
|
| S |
2011 | Happy Feet 2 |
sequel to the 2006 film, in 3D. |
|
| N |
2011 |
Ice |
UK/NZ mini-series. In 2020, oil drilling on the Greenland Glacier
accelerates its melt and Earth heads to an ice age.
|
|
| N |
2012 |
Alaskaland |
Nigerian immigrant family in Alaska |
|
| S |
2012 |
Nazis at the Center of the Earth |
Zombie Nazis at the center of the Earth steal body parts for transplantation
from scientists in Antarctica. And then bring back Hitler as a giant robot, and then send a
swastika-covered UFO-shaped plane to spread flesh-eating bacteria around Earth. Could be the
worst Antarctic movie EVER |
|
| S |
2014? | Cold Skin |
Film project in
development, based on the novel by Albert Sanchez Pinol.
|
|
| S |
201X? | Area 52 |
Film project in development,
based on 2001 comic series; misfits at secret miltary base in Antarctica guard alien technologies and are stalked by nasty alien
|
|
| S |
201X? | At the Mountains of Madness |
Film project was in development, directed by
Guillermo del Toro, produced by James Cameron, in 3D, maybe with Tom Cruise.
Mar 2011- The Guardian reports the project is cancelled by Universal
due to a likely 'R' rating in the US. Bummer...
|
|