Ice Soldiers (2013) User Reviews

Second-hand Snowy Action

[in1984 · 4/10 · 19 February 2014]

4.25 of 10. It's hard not to like a film that makes a scientist an action hero. Unfortunately, beyond that and some impressive snow action and chases, this isn't a breath of cold, fresh air.

The film is weighed down far too much by melodrama and action clichés while the science fiction elements are soft and rarely explored like the surrounding snow. It's too bad because there is an interesting plot setup.

If you don't mind "pro" wrestling fight scenes mixed with your action and and non-sequiturs in your science fiction, you might be able to enjoy this. I'd rewatch Colony instead if your looking for Wintery sci-fi.

This is the kind of movie you forget what is happening as you watch it and by the end you wonder what made you keep watching.

[cosmo_tiger · 5/10 · 22 February 2014]

"It's imperative I find these three soldiers, extract DNA and verify once and for all whether or not Steinke had genetically modified human beings." After years of speculation Malraux (Purcell), a scientist, finds a hidden bunker that has been holding three frozen genetically modified Russians. Hoping to study them and figure out their make-up he decides to thaw them out. This act reawakens them and the soldiers continue their original mission. I have to admit I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this going in. The beginning "back-story" part of the movie was both interesting and cheesy. The Russians send a group of genetically modified soldiers over here in order to win the Cold War during the Cuban Missile Crises. After that is where the movie starts to go down hill, I can't say its a horrible movie because it wasn't that bad but really just flat. This is the kind of movie you forget what is happening as you watch it and by the end you wonder what made you keep watching. Overall, nothing horrible but not that good either. Very OK and good for a background movie. I give this a C.

Good story, average movie

[salt-levent · 4/10 · 4 April 2014]

Okay, it seems that there is no need to give a summary of the movie, since it has already been supplied by other reviewers.

To me, the story was quite interesting, but the movie could have been much more better. Elements of an action movie was all around, but there was not much elements of science fiction, although the movie itself is a science fiction movie because of the story.

In overall, it is an OK movie that you can enjoy anyway.

I want to mention the mistakes that I have noticed:

At 29:06, Colonel gives an instruction to Sergeant and Sergeant repeats it to the radio by yelling "You heard the man...". However, there is no way that anybody could have heard the man, because Colonel was not talking to the radio but directly to Sergeant. In fact, throughout the movie, only thing that Sergeant does to repeat Colonel's orders by yelling "You heard the man..."

At 01:16:21, super soldier kills all the people in a hall with a single magazine, in automatic suppressive fire mode, which is hardly possible.

At 01:18:24, Malraux shoots at the truck carrying super soldiers with a Beretta 92 and hands gun over to TC when he arrives with snowmobile, by saying "You shoot, I'll drive". At 01:18:30, the gun turns into a Glock, which TC collects at the explosives cabin at 01:13:72, just before they get caught by police.

"Misguided innuendo noted, Colonel!"

[doug_park2001 · 4/10 · 14 March 2014]

A scientist discovers three blonde Ivan Drago-ish Russian super-soldier mutations buried in a state of cryogenic slumber in the snow of the Canadian north. The Russians are awakened to wreak all sorts of havoc.

ICE SOLDIERS seems promising at first, beginning with a very brief back-story, which is actually much better than the front-story, to 1963, immediately after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The filming is expertly done: This is not one of those super-amateurish Indies made on a $500 budget, nor is it--thank God!--another "found footage" affair. Though a little staid, over-rehearsed, and reminiscent of many 80s/90s thrillers, the acting, directions, and script are all pretty decent. The problem is that nothing particularly interesting happens here, mostly just a lot on the Americans/Canadians fighting it out with the renegade Russians, a lot of tromping around in the snow, etc. Boorish and predictable for most of its length, ICE SOLDIERS degenerates to just plain silly and unintentionally (?) funny during its last 20-30 minutes.

As much fun as watching ice melt

[Wizard-8 · 20 August 2016]

This Canadian movie is one of a rare breed where the action takes place in Canada with Canadian characters. Aside from that fact, and maybe also with Adam Beach's somewhat likable performance as a Native who helps the main protagonist, there's nothing good to say about this entire package. How this got a decent review in the Canadian newspaper "The National Post", I cannot say. The first half of the movie is almost entirely deadly dull, taking forever to reintroduce the threat that first reared its head in the introduction. The second half of the movie is not that much better, with a still sluggish pace and action sequences that are slow and clumsy at best. It's actually a miracle that we do get some action sequences, because a number of key moments either take place out of camera range or were simply not filmed at all. When Michael Ironside (who is in less of the movie than you might think) cannot give himself or his surroundings any life, you know that something is very wrong.

Could have been a decent Movie

[aquillacreekfarmer · 2/10 · 9 April 2020]

Good story, and some fantastic Canadian Actors. However the dialogue, and eventually the entire movie; along with the story line was completely drowned by the background music. During some of the most intense moments, and during the plot twists, and some of the most important elements of the story; one of which COULD BE HEARD over the background music. This is supposed to be taking place in snow covered tundra. The background music completely overtook the "wind machines," and most importantly the dialogue. The actors and production crew should have gotten paid double for having to endure all of that cold, only to have the film, and their dialogue completely drowned out by background music, that was clearly added by some jack hat in a warm editing studio somewhere. I give this movie two stars for its production value.

May contain spoilers

[paulfmemoli · 4/10 · 16 February 2014]

Seems like the Russians were working on their own Captain America-like super soldier program during the 1950s. 3 of these ubermench, looking suspiciously like Hitler's concept of the Aryan blonde haired, white skinned superman, are on a mission to attack sites in America during the pre-occupation with the Cuban missile crises. Their plane crashes, they go into a form of suspended animation, some scientific exploration team stumbles upon them, wakes them up and all suffer the final fate... except the lone female scientist. The Russian superman who rapes her lets her live, no doubt so that he can come back for seconds....

The film now jumps 50 years to the present day, in which events seem to repeat themselves.... with a few twists...

It's not a terrible movie. I've seen worse acting, worse plot-lines etc. At the same time it is nothing to write home about. If you're bored and want to see some mindless mayhem, a few strippers, and a little Greek tragedy, this will do the job...

Or to put it another way, Michael Ironside's SCANNERS was an original masterpiece compared to this latest film.

You say: toe-mah-toe; I say toe-may-toe!

Was somewhat OK until the soldiers get thawed in current day

[JWinPS · 4/10 · 15 March 2022]

The concept of genetically engineered soldiers from a WWII Nazi doctor experimenting in genetic engineering being taken into the USSR is interesting. The initial discovery in 1962 of the frozen trio (the plane transporting them crashed is done well. The discovered and thawed soldiers decimate the scientific team investigating the frozen men. However, the jump to 50 years later is not plausible. It starts out OK. But, when they get found again, thought to be dead, revive, again decimate the scientists, and make their escape is where it fell apart for me. They are from 1962 yet they instantly acclimate to 2012, knowing exactly how modern vehicles and planes work. Their bobbing their heads to rap music in the SUV/snowmobile is where I totally gave up on the film.

LUKE, I'M YOUR, OH NO NOT AGAIN!

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 9 May 2019]

During the Cuban missile crisis, three genetically altered Russian soldiers who look like albino Frankenstein triplets, crash in the Arctic. They are found by the US military. The soldiers kill all the Americans, rape a doctor (Carinne Leduc) and go missing. 50 years later, 50 year old Dr. Malraux (Dominic Purcell) leads a combination group of military and oil people to locate them. Malraux is young looking and keeps a picture of the raped woman in his room. It isn't hard to see this one coming.

After they find the three frozen, guess what happens next? Deja Vu all over again. You won't want to miss the exciting ending when Malraux confronts the genetically altered man with light sabers...okay maybe not light sabers.

Boring in every aspect

Parental Guide: Stripper Nudity. Off screen rape.No F-bombs I that recall.

Better than I thought

[dingo865 · 6/10 · 21 September 2016]

I recorded this movie on my PVR, thinking it was going to be just another cheapo actioner imitating Asylum's garbage. Planned to fast-forward through the painfully boring parts, and stop by only for the delightfully stupid or violent (nudity was also promised by the warnings, but it turned out to be not female :)).

...and I ended up watching it from beginning to end. This movie actually has an interesting SF and Cold War premise; several great veterans of acting (Michael Ironside and Adam Beach) and performers I have never heard of before (Camille Sullivan, and Gabriel Hogan whose evil perfection is genuinely captivating), and they all seem to fill out their roles comfortably and believably. The actors manage to make their characters interesting enough that you want to listen to what they say, however banal that sometimes turns out to be. The writer(s) also tried to drag a bit of science and historical 'authenticity' into their story, and the dialogue is pretty decent (sometimes even good) most of the time.

On top of all that, the sets are solid (if indubitably inexpensive), there is an excellent use of real life locations, and the effects range from competent to good. This film is not a shoot'em-up actioner, but the action it does have (and when it has it) seems well-paced, and integral to the story.

Low-budget, frequently flawed, and somewhat cliché'd (I thought the 'big reveal' at the end was obvious after the first 5 minutes of the film), it is mediocre at best. Considering how many TRULY horrible movies you are flooded with on a daily basis, though, 'Ice Soldiers' is definitely not a bad movie; and it tries in every area - and really hard - not to go out of its way to offend your intelligence. Plus, this is one of perhaps only two or three movies in which Dominic Purcell is actually perfect for the character he plays!

No voice in the first part

[krnolan-201-564163 · 1/10 · 14 May 2016]

I couldn't get myself to watch the movie, because the first 15-20 min of the movie had the background music, the sound of the wind blowing but there was no voice from the people. I don't know if it was supposed to be that way, but we fast forward to the 20 min mark and there was still no music. We couldn't go past that time marker bcuz the rest of the movie hasn't played yet. But, maybe someone can tell me if there is supposed to be actual talking out loud in the movie, or should I have waited longer before the voices were actually played? Or, if there was supposed to be voices out loud, there was something wrong with the channel it was playing on because we heard the voices fine in all the other movies we were watching.

Not bad at all

[abisio · 8/10 · 7 April 2014]

Ice Soldier is really a nice surprise. Well written and with some truly original ideas, the movie keeps the viewers attention for its 90 minutes; and even let you waiting more.

Even the acting is different. Dominic Purcell plays his character not as an action hero (no even a very cool person) just somebody very strong (with an agenda), but far from invincible.

The rest of the cast do what they can (most of them are dead by the first half of the movie anyway).

The fist half is enclosed in an Artic oil station, with snow everywhere; but when things start to become claustrophobic; the second half moves to civilization (really a not very civilized small town); thus lightening the environment.

In brief; it is a B movie (far from a masterpiece) but it pretty entertaining.

It's OK for a b movie ! And I like hearing weird Russian rap music.

[mikevonbach · 7/10 · 16 February 2014]

Film starts off slow maybe first 35 minutes.And then action starts the only reason i watched it was because Dominic Purcell starred in it.this actor is a hit and mis star every other film he's in is a flop kind of like Dolph lundgren.I gave it a 7 for a b class movie that no doubt went straight to video.I know that other people will review this flick and scream about how bad it was Just keep in mind that this is a low budget project not meant to compete with syfy like underworld or I Frankenstein. there are no gaps in the storyline although I did spot one phony baloney wee bit of shenanigans at the end in the airport scene.Many science fiction movie fans are sick of all the harry potter magic smoke and mirrors that are in todays films.In closing this is a simple SYFY movie not a magical fantasy film.When you watch syfy you are supposed think Yeah something like that could be possible.And check out the song as they roll the end credits.

Can't suspend disbelief that much ...

[graham-tillotson · 4/10 · 25 June 2022]

Yes they are genetically engineered, yes they are super powerful and menacing. Liked it at first but the firearms with oh, I don't know, 2,356 round magazines actually made me bored and tired. Also why did the trio get the best weapons, the fastest cars, and a plane? Meanwhile the hunter has a pea shooter and can't hit anything, the cops are bungling idiots, and the trained soldiers are useless. Meh.

Good Enough to Watch Again Sometime

[shroyertour · 6/10 · 15 February 2014]

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie because of who is playing a main character. And I don't mean I'm looking for any of the "usual suspects." I mean I want to watch an actor I see in movies, but who often seems to have some secondary role. Dominic Purcell's name caught my eye in this one.

TV roles are all well and good, but it is often refreshing to see such an actor play the lead or a main role (Bryan Cranston in Cold Comes the Night is another example). Here, Purcell plays a part with little need for drama, and little opportunity to demonstrate acting talent. To be fair, that was his character here, but the movie was still an enjoyable semi-action flick. The plot is tied into the 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis, but only tangentially. The Sci-Fi aspect overwhelms any real historical theme. And the plot-twist has so many clues dropped that it seems like a made-for-TV movie.

Regardless, the movie held my attention and Purcell's adequate performance was well supported by Michael Ironside and Adam Beach (who must unfortunately play the native American with an alcohol history stereotype).

As an aside, the movie might have been better if Purcell's character had developed more of a romantic interest in Camille Sullivan's character, or if the characters of the super soldiers (especially No. 1) had been fleshed out some more. eg. "bad ass wakes up after 50 years and his mission seems a little stale in a completely changed world." As it is, they come off as new Rap music fans who want to have sex with the first woman they lay eyes on.

No academy award winner here, or even high action, but still a fair watch for a story requiring little mental effort.

I liked it

[sissy3006 · 7/10 · 9 February 2019]

I am a big Dominic Purcell fan, saw this movie on Crackle, it wasn't bad, I liked it, and I could even watch it again and again.

Decent action mystery that wasted an opportunity

[TdSmth5 · 6/10 · 9 November 2014]

During the Cuban missile crisis a plane crashes in the Canadian arctic. Folks from a nearby station arrive and rescue 3 survivors. They are all blonde and tall. The physician there is a girl and she's attracted to the sole conscious survivor. Next, he breaks free and kills everything in sight.

50 years later an oil expedition arrive to the area. Part of it is a scientist named Malraux and his Russian sidekick. In charge of the oil exploration is some mean lady called Frazier. Some paramilitary team lead by Col. Trump is also involved and they mostly join Malraux, whose goal is to find the 3 guys from the intro. They could be the result of a Nazi experiment or just Russian soldiers trying to take over NY. He and the paramilitary team set up camp near a mountain. When bad weather threatens to end the operation, Malraux explores a cave and finds the three bodies. They are transported to the station and put on life support. Then their hearth start beating again. When Malraux tries to kill these guys, he's placed in custody. Then the guys wake up and ravage the camp.

Malraux survives with an injured leg and starts limping after the three guys. He runs into an Indian who offers to take him to the next town. On the way they stop at a camp where the three guys have just killed everyone. Malraux and the Indian manage to survive and make it to the town where the Russians are enjoying drinks and strippers. That's when Maulraux confronts the guys and we learn some secrets.

Ice Soldiers starts out pretty well. The part at the exploration camp is pretty good. Things start going downhill when Malraux goes ofter those guys. Direction is pretty good. Acting is also good. Purcell, Ironside, Beach, Branzea, Sullivan are all solid. The problem is with the dialogue of the script. Very little is said and when something is said it's either confrontational, or unclear. The overall story has some interesting ideas. But it gives up these ideas or doesn't explore them to turn into an ordinary chase/action movie. Several things that happen are completely unbelievable and should have been handled better. Had this movie stayed at the camp for the entire length of it, it would have turned out better. Still, it's different and enjoyable.

Great Picture, a Real Gem of Its Kind!

[TheJonesBones · 7/10 · 13 September 2021]

I know what you're thinking - stupid title, right? It must be a stupid film... WRONG! This is an excellent effort all around and you'll want to watch, I bet.

It's a story about three mysterious dudes found at a crash site frozen in ice. We learn they are some kind of Soviet experiment intended to destabilize the US during our former "cold war". In fact, they are a genetically engineered wrecking crew!

Since the story spends no time on the "science" behind this questionable genetic engineering, you won't mind the stretch of your imagination, because this picture moves! From start to finish, you'll get nothing but excitement and quality performances.

In particular, the largely unknown "Frozens" - Gabriel Hogan (#1), Matthew G. Taylor (#2), and Andre Tricoteux (#3) - are very effective in their roles, very menacing but with a smile on their faces! Of course, Dominic Purcell plays Malraux with equal finesse and you'll also enjoy Adam Beach as TC Cardinal and Michael Ironside as Col. Desmond Trump.

Don't let the title fool you. This movie is as cool as ice - ice soldiers, that is!

Pleasant surprise

[redbaron-86192 · 6/10 · 22 July 2022]

I thought this was going to be a direct to video, barely tolerable film; but, was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it was very predictable; but, still enjoyable on a lot of levels. Not every film has to be an Academy Award winner in order to satisfyingly fill a work day evening's entertainment requirement. Decent acting, believable personalities, terrific Ontario scenery and only a 94 minute investment. Those critics who do not read the synopsis beforehand only have themselves to blame....it's a struggle against Russian Cold War Super Soldiers revived from the ice.....this is not Shakespeare.

Ice soldiers are cold

[bigdeb48-77-274140 · 6/10 · 22 July 2022]

I liked it. Its not great but its watchable. Its different because these platinum blond boys r ruthless and deadly 6 * They didn't get the memo lol 8.

Entertaining

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 20 March 2017]

In 1962 three Russian super soldiers are thawed out in arctic Canada after their plane has crashed and go on a rampage at an oil drilling station. Fifty years later the same three Russian super soldiers are thawed out in arctic Canada and go on a rampage at the same oil drilling station. Then the three super soldiers go off and are pursued by a scientist who has a connection with one of the soldiers. It sounds a bit repetitive but in actual fact I found it entertaining.

It looks excellent, some of the snow scenes are quite beautiful, and really gives the feel of a cold, cold place. The CGI is not intrusive. The action is adequate with lots of use of snow vehicles of different kinds. The acting varies. The great Michael Ironside is watchable as usual and Adam Beach as TC Cardinal perks up the second half of the film. Dominic Purcell is bland however and Camille Sullivan is just irritating.

All in all the story carries one along to a good conclusion with no major disappointments. Entertaining.

Delicious, worth the time spent...

[RosanaBotafogo · 7/10 · 14 April 2024]

Very enjoyable to watch, not only because of the high level of testosterone naked and in perfect condition, but also because of the hypnotic resemblance between Steven Seagal and Dominic Purcell, who I admire physically and professionally, the film itself is not very different from other science fiction films about superheroes. Humans used as a physical weapon by the USA's arch-rivals, with the addition of infinite glaciers, cat and mouse chase, good and bad, delicious, worth the time spent...

Buried for decades, the genetically modified bodies of super soldiers have been rediscovered, reactivated and are ready to unleash devastating destruction across society. Only one man can stop the carnage before it's too late.